“The US has a whole host if small and medium businesses that we were not able to tap because of lack of staff.” The SME segment in the US need a different mode of engagement. “For them India is a far away land and they are paranoid about long control and they require significant onshore hand holding,” says Mirani. And hence the need for expanding its footprint in the US. “Despite the slowdown, we think this is the right time to invest in developing your strengths in the marketing initiatives and the front-end,” he believes.

Though Mirani admits that the recession has had an impact, the company is still net positive. “In a recessionary economy marketing budgets are the first to be cut, be it advertising or market research. So yes, to that extent there is an impact,” says Mirani. “Having said that, this is also a great time to encourage companies to adopt a more aggressive outsourcing strategy if they were not doing it already,” he adds.

Outsourcing, believes Mirani, is here to stay. And whether a slowdown or a political outcry against it, outsourcing really hold the key to future growth. The picture may not be all just rosy anymore and there have been success and failures. But by and large the Indian outsourcing story is positive. And as Mirani aptly sums it up, “Though President Obama’s rhetoric on outsourcing pitches the sentiment it does not necessarily change the underlining economics and the rational behind outsourcing.”“The US has a whole host if small and medium businesses that we were not able to tap because of lack of staff.” The SME segment in the US need a different mode of engagement. “For them India is a far away land and they are paranoid about long control and they require significant onshore hand holding,” says Mirani. And hence the need for expanding its footprint in the US. “Despite the slowdown, we think this is the right time to invest in developing your strengths in the marketing initiatives and the front-end,” he believes.

Though Mirani admits that the recession has had an impact, the company is still net positive. “In a recessionary economy marketing budgets are the first to be cut, be it advertising or market research. So yes, to that extent there is an impact,” says Mirani. “Having said that, this is also a great time to encourage companies to adopt a more aggressive outsourcing strategy if they were not doing it already,” he adds.

Outsourcing, believes Mirani, is here to stay. And whether a slowdown or a political outcry against it, outsourcing really hold the key to future growth. The picture may not be all just rosy anymore and there have been success and failures. But by and large the Indian outsourcing story is positive. And as Mirani aptly sums it up, “Though President Obama’s rhetoric on outsourcing pitches the sentiment it does not necessarily change the underlining economics and the rational behind outsourcing.”