Offshoring Comes Calling
If the opportunity for services exists, can offshoring be far behind? A seemingly small step by one of the three SIPs mentioned above, OpSource, which has tied up with India-based software product engineering and development outsourcing service provider, IndusLogic, may prove to be a trendsetter in the SaaS world.
The two firms have recently announced a partnership wherein IndusLogic, the India-based firm — which counts among its clients companies such as financial-software maker, Mantas; VoIP-based solutions provider, NexTone and a card and POS terminal maker, Axalto — will help OpSource in managing the platform and creating solutions for its partner SaaS vendors.
For IndusLogic, it is also a direct opportunity to market its services — it has a SaaS Center of Excellence (CoE) — to the SaaS software makers who host their application with the Optimal On-Demand platform. It is also a sizeable long-term opportunity, as the offshore firm can leverage the SaaS experience to tap the big opportunity of building SaaS versions for the traditional software products. “We are seeing a strong trend where many software companies are converting their traditionally installed software products into a SaaS offering,” says Manoj Aggarwala, VP, New Opportunities and Co-founder, IndusLogic.
That, in turn, will help OpSource. “Induslogic can help software companies transform their software to a SaaS model and OpSource can take the ball from there and run the software on its Optimal On-Demand platform,” says Aggarwala,
IndusLogic and its competitors such as Symphony Services, Aditi Technologies, Aztec Software and Persistent Systems have already been successful in tapping the start-up software companies to build their products in their offshore development centers. Some of their clients have a SaaS model for delivery. Bangalore-based Aditi, for example, works for DocuSign, one of the most recognized players in the on-demand electronic signature solutions/services.
It is difficult to believe that the SaaS wave will remain unaffected by the offshoring wave. Yet, early entrants like OpSource and DocuSign will have to write the rules.
But will offshoring’s impact on SaaS remain limited to offshore development and support? Many do not believe so.
Saugatuck’s McNee has far higher expectations. “I see no reason why offshore services companies like Infosys, Wipro, or Tata (TCS) cannot package this stuff. They should get into the SaaS game, build on cheap infrastructure, leveraging open source and combine their own proprietary applications and offer them as SaaS to the client.”
For the time being, that looks a little radical, though not improbable. Both SaaS and offshoring are here to stay. It is difficult to believe that the twain shall never meet. Think it that way.
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