The advantages of Canada vs. other outsourcing centers are many. It has the same time zones as the U.S., its major cities are near major U.S. cities, English is widely spoken, and its culture and business practices are very similar to those in the U.S. Jobs, measured in Canadian dollars, usually pay about the same or a bit less than similar jobs in the U.S. But because of the exchange rate, Canada enjoys a labor cost advantage over the U.S. of about 30%. Canada has a number of high-tech centers. Toronto is strong in financial services, software development and mainframe technology. Ottawa is a center for wireless and semiconductor technology and software development, while Vancouver's strength is in software development. Companies are also going to Canada as a hedge against the political, legal, project management and other risks of placing all of one's IT in an offshore country such as India. Given that dominance of U.S. outsourcers, it should come as no surprise that doing business in Canada isn't much different from doing business in the U.S.
American companies outsourcing their IT prefer the near-shore Canadian value proposition as an alternative to offshore options, according to new research from IDC, a global market advisory firm. The study also discovered quality is more important than cost savings when outsourcing IT. Sponsored by IT services provider Compuware, the study queried US executives on IT sourcing. Entitled Global Sourcing Trends Necessitate Considerations of Near-shore Sourcing in Canada (March 2004), the survey compared near-shore (Canada) versus offshore IT outsourcing. The survey sample involved evenly distributed respondents from smaller businesses to the Fortune 500. The chart shows that until savings reach 50 percent or higher, many of the 127 respondents see a more favorable value proposition in outsourcing to a Canadian provider compared to an offshore provider.
Canada has a number of high-tech centers. Toronto is strong in financial services, software development and mainframe technology. Ottawa is a center for wireless and semiconductor technology and software development, while Vancouver's strength is in software development
When it is compared the offshore opportunities the followings findings of fields and companies can be listed as strengths of Canada. Many e-commerce companies specialize in the security business, namely encryption and network management software. Leaders are Hummingbird, GEAC Computer, Entrust Technologies, Descartes Systems, Delano Technologies, DataMirror. Network security software is a sub-sector in which companies like Kasten Chase, and Entrust excel. Canadian companies such as AiT and Imagis supply biometric solutions. Business intelligence (BI) consists of the gathering, management and analyzing of internal data to produce information presented in a format that can be easily used for decision making. Cognos is among the world leaders in this niche, Hummingbird and Crystal Decision also operate in this sector. Data and Document Management is the computerized management of electronic and paper-based documents. Open Text and Adobe specialize in data and document management.
Adobe is a world leader in workflow software. Also has a large data management software laboratory in Canada. Customer relationship management (CRM) consists of automating traditional marketing, sales and customer services operations. It includes sales force and marketing automation, call center, and help desk and customer service applications. Successful companies include Siebel Systems Canada, Delano Technologies, Multiactive Software, Pivotal, IBM Canada, Crystal Decisions, and Nurun. Supply Chain Management is the automation of network of facilities and distribution options. GEAC Systems, Descartes Systems are Canadian leaders in that niche.