Does "reverse outsourcing" mean much?
In a role switch, Indian companies are buying goods or services from U.S.-based companies ?? but how much does that matter to Joe or Jane U.S. worker?
The Associate Press today reports that Indian phone giant Bharti Tele-Ventures has farmed out technical tasks to IBM, as well as to Sweden's Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, Finland's Nokia Corp. and Germany's Siemens AG.
According to the story, IBM snagged its big Bharti contract by beating out Indian rivals ?? the kind of companies that have been blamed for siphoning off U.S. jobs. But will this "reverse outsourcing" do much for Big Blue's employment the U.S.? Not likely. "Bharti hasn't moved jobs to higher-cost locations in the U.S. or Europe; most of Bharti's technical work is still being performed in India, by Indians," the AP wrote.
The chief beneficiaries of this deal would appear to be IBM shareholders (who do include IBM rank and file workers in the United States), and the shareholders of Bharti, who may gain from cost savings.
Another example of an Indian company tapping a U.S. firm seems to hold more promise for U.S. workers. Indian tech giant Tata Consultancy Services on Tuesday said it will use software from Santa Clara, Calif.-based Hyperion to serve clients. The deal would appear to be good news for Hyperion's roughly 2,500 employees, some 1,500 of whom are in the United States.
On the other hand, don't be surprised if Hyperion eventually winds up in a tougher marketplace for its bread and butter -- business performance management software. As part of Tuesday's announcement, Tata said it would create a Hyperion Center of Excellence in Bangalore, India. This center conceivably could help Indians launch firms that compete with Hyperion, given that it is slated to focus on things including "building competencies and monitoring the current and latest capabilities in the technology."
