China Outsourcing Offers Cheaper Alternative to India
The clear advantage that China brings to the table is the six billion people or more that populate the mainland
For the last ten to twenty years, outsourcing to India has long dominated the outsourcing landscape. But that appears to be changing with recent emerging players raising their heads to take advantage of the outsourcing game.
Although there are some good options for outsourcing to Latin America, Eastern Europe and Russia, Mexico and other Asian counterparts like Vietnam and the Philippines, China is touted take the lead in the next few years as the leading outsourcing country. Despite worries that the Philippines might become the biggest business process outsourcer in a decade or so, China is closing in on the gap within the industry.
The clear advantage that China brings to the table is the six billion people or more that populate the mainland. With more and more engineers graduating from Chinese universities, there is scope for more work to come their way.
One criticism that points to China is that despite the fact that the country boasts its Internet skills among its population, the English speaking capacity is significantly lower than those of workers found in countries where Internet skills are far less. This discrepancy will cost China but only to a certain extent because everything is so cheap in China.
Talking about cheap, companies will want to consult several vendors before deciding to hire one in China. Cheaper does not necessarily mean better. Just as the euphemism, ‘You get what you paid for,’ is an apt description of quality all around the world, the same is true in China. There will be several points where point of contacts of outsourcing firms will have to define and spell out clearly what kind of product or service is desirable for the company.
China has traditionally been good at process development when it comes to manufacturing and that tradition continues to grow. We buy everything from TV sets to cell phones from China. They have a way of bringing the basics to life and for a price that is fraction of its rivals – patent infringement aside, of course.
Just a few years ago, there were controversies over Chinese products coming into the U.S. that was tainted, for example seafood that salmonella in it. Another big scare was lead found in paint in children’s toys manufactured in China by Mattel. And there was a domestic scare about the ubiquitous ‘Chinese pork bun’ being made out of inedible materials.
All this goes to show that if you’re going to outsource to China, you will have to engage in frequent monitoring of products and also engage in constant communication with vendors so that standards are misinterpreted. If that can be achieved, China outsourcing offers value for the money.
| [Source] Software Outsourcing Blog Section: http://www.unisoftchina.com |
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