As global competition intensifies and heats ups, an increasingly large number of firms have begun to compete and challenge big computer business giants i.e. Electronic Data Systems (EDS) and IBM with low cost products, sophisticated technology, coupled with specialised skills. And, no where is it more evident than the fact that slowly but surely, China has overtaken USA, as the world's leading supplier of cheap IT / IT related goods.

As off-shoring / outsourcing of mundane IT chores gains popularity, point in case are two computer firms, Dell (specialising in desktop management) and Lucent Technologies (with a focus on network maintenance), new upcoming entrants to join the ranks of many others who have off-shored / outsourced to service providers in the IT global market. Fairly recently, the two companies went ahead and signed broad contracts for desktop management and network maintenance, purely on the basis of high-end skilled expertise available for relatively low costs.

Not to be left behind as China competes for off-shored / outsourced IT projects offering low cost high-end skills, seasoned pros in the off-shoring / outsourcing world, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies and Wipro Technologies, IT firms head-quartered in India, have begun to lower their costs. Meanwhile, www.salesforce.com has added a new twist to off-shoring / outsourcing services by hosting services that offer off-site, subscription software via the Internet, and maintaining customer systems remotely. Highly successful, it seems it won't be too long before eBay, Google, Yahoo, AOL, Travelocity and Amazon.com also begin to dig deeper into the “on-demand” business services, as well.

Retaining their top position despite intense global competition from China and other low cost service providers, the world's three top IT off-shoring / outsourcing firms i.e. Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC), IBM and EDS, along with Hewlett-Packard, Northrup Grumman, Capgemini remain amongst the world's 10-biggest off-shoring / outsourcing firms, logging in double-digit growth revenues.

As off-shoring / outsourcing contracts for network operations, help desk support, applications maintenance, desktop care, disaster recovery services and data centre management get inked daily with China, Philippines, Canada, Ireland or India, in the face of increasing competition, companies are merging in an attempt to consolidate their position.

Despite, all the wailing and brow thumping that surrounds the trend of off-shoring / outsourcing, a research study predicts the global movement will grow by nearly 6% annually touching $112.5-billion by 2009, while the $33.8-billion US market will grow at 4.2%. It is obvious, off-shoring / outsourcing works to the benefit of all involved as IBM, EDM, CSC, Hewlett-Packard et al retain their Top Ten position in the world due to their decision to take advantage of a world class trend!