TEKsystems Global Services Canada today announced findings from its quarterly IT and Talent Survey among Canadian IT leaders.

IT contracting in Canada is on the rise relative to other North American markets, with nearly 50% of Canadian respondents indicating increases in IT project needs and IT hiring over the next six months. This is in contrast to 41% of the respondents citing the same in the United States. According to Executive Director of TEKsystems’ Montreal Solution Centre, Charlie Hall, “We are seeing a shift in that CIOs seem to be moving toward more variable-based or flexible workforce models to get work done. As we emerge from this recession, our clients are seeking the ability to ramp projects up and down quicker than ever as demands increase.”

Survey data shows IT workers will be in high demand to support the continuous flow of expected project needs moving into 2011. Of the most challenging projects, Enterprise Architecture tops the list with 55.9% of Canadian respondents rating the difficulty a seven or above, on a one to 10 scale. More than half of respondents also rated Business Process Engineering, Business Intelligence, Network Architecture and Database Administration a seven or higher in terms of difficulty to staff and manage. “Limited supply of certain technical professionals is just one factor that makes these projects a challenge for our clients,” shares Hall. “IT leaders are also challenged to find partners that possess applicable industry knowledge, a high degree of business acumen and have the chemistry to fit into their culture,” comments Hall.

Given the increased focus on IT initiatives to drive business value, IT leaders will need to conduct intense and proactive workforce planning exercises to ensure they can support business goals. However, according to the survey, 52.2% of Canadian respondents indicated feeling only “somewhat prepared” to handle an increasingly competitive labor market. “To obtain the right skill sets when and where they need them, many businesses are realizing the value of partnering with an IT services provider that can deliver project-based or outsourcing solutions with an underlying competency in attracting and retaining large numbers of quality IT resources,” said Hall.

IT leaders say they plan to maintain (50%) or increase (36.5%) their current level of IT outsourcing; and nearly 80% of respondents expect to maintain or increase offshore and near-shore IT services moving into 2011. “More often, we’re seeing IT leaders make the decision to outsource based on criteria that extends beyond cost benefits. They are thinking about the degree of complexity they want to maintain versus offload. They are also thinking about which providers can be a true partner, building customized solutions and delivering results through teams of qualified IT professionals,” said Hall.

Source:http://www.vadvert.co.uk/computing/7047-canadian-it-leaders-expect-significant-increases-in-it-project-needs-and-contract-employment-into-2011-finds-teksystems.html

Recovering from global tech meltdown, the resilient Indian IT industry returned to high growth during a tumultuous 2010 but is cautiously optimistic about 2011 in view of the economic uncertainty in Europe and the US, which account for 80-85 percent of its export revenue from software services and back office operations.

“Though 2010 has been a good year for our IT industry with a healthy growth, we are entering the new year with cautious optimism as clouds of uncertainty hang over Europe and to an extent the US due to less than expected recovery from the Great Recession,” Infosys Technologies Chief Executive S. Gopalakrishnan told IANS.

Putting behind fiscal 2009-10 as a year of downturn, when the annual growth plunged to six percent after a scorching cumulative growth of 25-30 percent during the previous four years, the industry returned to double-digit growth in this fiscal (2010-11), thanks to renewed investments by global firms across verticals in IT infrastructure, software and back office services.

“We have seen growth returning and business coming back because of transformational needs of our global customers and changing business models favouring more outsourcing and off-shoring of IT services and solutions we deliver cost-effectively,” industry body Nasscom president Som Mittal said.

With the worst behind and the industry on the recovery path, Nasscom has projected $56-57 billion or 13-15 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth from exports and Rs.768 billion (Rs.76,800 crore) or 15-17 percent YoY growth in domestic market this fiscal (2010-11).

“With growth surpassing our expectations during the first half, we will be revising the outlook for this fiscal after the third quarter (Oct-Dec) results, factoring the anticipated growth in the fourth quarter (Jan-March),” Mittal told IANS.

Emerging largely unscathed from the global tech meltdown, the Indian IT-BPO (business process outsourcing) industry grew 6 percent last fiscal (2009-10) to touch $50 billion (Rs.23,100 crore) in exports and 12 percent YoY in the domestic market to post Rs.66,200 crore ($13.25 billion).

“Sustaining this year’s robust growth in 2011 depends on how fast economies in Europe recover, as there are concerns over some countries still grappling with financial crisis. Sovereign fallout in any country will have a domino effect on the global economy,” Gopalakrishnan pointed out.

The year, however, began on a sluggish note with the industry reeling under the ripple effect of slowdown in 2009-10, conspicuous absence of fresh investments and hiring and thousands of techies laid off or fearing pink slips.

“The year demonstrated the inherent strength of the industry to get over the global recovery trend. As we exit 2010, the new year looks promising, as the industry is poised to get back to growth trajectory despite an element of uncertainty looming over Europe due to monetary and regulatory crisis,” Wipro Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Suresh Senapaty said.

If the global financial crisis and tech meltdown made the Indian IT industry cringe and resort to unconventional measures to stay afloat, the revival made them go overboard in exploring new markets, scouting for talent and investing in new service lines to offer end-to-end solutions across verticals.

“Unlike the crisis we faced during the dotcom bust earlier in the decade, the global recession tested our resilience and gave us an opportunity to provide more for less, as IT budgets shrunk and clients were in consolidation process,” Genpact Chief Executive and past Nasscom chairman Pramod Bhasin said.

To sustain the growth momentum and make optimal use of their resources, even export-oriented bellwethers like TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL turned aggressive in the domestic market as enterprises, state-run organisations and governments across the country have decided to enhance their investments in IT infrastructure, products and services for the benefit of its people.

Buoyed by increased tech spending in the private and public sectors, the industry has been gearing up to offer its services in new areas such as engineering services and product development.

With 450 delivery centres in 60 countries worldwide, the Indian IT industry has an unparalleled global value chain. The industry resumed enhancing its global workforce, hiring specialised talent in developed markets and building a truly global delivery model.

Mergers and acquisitions in the IT industry remained sluggish as companies were in consolidation mode and continued to be risk-averse.

For raising human capital, besides the bellwethers jointly offering about 100,000 jobs this fiscal to create bench strength and build capacity in anticipation of better growth in next fiscal (2011-12), small and medium business too have resumed hiring to meet the demand for ICT services and products.

As a top outsourcing destination and back office operations hub, India dominates the global IT services market with 51 percent share.

Source:http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=214143