Achievo Strengthens Talent Pool With Beijing Sun-Shines Software Developers

SAN RAMON, Calif., March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Achievo(R) Corporation, the leading global software and information technology outsourcing provider with a local front-end and China back-end service model, today announced that the staff of Beijing Sun-Shines Technology Co. Ltd. has joined the Achievo Japan Business Group in Beijing, China, as full time employees. Sun-Shines is a software development and IT company that provides embedded system development for Japanese customers in the banking, securities and insurance industries.

"We will fully utilize the industry and technical expertise of this experienced team to further

our software outsourcing business in the banking, securities and insurance industries," said Dr. James C. Li, general manager of Achievo's Japan Business Group. "The Sun-Shines team has extensive experience and expertise in core technologies and programming skills that clients require for their IT and software projects. The momentum of Japanese businesses outsourcing to China to take advantage of the gains offshoring provides is on the rise, and the addition of the Sun-Shines team will help us meet this growing demand."

"Japan plays a significant role in our growth strategy," said Dr. Robert P. Lee, Achievo's chairman and chief executive officer. "Eight months ago we created the Achievo Japanese Business Group to focus on the explosive demand of the Japanese offshoring market. We are pleased that these talented engineers are joining a seasoned and talented group of professionals at Achievo who have been providing IT services to many of Japan's largest companies." Achievo's list of Japanese customers include Toyota, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Electric Corporation and Group, NEC, Nomura, Pioneer, Toshiba and Hitachi.

About Achievo

Achievo is a global offshore software and information technology outsourcing provider with a local front-end and China back-end service model. With expertise in diverse technologies including Java/J2EE, .NET and embedded platforms, the CMM- and ISO- certified company offers improved efficiencies, scale, diversification, and a combined talent pool to deliver cost-effective, quality-centric, and scalable IT outsourcing services to customers and partners worldwide. Customers include Accela, Audi, BMO Bank of Montreal, CA, China Mobile, DaimlerChrysler, Hitachi, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nomura, Siemens, Toyota and Vidient. Headquartered in the Silicon Valley, Achievo has offices in the United States, Canada, Germany, Greater China and Japan. For information on the company and its services, visit http://www.achievo.com/.

NOTE: Achievo is a registered trademark of Achievo Corporation in the United States and in other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Jayme Curtis, Public Relations Achievo Corporation +1-408-892-8661 jayme.curtis@achievo.com

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. James Zhang http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=40095

Source: Achievo Corporation

Local Businesses Can Explore Profitable Opportunities in China According to CITD

RIVERSIDE, Calif.-(Business Wire)-March 13, 2007 - Businesses hoping to cash in on rapidly emerging markets in China can test the waters immediately, thanks to an opportunity offered by the Center for International Trade Development (CITD).

Robert Corona, director of the Riverside office, says CITD is offering two seven-day trip packages to the largest and most prestigious trade convention in China, the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, April 14 and April 24.

Inaugurated in the spring of 1957, the Canton Fair has exploded in popularity to the point where last year it drew more than 195,000 visitors from 210 countries. More than 9,000 Chinese companies will have exhibits at the 2006 Canton Fair.

Over the last five years, U.S. exports to China have risen 114 percent, making it by far the fastest-growing major market for American businesses. Bestselling author Tim Clissold, a British accounting and auditing expert, calls China "the largest untapped market on Earth."

At CITD - funded through the California Community Colleges' Economic and Workforce Development Program - Corona endeavors to stimulate international trade by matchmaking qualified importers and exporters. His focus this spring will be China.

"We've created an efficient seven-day trade mission," Corona said, "designed for small- and medium-sized companies who are looking to access the Chinese market for outsourcing, as well as import and export."

The CITD excursion is offered at $1,890 per person, double occupancy, or $2,390 per person, single occupancy. For that price, travelers get:

— Roundtrip airfare from Los Angeles to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific Airways

— All hotel accommodations in Guangzhou (four-star hotel)

— Daily hotel breakfast and a welcome dinner

— Ground transportation within China

— Business matchmaking, with contacts and meetings at the Canton Fair

Cost advantage is diminishing in outsourcing

Silicon Valley: Labour cost advantage associated with offshoring IT services to countries like India, China and the Philippines, are declining but the key markets for outsourcing continued to improve their attractiveness in terms of access to talent and quality certifications, as per a new report.

The latest annual survey by global management consulting firm AT Kearney found that the total compensation costs for office services employees in India, China, the Philippines, and other offshore hot-spots rose as much as 40% in 2006, compared to just 10% in most developed countries.

At the same time, key emerging markets continued to improve their attractiveness in terms of access to talent, industry experience, quality certifications and their regulatory environment.

“What is most striking about the results of this year’s Global Services Location Index is how the relative cost advantage of the leading offshore destinations declined almost universally, while their scores for people skills and business environment rose significantly,” Paul Laudicina, managing officer and chairman of the Washington-based consulting firm, said.

“These findings reinforce the message that corporations making global location decisions should focus less on short-term cost considerations, and more on long-term projections of talent supply and operating conditions.”

Many emerging markets boosted their skilled labour supply with double-digit growth in university enrolment and other high-tech training programmes, the report said.

However, despite these increases in costs, offshore locations will remain cheaper for the foreseeable future under the most aggressive projections of wage inflation and currency appreciation in developing countries.

India, China continued to lead by wide margin the firm’s annual index of the 50 best worldwide office services locations based on labour costs, skills, and overall business environment. South East Asian countries reinforce their position as the primary alternates to India and China, with all six major Asean markets — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — now ranked among the top 20 locations, the report said.

Intel Opts for China

India loses bid to land new $2.5-billion wafer fab.

March 26, 2007

By Chi-Chu Tschang

In the ongoing China

versus India debate, Intel has weighed in. Chalk up another win for China.

Intel scouted locations in India, China, and several other countries before announcing Monday it would invest $2.5 billion to set up a 300-millimeter wafer fabrication facility, dubbed Fab 68, in the northeastern Chinese port city of Dalian.

Intel’s decision to choose Dalian for its first new Asian wafer fab in 15 years helps China extend its semiconductor lead over India. It also underscores the growing importance China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan have assumed not just as manufacturers, but also as consumers, of computers, cell phones, and other electronic products.

“Semiconductor manufacturing in China is better than India,” said Tina Tang, a Beijing-based analyst with Gartner market research firm. “In India, the consumption of the electronics equipment is still low.”

China became the largest consumer for integrated circuits in 2005 as a result of Lenovo, Dell, Apple, and other tech companies outsourcing their manufacturing to China.

India, which competed vigorously to land Intel’s new fab, has one government-owned semiconductor manufacturing facility to make microprocessors for its defense industry. China has several fabs, but they have been unable to keep pace with demand in the world’s fastest-growing semiconductor market.

Analysts said one major reason why Intel chose China is logistics. By locating Fab 68 in Dalian, Intel’s microprocessors can be flown to its customers in Beijing and South Korea in one hour, or Japan in two hours.

Investment Paying Off

The Chinese government’s massive investment, accounting for roughly 9 percent of its GDP, into ports, airports, roads, and other infrastructure projects in recent years is now starting to pay off. India underinvestment into infrastructure projects, only 4 percent of GDP, has been one major reason why high-tech companies have not flocked to set up factories there.

Moreover, the Chinese government has been more eager to roll out the red carpet for foreign investors, especially Fortune 500 companies. Intel had been in talks with the Indian government for several years about setting up a fab in India. But talks reportedly fell through because Intel wanted too many concessions which the Indian government was not willing to grant.

But in China, local government cadres, such as Dalian Mayor Xia Deren, are more willing to offer preferential tax treatment and market access policies because their promotion takes into account how successful they are in attracting foreign investment plays. Intel CEO Paul Otellini declined to elaborate at a press conference in Beijing today on the preferential policies Intel received from the Chinese government to invest in Dalian.

Observers said Intel’s investment was a win for China and the United States. By manufacturing 90-nanometer chips in Dalian, Intel is doing Beijing a favor by helping China climb up the high-tech value ladder. Even though the microprocessors made in Dalian will be two generations behind Intel’s state-of-the-art 65- and 45-nanometer chips, China has few fabs with the most up-to-date technology. The deal also keeps out of Chinese hands technology that has possible military applications.

Meanwhile, Intel’s decision to set up a US$2.5-billion fab in China will bring in a lot of business for American equipment manufacturers and help shave a little off China’s trade surplus with the U.S., which reached a record US$232 billion in 2006.

“This deal can also reduce the pressure from U.S. government because China today has a lot trade surplus,” said Byron Wu, China research manager at iSuppli Corp research firm.

The Benefits Of Outsourcing In Small Businesses

Before we can begin discussing the benefits of outsourcing especially in small businesses we must fully understand what outsourcing is and what outsourcing is not (as many people often confuse it with off-shoring, a similar but different thing).

So what is outsourcing? A fairly recent addition to business terminology, outsourcing in a business is the delegation of certain non-core operations to other separate entities that specialize in those operations. Put very simply, outsourcing means giving away certain tasks which though imperative to the actual business, can be better managed by another industry which specializes in that task.

Outsourcing entails transferring management control and decision making power to the other industry as well. This means that there is a lot more interaction, and information exchange, coordination and trust between the outsourcer and its client, making it different from the established buyer-seller relationship.

Now that we have established what outsourcing is, let’s focus on what it is not. Outsourcing is commonly confused to off shoring, which is the relocation of an entire or part of a functional unit of the business to another nation, whether it remain in that business’s control or not. Outsourcing is usually limited domestically. In many cases, such as telemarketing, the company wishes to employ the service of overseas call centers. Thus when outsourcing crosses national borders it is called offshore outsourcing.

So why should companies outsource? There are plenty of benefits of outsourcing, especially for small businesses. The main reason for outsourcing is the cut in costs, as they don’t have to provide benefits to their workers, and have fewer overhead expenses to worry about. Many businesses prefer offshore outsourcing, as it allows them to utilize the low labor costs of countries such as India and China. Not only that, the relatively high exchange rates in these countries makes offshore outsourcing more advantageous. In India, the dollar exchange rate is 45 rupees per every American dollar. Thus the average American worker who would take (for e.g) $5 per hour can be replaced by an Indian worker employed at $2/hour.

Outsourcing also allows smaller businesses to focus on core competencies, and relieve themselves of the peripheral ones. Thus they can concentrate on providing better quality products and service. Even if the quality does not improve, the cut in cost allows for greater productivity. This increases the overall economy in total. Not just that, the business can produce good quality products without having to employ a large amount of people. Thus lowering their overall labor charges and employee benefit.

The best facet of outsourcing though is the ability to employ professionals to get the work done. In areas such as advertising and telemarketing, it is usually more cost effective, and productive to hand over the task to a separate company and pay them accordingly. Thus instead of handling their own affairs in a substandard manner, they can employ professionals to carry out the process efficiently and effectively. And once the outsourcing company is assured that its client is managing perfectly, it can focus on creating better products and services.

For small businesses, outsourcing allows them to work with the minimum of labor and equipment expenditure. For example, a small firm outside city limits can outsource its transport, thus making it unnecessary for it to acquire buses, cutting the cost of fuel and saving its resources. Another prime example is telemarketing and advertising. Many companies prefer to outsource this facet of marketing to professional call centers and advertising agencies, thus eliminating the need to form an entire unit devoted to this task. Not only that, but because the outsourcing client has a fully established infrastructure devoted especially to the service provided, there is no necessity for a small business to invest in developing its own internal infrastructure to accommodate that service.

In small businesses there’s only a limited access to resources and ideas. Outsourcing allows the business to garner new ideas and innovations. It could also result possible cash influx due to the transfer of assets to the new provider

Alex Martin works as a content writer for Project-Outsourcing.net. We offer Project Outsourcing Service, Web development and jobs for webmasters and freelancers. The writer also works for TermPaperscorner,Inc. which offers custom term paper writing service.
The Benefits Of Outsourcing In Small Businesses.