While much of this book is written from the viewpoint of the consumer of offshore work (the end-user), this chapter is written from the provider viewpoint. These are the thousands of small- and medium-sized offshore companies (with a handful of large ones) that are seeking to market their services to clients in roughly 20 wealthy, industrialized nations, along with a smattering of clients in mid-tier nations that are also beginning to shop abroad.

We estimate that there are now some 4000 companies in low-cost countries trying to capture a piece of the rapidly growing offshore market. A handful of these service providers, all Indian, have grown into huge and powerful multinational enterprises. These global Indian firms are competing with firms from the industrialized nations and are successfully attracting large customers. For small- and medium-sized Indian companies however, growth has proven to be more difficult.

The marketing of IT services is even more challenging if the offshore provider is not from India. While IT professionals from most industrialized nations are well aware of the “India brand,” providers from other nations are at a disadvantage. Prospective clients may often not consider firms from the emerging Tier-2 nations, such as Mexico, the Czech Republic, or the Philippines. The invisibility is even more problematic for the “infant” Tier-3 nations, such as Colombia, Egypt, Belarus, or Indonesia. However, with the continued demand in the global markets for offshoring, there are many business opportunities for small- and medium-sized providers, even for those from “unknown” nations.