Chief information officers of the Indian operations of multinational companies are increasingly managing software development and other IT work for their parent companies. The CIOs are taking on these responsibilities in addition to their main role of setting up and running the information systems for the local operations.

Pfizer Ltd., the Indian operation of Pfizer Inc. of New York, for example, works with software and services outsourcing companies in India to develop new systems for Pfizer entities worldwide, according to Arun Gupta, senior director for business technology at Pfizer Ltd.

Pfizer has set up centers of excellence in the Asian region, and three of these are in India, according to Gupta. "We are actually creating a lot of systems and standards which will be used by Pfizer globally," he said. IT staff at Pfizer India conceptualize the new systems, and then get outsourcing vendors involved in the development, validation, and implementation of the systems, Gupta added.

Source: InfoworldPrashanth RaiTag(s):CIO, offshoring