India diary, day 12: Searching for the next big thing

Thursday 15 February - Bangalore

As well as taking advantage of the cost arbitrage that India offers, some companies are looking to the country for their next big thing as well. That means looking at India not just for cheap labour but also putting research and development teams together here too.

Special Report: Inside India

In February silicon.com's Steve Ranger visited the Indian tech hotspots of Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad to explore the exploding Indian offshore tech and BPO industry. Keep up with his daily diaries here.

♦ India diary, day 1: Cyberbad on Sunday
♦ India diary, day 2: Emergency calls and rural life
♦ India diary, day 3: Inside the outsourcing campus
♦ India diary, day 4: Hyderabad's tech park
♦ India diary, day 5: Margaritas to Mumbai
♦ India diary, day 6: Prime Minister's question time
♦ India diary, day 7: Mobiles in Mumbai
♦ India diary, day 8: Pune or bust
♦ India diary, day 9: An auto-rickshaw ride and a catwalk show
♦ India diary, day 10: Lost in Pune
♦ India diary, day 11: I heart Bangalore
♦ India diary, day 12: Searching for the next big thing
♦ India diary, day 13: Thirsty in Bangalore

Today I'm off to meet with Microsoft and SAP, two software giants that are using Bangalore as part of their R&D strategy.

But first I have to brave the Bangalore rush hour to get there. Mostly the problem is the sheer volume of buses, auto-rickshaws, cars, bicycles and motorbikes that need to move across town every day to fill up the IT parks and BPO offices. I'm told it's about 45 minutes out to the Microsoft office but my driver gets lost a few times before we get there.

I'm getting frustrated because even when we hit a patch of open road he is still driving quite slowly. And then I realise what he undoubtedly worked out long ago - no matter how fast you go on the roads of Bangalore, pretty soon you will hit traffic lights and a big fat traffic jam - so why bother rushing towards it?

After Microsoft it's back to the hotel for a quick bite of lunch and then out to Whitefield to meet with SAP and eye up its big campus. With the windows wound down I get some breeze when we are moving but I also get plenty of the exhaust fumes being belched out by the trucks and auto-rickshaws.

After the meeting with SAP it's another hour or more fighting through the traffic before I'm back at the hotel. I'm pretty sure that the first company to bring a helicopter taxi service would earn millions and the grateful thanks of thousands of visiting executives.

Although perhaps that would simply transfer the traffic jams from the roads to the sky. At least the air might be a little cleaner up there.

Have you visited India to check out the outsourcing options? Or have you been affected by offshoring here in the UK? We want to hear your stories and thoughts about offshoring. Post your comments below or email editorial@silicon.com.