Captives in India – Growth unlimited
In 2007 when Forrester’s Sudin Apte published the article “Shattering the Captive Offshore Centre Myth”, it was very unnerving for various players who were already in the market. While the study was very true to the prevailing facts at that time, little did Forrester nor the rest of the world were aware of the impending recession and the economic hardships the world would be facing thereafter. The study was therefore completely off the mark when it came to predicting the future of Captive companies.
In the end of 2010, it appears that Captive companies are going to be the taking a large piece of IT employment in India and cannot be left unattended.
The 1st ever IT Captive Summit in coming March 2011 by NASSCOM is a clear indication that Captives are here to stay and grow with more than 900 of them setting shops in India. This is three times more since 2007 when Forrester published their report.
The most interesting fact is that India is seeing a great growth in design and development activities which are a shift away from the voice based BPO which were the major contributors in Captive companies in India. The large and highly qualified talent pool has made it possible for companies like Google, Microsoft, GE, Intel and many such more big names to get critical pieces of research and development done here at a fraction of a cost. Off late, Philippines have taken over India in voice based BPO which to many seems a negative trend in India off shoring, but in reality, it is a natural and positive move from low cost high intensity work to high value work which is not so easy to replicate elsewhere without real qualifications and experience. This will certainly be long lasting and rewarding for India.
It is not difficult to predict that India will see the Captive companies doubling in generating IT jobs in India in next three years.
