Why Indians over Pinoys on “real” IT?

It has been a technical argumentation why foreign investors or companies choose Indians over Pinoys in outsourcing “real” I.T. jobs. I am not talking about the call centers (sadly, the government continues to market our talents in this particular field). I am talking about software developers, technopreneur, technology analysts and managers, and computer scientists. I am talking about the “real” world of technology development, innovation and business. Few years back I had been receiving emails from my friends who wanted to get my views about the reasons why Indians have the edge of preference.

Technology is not just about having the ability to speak english, as mostly being quoted in the call center industry. It is the ability to understand mathematics.

In the previous years, I responded to my friends and shared my assumptions and observations about why American companies prioritize (or the worst, prefer) Indians over Filipino I.T. workers. Why they invest more in India than in the Philippines. Here are my previous personal thoughts:

1. Indians invest so much time in their education. Most of the Indian I.T. professionals have either Master’s degree or PhD. Americans legally value the educational attainment of every professional. How many Filipino computer science or engineering graduates believe that they need to go back to graduate school to learn more about their chosen fields?

2. Indians don’t mind getting lower salaries. Their priority is their passion. Indians have more humble lifestyle. Thus, it’s not about how much salaries they get. It is about how much they save money.

3. The Philippine government is selling the english speaking ability of Filipino graduates rather than the creativity and technical inclination. Therefore, we end up working on inbound calls from 1-800.

Now, I am apparently in America doing this blog and couldn’t stop myself writing about the feedback I got from 4 people on different occasions and on different places who have the same views about Indians as the preference on I.T.

1. Indians are technically great! They work so hard in front of their computers. They work overtime as it is always.

2. Most of the time, Indians have the educational edge because of their master’s degree and PhDs.

3. Indians think business. They work mostly in the highly technical environment in the U.S.. Then later on they will propose to outsource some of the jobs back in India.

4. Indians wouldn’t mind getting lower pay. They don’t spend much anyway. Their lifestyle is not as extravagant as others.

5. Indian government (maybe) sells the education and technical advantages of their people.

6. Indians are more technically inclined and focused (as they claim). In fact, they have a place in their country similar to Silicon Valley.

By the way, I am also getting some negative feedback about the Indian I.T. professionals. One of these is their negative attitude about working relationships. They may be very technically excellent. But their professionalism maybe questionable.

I am flying back to Manila on April 14 and will share stories to my colleagues. I blogged this not to condemn the Filipino capabilities but to address these concerns to both Philippine government and future I.T. practitioners.

Filipinos can be champions on both technical and professionalism. It is just a matter of time.

It is never too late, though.