A recent report by IDC Australia also showed that IBM enjoys a leadership in this market "from both a contract signing and market positioning perspective".
According to IDC senior analyst of IS Outsourcing, Phil Hassey, "Of the 26 most significant outsourcing contracts tracked by IDC in 2000, 60 percent of these were signed in Australia. These contracts included significant outsourcing deals entered by blue chip Australian firms such as Westpac, AMP and BHP."
Hassey explained to ZDNet Australia that approximately half of the Asia-Pacific outsourcing market--about 52 percent--is centred in Australia. Although, this percentage is expected to fall to about 40 percent by 2005. Australia will remain the largest outsourcer, but other countries--the Peoples Republic of China, Taiwan and Korea--will experience faster growth up to 2005.
While IBM's dominance of outsourcing in the region is significant, this is expected to be eroded by the presence of major competitors. Hassey stated that CSC and EDS, which are traditional competitors for IBM in this area, are positioning themselves to take market share away from IBM. CSC and EDS are expected to use the same business models they have developed in Europe and in the US to expand their share of the Asia-Pacific market.
However, although IBM's traditional competitors will certainly make an impact, Hassey believes that Accenture poses a significant threat as well. "They have an offering that is able to offer a full range of both general IT services or specific outsourcing needs," said Hassey. "This delivery is undertaken by themselves or through close partnerships with specific service vendors."
Hassey also explained that Accenture has a range of offices from their heritage as part of an accounting firm.
The Asia-Pacific region, despite the relatively recent Asian economy crisis, is set to be one of the major growth areas for outsourcing services. In fact, Hassey said that "the growth rates for Asia-Pacific outside the relatively mature Australian and New Zealand marketplace are amongst the highest in the world".
The major sectors of outsourcing growth in the Asia-Pacific market include call centres--particularly for international companies seeking around-the-clock support--and application outsourcing.
