Reflecting strong industrial growth, 20 Indian firms, including Infosys [Get Quote] and TCS [Get Quote] are among top 100 outsourcing companies in the world.   

The latest '2008 Global Outsourcing 100', compiled by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals that features at least 20 Indian firms has five of them -- Infosys (third rank), TCS (sixth), Wipro [Get Quote] (seventh), Genpact (ninth) and Tech Mahindra [Get Quote] (tenth) in the top 10.

All the five are leading software service providers. "Half of the top 10 companies are from India, reflecting a strong growth in the outsourcing industry. Infosys Technologies was number three on the Leaders List, representing firms with annual sales of $60 million or more," IAOP said in a statement.

Accenture has cornered the top slot and IBM is on the second spot. Companies on the list averaged $1.7 billion in annual sales and engaged about 27,000 employees across the world.

Other Indian companies in the list are HCL [Get Quote] Technology (11th rank) Mastek (16), WNS Global Services (19), Hexaware [Get Quote] (22), ExlService (26), 24/7 Customer (28), Cambridge (36), ITC Infotech (40), KPIT Cummins (42), Patni (46), Zensar (53), MindTree [Get Quote] (54), Mphasis (56), Aditya Birla Minacs (62), FirstSource Solutions [Get Quote] (73) and VCustomer (84).

According to IAOP, the key strength of Wipro and TCS is their 'employee management' while 'executive leadership' is cited as the strong point of Infosys and Genpact.

On the other hand, 'outsourcing experience' is attributed as the main strength of Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies.

The power balance in the outsourcing industry is shifting... Global competition in outsourcing is intensifying and that was reflected in this years ranking with companies from 19 countries vying for recognition, IAOP's managing director, thought leadership and who head the judges panel, Jagdish Dalal said.

In last year's list, there were five Indian firms in the top 10 -- Wipro, Infosys, Genpact, Tech Mahindra and Cambridge.

Among this year's top five Indian entities, Infosys, TCS and HCL have improved their positions, while Wipro and Genpact have slipped in their rankings.

In 2007, Infosys was ranked seventh, TCS 26th and HCL 15th whereas Wipro and Genpact were placed at sixth and eighth place respectively.

Sodexo (fourth rank), Capgemini (fifth), Hewlett-Packard (eighth), CSC (23), CB Richard Ellis (29) and ADP (50) are among the other prominent names in the list.

Companies were ranked on quality following a rigorously judged application process that examined 18 criteria. The ranking is done by a panel judges on performances in the field of demonstrated competencies, size and growth, management capabilities and customer references, the statement added.