The 2005 China Software and Outsourcing International Forum opens in Shenzhen on Monday.

Five executives from Gartner Inc., a information technology research and consulting company, are expected make thorough analysis on the software outsourcing markets in the world and China. Shenzhen is the fourth and last leg of the forum, which was held in Beijing, Shanghai and Dalian last week.

Coorganized by the Shenzhen Municipal Government and Shenzhen Software Park, the forum aims to provide local information technology companies with more information on the software outsourcing. It is also expected to detect problems that hinder the development of Chinese software enterprises and recommend practical solutions.

The recent years have seen great developments in the world's software outsourcing industry. In 2004, global software outsourcing revenue reached US$32.8 billion. This year, the global market will reach US$50 billion, according to Gartner.

Gartner is in partnership with many leading high-tech companies in China. Huawei Technologies Co., China's biggest telecom solution provider, has used a lot of Gartner's information in overseas market expansion.

"Huawei has been cooperating with Gartner since 2001. Every day, our market research staff will log on Gartner's Web site and browse the latest information in the industry. It has become one of our major information sources," said a Huawei spokesman.

China is one of the biggest software outsourcing services suppliers in the world. In 2004, the software outsourcing revenue reached US$633 million.

Shenzhen, the largest software export base in the country, has commanded a leading position in software outsourcing for six consecutive years.

(Shenzhen Daily September 5, 2005)