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| November 13, 1997 |
Join 'em if you can't lick 'emSingapore's feeling the heat of India's software
A Singapore Federation of the Computer Industry survey has warned
that India is the greatest competitive threat to Singapore software
companies in the global marketplace outside of the US.
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| T O D A Y |
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Singapore under siege • Sun warms to India • Q1 PC trends • Video conferencing |
Forty per cent of the respondents, the largest segment, feel the biggest competitive threat to Singapore comes from India because of its systems software, application software, consultancy and services expertise.
SFCI Chairman William Liu agrees Indian companies are in stiff competition with Singapore software houses to contract jobs from multinationals.
However, he is not threatened and views it as an "opportunity" for Singapore. After all, as he puts it, "It's not a zero-sum game." Singapore companies are working with their counterparts in India to tap Indian software expertise.
SFCI council member Darke Sani is also concerned about India's big pool of low-cost software talent that can produce software products and services cheaply.
The Singapore industry is keen to see the threat perception change into a synergy between the countries. This was suggested last year during the first-ever business seminar on the Indian IT industry held in Singapore in tandem with Comdex Asia 96.
Thirty-four Indian software companies and about 30 Singapore companies had participated. These included software majors such as Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Unisys, Wipro, Infosys Technologies, Aptech, and Mastek.
The realisation that the software development potential of India has been underestimated was what provoked the National Computer Board of Singapore and India's National Association of Software and Service Companies to embark on the initiative.
On that occasion, NASSCOM chief Dewang Mehta had pointed out that for both countries it would be the perfect opportunity to translate the concept of "smartsourcing" into practice. "The advantage for Singapore in outsourcing its IT operations to India is that we can provide a vast reservoir of skilled, quality-conscious and cost-effective manpower. For India, Singapore offers something more than a mere market," he said.
- Compiled from the Indian media