The government of China has made investments to promote a convergence of fixed line, cable and broadband services and cloud technologies, particularly in Shanghai and Beijing.

IDC expects investment in this convergence known as Triple Play to tip the global delivery scales in favour of the Chinese cities by 2014. Tiger nation, India, has thousands of trained professionals and this gives it a competitive edge in the talent forte.

Apparently, the local governments in India recognise the importance of education to build a strong economy and they are therefore investing heavily in technology schools to churn out graduates with the right skill sets to meet market needs.

"Infrastructure investments, particularly in terms of key technologies, will drive foreign direct investment, which in turn will bring with it foreign talent. If this talent is capitalised upon and can be used to train locals, there will be experienced talent available in China within the next five to seven years, placing the dragon in a dominant position on the global delivery map," said Suchitra Narayan, research manager, services, IDC Asia Pacific.

"India cannot rest on its laurels and rely on its existing differentiators of 'low cost' and 'availability of talent'. It is currently in a position to capitalise on the best practices and years of experience to build out/automate future technologies and solutions that may stand it in good stead for the future. Strategic growth and investments are key for future dominance," added Narayan.