Business Skills are Essential in Offshore Software Outsourcing

The outsourcing business has spread far and wide in India and other countries such as Germany, Australia, Japan and China. Still there is an unfulfilled demand that exists in many parts of the world. Some research studies have established the need for a combination of technical and business skills for a company to succeed in the outsourcing industry, especially if they have to tap the available market potential.

It has been shown beyond doubt that these two skill sets are essential for the success of IT businesses. In a survey carried out in 2006 as many as 83% of the experts surveyed agreed that market growth is a key driver for IT success. And market growth is possible only when a combination of technical abilities and business skills is utilized equally well by the outsourcing companies.

Bible and scriptures of many religious say "A man without a vision shall perish". This is well and truly applicable to the software outsourcing companies. The leadership and the management of such companies has to have a clearly defined vision and purpose. Only when the leaders and the team are clear with the vision that they can dream of success. Success in the middle of severe competition is possible only through concerted effort that includes learning the languages of the country from which the outsourcing work is originating. It will be difficult for a company to establish its image with the client if they do not understand the cultural nuances of the company that has placed the order on them.

Offshore Software Outsourcing sectors is growing .NET and J2EE are the two platforms that are in great demand now a days. According to the eighth annual report of the silicon.com magazine. The need for Finding the right skill set to fit with the offshore software outsourcing sectors is growing by the day. The good news is that 82 % of the consultants, when asked about the general availability of good candidates, have confirmed that they are able to get good people through different postings.

Business skills are not to be emphasized at the cost of the basic technical skills. The moot question is how will a person who is not technically competent deliver the results in such a highly technical field? Hence one must remember that business skills are limited to basic operational skill, soft-skills and intuitive skills. Obviously a technically incompetent person cannot be hired by an IT company even if he is skilled in the business aspects.

One primary requirement of offshore software outsourcing companies is the "knowledge" factor. A team that is skilled and technically competent is able to adapt and learn other aspects of the business fairly quickly. The best results are achieved when there is a proper balance between the technical skills and business skills. Which such a background any company in the outsourcing industry can succeed within a span of a year.