We recently attended the NASSCOM Animation and Gaming conference in Mumbai and some interesting topics came up. Firstly, NASSCOM appears to want to expand India’s outsourcing capacity from predominantly IT to more value-add functions - animation and gaming appears to be one area.

This is not revolutionary – India has been talking about moving up the value chain for several years – but to see it in practice is impressive. However, there are some issues that India has to deal with. The availability of skilled creative professionals is somewhat limited.

India’s USP is executing the mechanical processes involved in the development of animation and games - something which has a strong correlation with its credentials in the software sector generally – rather than the more creative element. This is something that India will have to develop in order to implement a full managed service outsourcing solution in the animation and gaming industry.

Let’s get one thing straight, India, currently at least, is not a big market for animation and gaming - the infrastructure (lack of it, that is) and general cultural attitudes to gaming (from parents) means the market is small and will grow slowly. However, the very fact that India is moving into these markets and up the value chain does provide an interesting look into the outsourcing crystal ball.