You may have seen latest Gartner view on offshore destinations via Gartner rates offshore outsourcing hot spots or variety of other sources. I find Gartner view quite interesting, informative yet sometimes not very relevant to needs of software product companies.  In this particular analysis the information is very good and applicable to a large degree with exception of a few important areas where data is misleading when applied to IT and Software Outsourcing specifically for small to mid-sized companies.

An obvious disclaimer here – my opinion is based on a fairly limited sampling – my own observations, recent experience and analysis plus some supporting data from several people in my network with relevant experience and knowledge.

If review had been based on viewpoint of IT/SW professional the rating for Labor Pool, Infrastructure, Cost & Data and IP Security and Privacy would have been different, for example Labor Pool in Uruguay when it comes to software developers is not nearly as bad as the survey presents, and as a matter of fact it is better than in Costa Rica and Mexico.  Some other ratings seem seriously off even to an uneducated eye, take for example cost of resources in Russia marked by Gartner as Very Good; I’d say they have not been in Moscow recently.

But a single rating that prompted me to make calls, talk with many people and write this article was rating for Data and IP security and Privacy in China as Poor.  Anyone who went through on-site visits with major IT Outsourcing vendors in China would tell you – there have been huge advancements in that arena, the quality of Data and IP security that the vendors could provide is very impressive.  As my friend, a VP Engineering for very successful SF startup, told me – “I’ve seen the Great Wall of China, but what really impressed me was the Great Firewall of China I saw during my trip to Beijing…”

Americas:

Europe+

And Asia