With India's rising outsourcing industry where they perform more high-level work nowadays, the challenge is now to convince overseas clients that they can become their business partners. India, having the world's second fastest-growing economy, is no longer the bargain it was once, doing low-level coding work and basic-level things. It is less about getting the lowest cost to get a job done and more about getting the right talent at the right time.

India's economic boom is driving up the cost of real estate, straining the infrastructure of major cities, and setting off such fierce talent wars that a candidate who takes a position on Friday may change his mind and go to a different company on Monday. The current workforce is highly ambitious in terms of their career, and if they are not satisfied, they will move on.

India's goal is to offer the greatest value to its potential partners, not to be the cheapest place to outsource to. They want to be seen as an extension of its partner's workforce by not only charging for the work they do, but also sharing in the revenue they helped to create.

Any company that wishes to outsource must be clear on why they are outsourcing. Is it for a short-term solution?

Many Indian executives are saying that India can't remain competitive if they go after only low-level outsourcing contract. The low-level work becomes meaningless after a while, which creates workplace stress. India now moves toward such tasks as predicting consumer behaviour, information that clients can use to generate revenue share. The focus is now on softer skills, therefore, and less on harder skills.

Hewitt Associates reports in its annual compensation surveys that India's salaries increase twice as fast than in China and the Phillipines.

North American executives who see the Indian workforce as an extension of their own will now reap the greatest benefits.