Gartner has revealed its top 30 destinations for offshore services, plus its 'ones to watch' for the remainder of the decade.

Region by region, the top locations are (not in order of merit): Argentina; Brazil; Canada; Chile; Costa Rica; Mexico, and Uruguay; the Czech Republic; Hungary; Ireland; Northern Ireland; Israel; Poland; Romania; Russia; Slovakia; Spain; Turkey, and Ukraine; South Africa; Australia; China; India; Malaysia; New Zealand; Pakistan; the Philippines; Singapore; Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

Countries to watch, which have the potential for elevation to the list, include: Colombia; Guatemala; Panama; Peru; Puerto Rico Venezuela; Indonesia; Mauritius; Thailand; Belarus; Egypt; Latvia, and Morocco.

In addition, Gartner has identified Cuba, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Bangladesh, and Madagascar as already offering some offshore services, although in some cases they remain hamstrung by political and other considerations, said the analyst firm.

Gartner's criteria for inclusion in the list include language proficiency and availability; government support in the promotion of IT-relevant education and the promotion of offshore services; cost; an educated labour pool; infrastructure robustness and pervasiveness, including transportation, communications, satellites, power, road, rail, ports and airports; the competitiveness of labour rates against other countries; and the political and economic environment, including currency volatility, corruption levels, and the risk of war or civil unrest.

More controversially, Gartner included the “potential for moving the legal system forward” and “a willingness to talk to Gartner” as being essential considerations – along with more familiar criteria, such as cultural affinity, data security and privacy. This was a refreshing dose of self-awareness and realpolitik from an organisation that is sometimes known for a paternalistic stance towards clients and prospects, and perhaps now even countries. (Not quite Naomi Klein's 'disaster capitalism', perhaps, but certainly on the same path.)

There were some words of caution from the conference platform as well. Maturing locations mean higher cost locations, while low-cost destinations such as Vietnam fare badly in areas such as IP security.

So the picture is vibrant and constantly changing, especially as some parts of the world seem immune from the downturn that plagues the West. For example, hundreds of companies are emerging in China and beginning to engage with Western European companies that have a presence in Asia Pacific. Meanwhile, Latin American countries (the Americas as a whole showed strongly) often use Spain as a bridge to move into western Europe. At the same time, Israeli company Ness has made acquisitions in Russia to enable it to expand into Europe.

So a buyer's market, perhaps, but one where it is essential that companies establish a framework for global sourcing.

Whether buyers are country led or vendor led, it is imperative that they do not just “seek the leader”, said analyst Ian Marriott, but determine which is the right organisation for the business.

Asked about ethical and human rights considerations, Marriott claimed that the kind of sweatshop and child labour issues that afflict the clothing and textiles industries do not apply to IT outsourcing, because workers typically have a much higher standard of living and are “upper middle class”. Nevertheless, he conceded, human rights issues remain a matter of conscience – for both individuals and companies.