CMM is no longer enough

In some sense, all the hoopla accorded to the CMM certification was a bad thing for the American industry. Because the certification was fairly open (anyone could apply and get it), and because the standards were well known,the field became level for Indian companies. As of today, the largest concentration of CMM 5 certified companies is in India - a fact gleefully highlighted in every NASSCOM conference. More importantly, it became a useful point for outsourcee companies to use while marketing themselves to potential customers. The initiative in this standards body was entirely pulled away from the Americans - and so we don't see any noises made about CMM by American companies any more.

Now check out a new entity: a "Reference Standards Board" that claims to provide references to 'various outsourcing groups', which allow clients to 'make informed decisions'. This is, in effect, a Black Box that tells American companies to go to so-and-so outsourcee company. A Black Box, because as of now, us outsourcees dont quite know how to make this sort of firm give us a good rating. Smart move. And I dont see any NRI names associated with this thing, so there isn't any automatic bias towards India. So - for example - if Costa Rica lobbies hard and influences this group they will be redirecting all clients there. The one thing we dont know to do is lobby. I hope the firm which NASSCOM hired for this purpose has seen this press release and is sending out feelers.

I have no idea how influential this bunch is. A Google search shows pretty much the same press release splattered all over the web. But there'll be more like this. The game of pulling clients to India gets more interesting - we aren't just trying to talk to clients now, we're also going to be wining and dining these 'Outsourcing Advisors'. Interesting times indeed.