3 Developing Plan of Jiangsu Software and Information Service Outsourcing Industry

3.1 Developing Concepts

The development of the industrialization and informationization gives a great chance to push forward the development of software and information service outsourcing industry aggressively.

As the province with strong economy in Yangtze River Delta, Jiangsu is the ultimate market with most attentions. Of global top 500 enterprises, 275 invest in Jiangsu and set up various R&D centres. As of the end of June in 2007, there are 37,531 foreign-funded enterprises in Jiangsu with the total investment of 355.126 billion US dollars. This trend is going up yet. The foreign-funded enterprises have increased needs for software and information service outsourcing.

In addition, the foundation of manufacturing in Jiangsu is very solid. The adaptability and the application maturity to the service outsourcing are improving as well. Now, the size of domestic market is about 76.4% of the total service outsourcing market in Jiangsu. Meanwhile, confronting with more severe international competition, more and more local manufacturing enterprises select the mode of service outsourcing or other ways in order to improve their management and services and to accelerate internationalized. The powerful domestic market brings great space for developing the industry of Jiangsu software and information service outsourcing.

Jiangsu has won itself competitive edges in the development of software industry, which provides great momentums for driving Jiangsu ITO industry forward. However, Jiangsu BPO industry is still young that is required to foster abortively. It is very important to balance the regional development of the industry by the structural upgrading and emigration of software and information service outsourcing industry, which has been considered as a key approach by Jiangsu government during the development of the industry.

Jiangsu province has elaborated its own development strategy of software and information service outsourcing industry according to its both external and internal features that described above.

i. Promoting foreign investment to develop offshore outsourcing, further consolidating the competitive edges on traditional Japanese & South Korean offshore outsourcing markets, meanwhile, actively exploiting the European and American markets, and putting great efforts on developing outsourcing businesses with regard to foreign-funded productive services.

ii. Depending on the competitive edges of the industry to enlarge the domestic market to keep the ongoing growth of onshore outsourcing businesses, pushing the other advantageous industries forward by the assistance of software and information service outsourcing industry under the direct guidance of the philosophy that combining with national informationtization and industrialization.

iii. Pushing the software product enterprises to expand the information service business depending on the fixed advantages of the software industry. Jiangsu has strong foundation of the software industry. The export of its software products is leading in China. To encourage the software development enterprises to expand their information service range, like working on the software and information service outsourcing is good to improve their comprehensive competency.

iv. Keeping the ITO advantage and pushing forward greatly the IT-based BPO. ITO has the absolute advantage in Jiangsu software and information service outsourcing. Depending on the IT and human resource advantages, IT-based BPO will be greatly pushed forward so as to insure the balanced development of the industrial structure.