Hamilton, Bermuda-based Accenture unveiled the center in Pune, which will focus on developing, integrating, testing, and supporting applications from Siebel and SAP, Java and Microsoft software, and business-intelligence systems.
The expansion of Accenture’s workforce in low-cost regions has been rapid. It has grown its Indian operation headcount from 4,000 in 2003 to a current level of more than 17,500. Some 44,000 or 34% of the company’s total workforce of 129,000 are part of what Accenture calls its Global Delivery Network.
However, Accenture has had to move fast in order to counteract similar offshore expansion from western rivals such as IBM Global Services and EDS Corp, as well as India’s largest indigenous services vendors. TCS, India’s largest software services supplier, added more than 27,000 staff in its most recent financial year.
