On Sending Your IT Work To India

The flood of outsourcing of all manner of work to India has become an item of discussion in the public forums for a number of reasons. Probably the area of business support that has gone overseas that has gotten the most attention is call centers. And while there is a knee jerk reaction to using talent from India for certain types of outsourcing work, there are good reasons why India has become so attractive as a provider of outsourcing talent.

One reason freelance technical consultants from India do well with American projects is their firm mastery of the language. English has for a long time been the second language of India and many citizens of India speak English predominantly. So when communicating with organizations in the west, the language barrier is virtually nonexistent between Americans and citizens of India who seek to find outsourcing work.

When using a freelance contractor from India, the best kinds of projects are those that are self contained, have a well defined begin and end and are projects that are easy to put a price tag on. This is why technical writing, project documentation and web development are often perfect assignments to outsource to a freelancer or outsourcing company based in India.

Obviously, one of the big motivations for using freelancers from India is the cost. Because the cost of living and the economy of India is so much different from western countries, you can very often get a talented freelance technical person who has a firm grasp on the technical issues and strong talents to offer and still pay a very reasonable price for that freelancers work compared to outsourcing the same work to an American contractor or outsourcing company.

The distance and the nature of overseas outsourcing limits the extent to which an outsourcing firm from India will try to enhance the work, extend the deadline or take over additional functions in your company. And freelance workers from India are “hungry” meaning they are eager for the work, willing to work hard for lower salaries and trying to establish their reputations to turn you into a repeat customer. This is a perfect attitude that you want in a contract worker.

The internet has resolved so many issues in terms of communications, payment and document delivery that used to restrict outsourcing commerce between the United States and foreign countries like India. With email, instant messaging and VOIP services like Skype, you can literally interact with your Indian contractor many times each day with such frequency that the only difference between having your work done in India versus outsourcing it locally is you cannot have lunch together.

“Business is business” as they say. As much as we might have opinions about “the way things used to be done”, outsourcing part of your IT work load often makes good business sense. And the fact that we now live in a global economy is also a fact of life that has opened a lot of opportunity for American businesses overseas and for entrepreneurs from other countries like India to land work from American companies. So if Indian freelancers have become adept at satisfying the needs of American IT projects, there is no reason not to include them for consideration for project level work in the future.