This is not the first time I'm hearing announcement from giant tech company setting up regional IT hub in Vietnam, or outsourcing IT services to talents in Vietnam. In fact, Fujitsu also has a software development center in Hanoi.
It makes me wondering, if Vietnam is emerging as the preferred IT hub in Asia, standing on its advantage of low wage costs for pool of skilled software developers. In the event of cost-saving strategy on IT services, Vietnam has caught global attention from big brothers in technology world, as a competent alternative to India and China.
Due to Dot-Com-burst in late 1990's, players in technology world have realized the importance of strategic cost saving by utilizing the benefits of outsourcing and off-shoring. The fact that India skilled workers are communicative in English language, and the half-day timezone difference between India and US, made India one the most preferred off-shore software development site.
But, as a result from rapid gain of global attention, India skilled workers, especially software engineers, are demanding for higher range of wages, surpassing the bar of competitive rate. As the objective of cost-saving off-shore solution is no longer realistic in India, industry players are looking for other alternatives.
Now, it looks like the tech world has generally identified Vietnam as one of most feasible solutions for low-cost off-shore software development. Though it's now still early to conclude if Vietnam will successfully emerge as one of the most talk-about IT hubs in Asia, but certainly, Vietnam has gained global attention to certain degree.
A successful symbolic example of software development outsourcing in Vietnam is set by a Ho Chi Minh-based company called SilkRoad. SilkRoad was successfully awarded a project from the government of the US state of Oklahoma, for development of a trade website.
As interesting document titled Vietnam Chases the Competition in the Software Development Industry (PDF) is available at Asia Pacific Business Network. Worth taking for some interesting facts :)
