Mark : Well, cost of service provision remains a key driver and it is likely to remain an important driver for those seeking an alternative and competitive way to deliver services. Clearly cost is not enough. Every service provider trying to pitch for business just by saying they can reduce your cost by 30% is unlikely to win a contract as the buyers may be stimulated into action by a concern over cost, but it is not enough for them to award a contract. Added value, improved quality and efficiencies, improved processes - these are all benefits from the entire offshoring process. It gives a chance to reengineer inefficient processes and this cannot be ignored by clients and suppliers.

Mark : The runaway inflation in the Indian market is likely to be cured by the market. Supply may improve as the Indian population located outside of the largest metropolitan areas is engaged with the industry - and most Indian suppliers have already started locating facilities in these regions. Alternatively on the demand side, clients will find more attractive destinations for offshore work - such as the up and coming African countries offering services at Indian quality for a lower price. These are natural controls over the situation in India.

Mark : In the book I provided a framework for selecting an attractive offshore location which was focused on the infrastructure and stability of the location and the supply of well-trained people. These are critical factors in the evaluation of an offshore location and India is letting itself down by not making some visible infrastructure improvements, such as the quality of the international airports. The airports are really important as foreign visitors cannot avoid them and yet Indian international airports resemble provincial bus stations in the UK in their quality of décor.

Mark : Although such factors as political stability, physical infrastructure and the availability of skilled people are going to be the mains selection criteria managers are only human and some decisions may be influenced by personal preferences or experience of a location. Having a great experience on the first visit to a new country such as India can be a serious contributory factor to these decisions. Beggars grabbing your baggage as you exit the airport and taxi drivers charging inflated prices may be small aggravations, but to someone choosing between India and the Philippines these typical problems might be enough to tip the decision. I have traveled to India with European managers who vowed never to return because they could not tolerate the airports, roads, beggars and constant feeling that people are charging them more than they would charge a local.

Mark : The main factors in finding and trusting a vendor are experience of the process you want to move offshore, demonstrable domain knowledge and an appreciation of what it is you want to achieve. When I have approached a vendor and asked 'can you offer service x?' and heard 'we can offer any service' then I know it is time to move on to another vendor. A serious vendor can enter into a serous discussion with you about which of your processes can be improved, moved offshore and how exactly you might be able to achieve the transition. If they promise that it is easy and can be completed in a week then its time to move on again.

Mark : India has a fantastic global lead in BPO services. The country has great global trust and the city of Bangalore is now globally famous for IT services. This experience of IT outsourcing and BPO can be applied to higher value services and this has started already, with vendors and captives starting to produce extremely high-level work. One thing worth noting though is the KPO market by its nature will not employ as many people as general BPO. If India wants to create high-value jobs for educated people then this is the path to take, but there should be an awareness of the large numbers of graduates trying to enter this industry and what happens when every vendor is targeting KPO.

Mark : First, newspapers such as 'The Sun' should not be dismissed by those within the service industry, because of their tabloid format or perceived low-value readers. This newspaper sells millions of copies on a daily basis in the UK and forms the opinion of those customers using the services of companies who are awarding offshore outsourcing contracts.

My own organisation, the Commonwealth Business Council, is working with Scotland Yard on measures to help fight and prevent these incidents of economic crime. Nasscom is a founder member of this CBC research working party and so at a policy and advisory level these crimes are being taken seriously. The regular consumer appreciates that these forms of crime can take place in almost any country, what they will want to see is what happens to those who break local laws. If Indian laws on data protection can be broken with impunity then contracts involving data transfer will be reviewed.