Searching For Niches Finally, some sort of differentiation is taking place among the top Indian IT players. That, and a more global footprint, is what they will need to blast into the next growth trajectory.

On May 30, the top management of India's largest software exporterTata Consultancy Services (TCS) found itself thousands of kilometresaway from their Mumbai headquarters, at Guadalajara, the capital ofthe Mexican state of Jalisco and the economic nerve centre of theSouth American country. Guadalajara, often referred to as the City ofRoses, would become yet another location for TCS' rapidly expandingnetwork of global centres, as the company--and, indeed, India'srapidly growing it industry--scouts for locations beyond India toexpand its operations.

Nothing surprising, one might think. Except that the new centrewasn't just another marketing beachhead for TCS. It was the …