Gartner reveals top 30 outsourcing locations

This year has seen more credible alternatives to established IT outsourcing locations such India emerge,says analyst firm Gartner.

The company has outlined its top 30 locations for offshoring IT, with four locations entering the group and four being relegated.

The countries were rated according to 10 criteria that will help determine which locations are right for individual organisations. These were: language, government support, labour pool, infrastructure, educational system, cost, political and economic environment, cultural compatibility, global and legal maturity, and data and intellectual property security and privacy.

Egypt, Morocco, Panama and Thailand joined the group, while Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Uruguay dropped out.

Gartner said the immanent recession and increased focus on cost cutting among businesses will give a broader range of offshore IT outsourcing locations an opportunity. These include countries such as Mexico, Poland and Vietnam, said Ian Marriott, research vice-president at Gartner.

"These locations will be seeking to take advantage of the opportunity created by the increased focus that many organisations now have on cost optimisation, as a result of the current economic crisis," said Marriot.

Locations to watch in 2009, according to Computer Weekly research, include Argentina, Bulgaria, China, Egypt and The Philippines.

Gartner's top 30 outsourcing locations (in no particular order)

Australia

China

India

Malaysia

New Zealand

Pakistan

The Philippines

Singapore

Thailand

Vietnam

Argentina

Brazil

Canada

Chile

Costa Rica

Mexico

Panama

Czech Republic

Egypt

Hungary

Ireland

Israel

Morocco

Poland

Romania

Russia

Slovakia

South Africa

Spain

Ukraine.