IP protection critical in outsourcing

A“changed world order”; “Like it or not, outsourcing is here to stay”; “2010 revenues of US$50 billion” – all are statements now being made about the Indian outsourcing industry. Among the range of activities that are now outsourced to India – payroll administration, call centres, medical transcription – software development is the nation’s most renowned area of expertise.

Global corporations often outsource all or part of the software development processes needed for their regular project activity. On the basis of specifications provided by the client, service providers develop the software and provide it to the client who, in turn, licenses or sells the entire package to its own clients.

The three most common outsourcing models involve sending work to either a dedicated (or “captive”) service provider; a local Indian partner (in this model, the entity doing the work is a joint venture between the client and the service provider); or a third party vendor.

Priti Suri is the proprietor of PSA