The Commonwealth Games were a fantastic opportunity for India to showcase its confidence and modernity as a force to be reckoned with on a global stage. So what went wrong? The games certainly ended on a high, however it will be the number of well-publicised problems during the preparations and throughout the games which India’s time as host will ultimately be remembered for.

As India continues to vie for foreign investment, problems such as collapsing buildings, filthy accommodation, sickness, and allegations of corruption and incompetence all led to many questioning India’s credibility when it comes to handling high-profile contracts.

Where China had used the Olympics to demonstrate its excellent organisational capabilities, India seemed to confirm old prejudices. So did the negative publicity affect India as the number one offshore outsourcing and technology location?

Probably not. In the short-term, India may have lost some offshoring converts due to their fear of the unknown and the negative coverage will not have helped. In the long term, India is far too well established in its role as the number one offshoring destination for this kind of publicity to really affect it.

Global organisations also know the difference between the performance of the Indian Government in arranging the Games and the numerous successful Indian private enterprises.

Over the years, Indian companies have become synonymous with their ability to deliver. Many are even looking at onshore investments to give them true global delivery capability. For example, Intelenet Global Services, based in Mumbai, has 35 state-of-the-art delivery centres globally in the Philippines, Mauritius, USA, Poland and UK in order to handle its 400 million calls and 75 million tractions annually.

Any fears that individuals may have about the performance and reliability of Indian outsourcing can surely be put to rest with a select few case studies.

India will continue to attract international business due to its cost benefits while the availability of a large talent pool along with a fast turnaround time on projects will always appeal. Although derogatory press focused on wild snakes in the athletes’ villages along with collapsing bridges, it is here that the contrast with the professional, modern, results-oriented country can truly be seen.

As such, India will continue to attract many more successful outsourcing partnerships and a poor start to the Commonwealth Games should not affect that.