IT companies in India

In the IT industry in India one can distinguish between three kind of companies that work internationally: large domestic export software services firms (WIPRO, INFOSYS), captive centres of multinationals (IBM, SUN) and the R&D centres of multinationals (Microsoft, GE, Google) & small product companies that work for a global market (Ittiam Systems, Sasken).

1. In the outsourcing company time is money. The client brings a project to India, it is done in India and then it is given back to the client. The company will charge the client a rate per hour, and the Indian programmer will be paid the Indian salary rate. The interface with the client is continuous. To be able to work in these companies one does not only need to be a good engineer, one also has to acquire soft skills to be able to contribute satisfactory. Workers are trained in these soft skills: how to write, to greet, to eat, to communicate. One has to be de-indianized. The atmosphere in the office is formal and hierarchal.
2. The multinational company wants its workers to be part of the global workforce of that particular company. They insist on having the same the kind of work culture that they have in the parent office in the US and in India. The person who is training employees in the US is the same as he person who trains employees in India. They teach that all workers are part of the SUN global family and one has to adapt to its concepts. Such a concept is for example flex work. If necessary one works around the clock because the company, and it needs, is integrated into to you.
3. The product company that works for the western market wants its workers to think like the western clients to be able to develop a product for them. So you are in India but you also think like a westerner. For training workers will be exposed to western movies, western types of life, western types of activities, and the atmosphere in the office is informal.

CN