Silicon Valley and Bangalore are two important IT hubs in the world, one in United States and other in India. To understand the difference between Silicon Valley and Bangalore, we need to know a bit about both the Silicon Valley as well as Bangalore. While the Silicon Valley lies in northern California in the US, Bangalore is a well too known metropolis in southern India. The reason for the region in California being called Silicon Valley is because of presence of world’s largest electronics and IT companies such as Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and many others. Initially it was so called because of silicon chip manufacturers, but later the phrase stuck and despite other centers of high tech emerging in various parts of the country, this region still remains the hub if IT and other related industries.
Bangalore on the other hand, became a center of IT industry because of inception and concentration of companies specializing in R&D, electronics and software. The IT revolution in Bangalore started in 1990’s and soon it became a hub for IT companies in the US because of outsourcing and offshoring. The Silicon Valley of India is a phrase that was coined to draw an analogy with the original Silicon Valley in the US. Topographically speaking, it is a valley where the Silicon Valley is situated but in the case of Bangalore, the city lies in the Deccan Plateau, so a term Silicon Plateau would be more suitable.
The high efficiency and reliability of the IT companies in Bangalore soon earned a name for themselves among giant IT companies in the west and Bangalore emerged as an important IT hub. Two of the largest IT companies in India, Infosys and WIPRO have their headquarters in Bangalore besides scores or mid sized and small entrepreneurs. However, to directly compare Bangalore with the Silicon Valley in California would be too far fetched. Silicon Valley has been there for the last 60 years and has a well developed infrastructure where as the IT industry in Bangalore started in 90’s and is still in its nascent stage. Though there are similarities between the two, there is a yawning gap in terms of development of products and software. Below is a description of the major differences in any IT venture in Silicon Valley and Bangalore.
Difference between Silicon Valley and Bangalore
The ecosystem in Silicon Valley has taken a long time to evolve and today there are colleges, investors, entrepreneurs, employees etc all working in tandem and the results are there for all to see in the shape of companies like Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Twitter, and Facebook that were born and developed there. Bangalore ecosystem is in its nascent stage and may take another 25 years to even come close to Silicon Valley.
The companies and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley are more open than their counterparts in Bangalore. They have learnt that to recruit best talent and to attract top investors it is necessary for their company to be open rather than closed. This is how they create a buzz about their products and services. Indian companies are on the other hand closed in the sense that there is not much information about their latest projects as they are not available on sites and not being talked about in the media.
The ventures in Silicon Valley are much more aggressive with press releases, blogs write ups, invitation to join beta versions and many other activities to inform and engage potential customers. Indian companies are media shy and not good at promoting their products and services.
Companies in Silicon Valley are more logical while companies in Bangalore tend to be more emotional. Any suggestion or idea is welcomes in Silicon Valley but it is taken as intrusion in Bangalore. While companies in Silicon Valley are social and outgoing, entrepreneurs in Bangalore live a lonely life cut off from media.