'US to shift product dvpt to India'

More US companies are likely to shift production of their high-value software products to Indian firms which, they believe, can deliver quality products at a much faster pace, said Mike Parker, vice-president (South East, US), Aspire Systems Inc, a Chennai-based OPD firm.

Significantly, the advantage of lower cost in India would not be the guiding force behind such a shift, he added.

"In the US, outsourced product development (OPD) is still fairly new. But companies will soon realise that the execution of a wonderful idea (on a new software) can be left to professionals in India," he said.

Outsourcing the product development to dedicated firms in India will help the US firms to concentrate more on brand-building and marketing of their products.

"By outsourcing products in India, companies can do it quicker and enter the market quicker. This means earlier than expected revenues," he said.

Though, the us firms also benefit from cost advantage, this may not last for long. "Cost arbitrage may not last for ever. The wage difference (for software engineers) in India and the US are becoming narrower," Parker said.

Aspire Systems, which currently has about 22 US-based product companies as its clients, is advising its customers in the US to consider product development as an "auxiliary activity and not as their core competence."