India undisputed leader in offshore services: Gartner

NEW DELHI: India remains the "undisputed leader" in a list of the top 30 countries for offshore services prepared by IT market research major Gartner Inc.

The research firm based in Connecticut, US, applied a list of 10 criteria to find its top 30, but many of the conclusions are already well known - India is the "undisputed leader" in offshore services, with China, Russia and Brazil providing credible alternatives, while Ireland, Israel, Northern Ireland and South Africa are strong in language skills.

According to Gartner, however, there's a stampede of new locations determined to get more offshore business. For the 30 countries that met its criteria, Gartner reports, another 35 were viable contenders, giving companies plenty of choices in 2008.

And of those 35, 13 "came darn close to making the list", according to Helen Huntley, an author of the Gartner report prepared in December 2007.

Thanks: ET