Outsource Issue 30 - (Page 78)

IndIa: Rules FOR OFFsHORInG Is your company thinking of offshoring to India – still the global offshore outsourcing heartland? Here are three key legal issues to bear in mind… Ruchir V Patel . Ruchir V Patel is Senior Counsel at a Fortune 50 global corporation focussing on general corporate . matters. He has been in-house counsel since 2008 and prior to that worked as M&A counsel at a large international law firm. hile recent reports have stated that US companies will be “backsourcing” work – that is, bringing outsourced work back to the US – such sentiment is, at best, a temporary solution and most likely wishful thinking. With the US economy faltering, companies continue to search for ways to control and ideally reduce costs, and outsourcing work to emerging nations with a cheap workforce – like India – will continue. W ● ●●● In the fiscal year 2011, India was the leading country for offshore outsourcing, generating greater than $59 billion in revenues and capturing more than half the outsourcing industry, and American companies made up close to 60 per cent of the IT and BPO exports1. India has been, and will continue to be, a leader in offshore outsourcing due to its large, Englishspeaking workforce and low-cost labour. But contracting with an Indian service provider in such a large and complex developing country as the US comes with enormous legal challenges and these challenges should be addressed prior to outsourcing engagement. This article will highlight three key legal issues a US company should consider prior to entering into an offshoring engagement with an Indian service provider and provide some mitigating solutions. These issues are (i) choosing the correct contracting party and enforcing remedies; (ii) termination rights in the event of a bankruptcy event; and (iii) intellectual property protection. “Unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. In this world, fear has no place. Only strength respects strength.” – Abdul Kalam 78 www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk http://www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outsource Issue 30

Peering through the fog
Who moved my world
Bringing on the beeb
Courting the commentariat
Everyone is responsible
Our survey says
Fast money
Smarten up
Seeing the biggest picture
NOA round-up
Embracing enterprise innovation
Customer matters
Application development outsourcing
India: rules for offshoring
Talent gap
The Professionals
Book learning
The outsourcing jigsaw
The legal view
Top ten
NelsonHall round-up
Spontaneity
Online round-up
The deal doctor
Inside source
The last word

Outsource Issue 30