Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Advocates for Outsourcing to India

Strategic Insights -

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer believes that outsourcing software services and research and development works to countries like India will greatly benefit the US economy. Delivering the fifth Madhav Rao Scindia Memorial lecture, Ballmer emphasized that US companies like Microsoft will need to scale up their operations in India to rise to the next wave of innovation. He pointed out that the US government's restrictions on immigration have put pressure on companies to rapidly grow their talent pool in India. Ballmer highlighted India's vast engineering talent pool, citing that 18% of Microsoft's engineers in Seattle are Indians. He also stressed the importance of harnessing Indian talent to lead the next wave of innovation.

Key Takeaways:

  • Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer advocates for large-scale outsourcing of software services and research and development works to countries like India.
  • Ballmer believes that this will benefit the US economy and allow US companies to scale up their operations in India to rise to the next wave of innovation.
  • The US government's restrictions on immigration have put pressure on companies to rapidly grow their talent pool in India.
  • About 18% of Microsoft's engineers in Seattle are Indians.
  • Ballmer stresses the importance of harnessing Indian engineering talent to redefine the software industry.
  • Indian universities produce 30% of all computer science graduates in the world.
  • The Indian software services industry thrives on offshore business, with a value of US$23 billion.

Statistics:

  • 18% of Microsoft's engineers in Seattle are Indians.
  • 30% of all computer science graduates in the world are passing out of Indian universities.
  • US$23 billion: the value of the Indian software services industry's offshore business.
  • India's software services industry thrives on the Global Delivery Centre (GDC) model.

Sources:

  • (PTI) 09-11 2021 (Asia Pulse)