The impact of India’s pandemic lockdown on IT outsourcing

Enterprises that are currently engaged in IT outsourcing may be in a better position than those with global in-house centers, as there is typically more service elasticity to bring incremental support to bear and many suppliers have been aggressively addressing issues. While it can be challenging — especially for service providers in offshore locations like India — those providers with the most effective operations have already made preparations and are implementing plans such as making significant equipment and software purchases, training employees to work effectively from home, ensuring appropriate Wi-Fi connectivity is in place and enabling VDI, VPNs, Citrix and multi-factor authentication to address security.

Physical security is more difficult to address, with some providers installing alarm systems and other measures for employees working from home. Another consideration is physical workspace. Many Indian outsourcing employees may be living in spaces with multiple family members — finding a quiet space to perform highly complex work has been a challenge in certain circumstances. Suppliers can only do so much to enable this unprecedented work-from-home situation.

Unfortunately, there are also circumstances where certain supplier resources lack the necessary bandwidth or tools to perform their jobs and must be monitored closely. If handled well, being able to tap into hundreds of thousands of resources at larger IT outsourcing providers can be a major mitigating factor for enterprises, but only if they have the tools to do their jobs. Some suppliers got in front of the situation by preordering thousands of more laptops, Wi-Fi dongles and other key gear. Others are having to play catch-up.