While China maintained its position as second-most preferred location for global  services, after India, in AT Kearney’s 2009 Global Services Location Index (GSLI), the country must try its best to compete with its strong neighbor.
The GSLI analyses and ranks the top 50 locations for outsourcing activities, including IT services and support, contact centers and backoffice support. The index was last updated in 2007.
While India, China and Malaysia retained the top three spots they have occupied since the inception of the GSLI in 2004, a fundamental shift in the index has taken place, where once-strong Central European countries have now yielded ground to countries in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
While cost remains a major driver in decisions about where to outsource, the quality of the labor pool is gaining importance as companies view the labor market through a global lens driven by talent shortages at home,particularly in higher, value-added function.
The offshoring industry has matured over the past decade. IDC, an IT market intelligence company, reports that outsourced offshoring alone has generated $30 billion in revenues and has grown by 25 percent over the past two years. This does not take into account captive centers in low-cost locations operated by companies from developed countries.
Each country’s score is composed of a weighted combination of relative scores on 43 measurements, which are grouped into three categories: financial attractiveness, people and skills availability and business environment.
The complete results of this year’s Index are provided below. A more detailed analysis and information on regional performance can be found at www.atkearney.com.