China's progress in IT is an opportunity for India: Infy's Murthy

N.R. Narayana Murthy, the founder of IT giant Infosys, opined that India should perceive China's rapid development in the information technology sector as an "opportunity" for Indian IT companies functioning in that country, rather than as a "threat," reports Raktima Bose from The Hindu. 

Answering if China's speedy progress in the IT field could pose a threat to India's favourable global position, Murthy said, "China has shown development in extraordinary proportions in different sectors. It will also make progress in the IT sector. Almost all Indian IT companies have a presence in China now.

 But we are not looking at China as a threat but as an opportunity." Many of India's leading IT companies like TCS, Infosys and Satyam has setup shops in china to attract projects from the Chinese Industries and to explore the booming manufacturing sector there. Some of the major Indian companies have also acquired small sized Chinese companies to understand the market and to merge themselves into the Chinese culture. Though the per hour rate offered by Chinese is less than India's rate, about 30 percent less. But there are lot of hidden costs which includes communication issues (more time, more rate), knowledge transferring time, data security protection and regulatory issues. These issues demands a completely new strategy for the western companies to kick start its outsourcing plans.