Does onsite travel mean only the US?

I am a software developer working in India. (OK, you got that from my blog's heading, but I just thought I'd repeat it). I am now working for my second company. While in the first company, I went on an on-site visit to Delhi, where our client was. I stayed there for a month, helping the client out as he faced problems with our product. It was a kind-of great experience for me, as I got to know for the first time the thought processes people had and problems they faced as they used our product.

Well, a year and a half later, I was job-hunting, and went to various interviews. Now, on-site experience is considered very valuable in the Indian software industry, and I was pretty sure that people would respect me for the experience I gained. In one particular interview, I mentioned that I had gone on-site. The interviewer asked, "Where?" and I said, "Delhi".

He said, "That's not on-site." I said, "Yeah, but that's where our client is..."

The interviewer nodded, but I could see he didn't believe it. He didn't believe in the experience I had gained there. He didn't consider Delhi as on-site.

I joined the very same company whose interviewer asked me that question. With other work, this incident was pushed to the back of my mind. Some days back, it re-surfaced. After lunch, I and a few of my friends working in the same company were walking towards our building, when for some reason, I mentioned the incident. One of my friends immediately hotly defended the interviewer; surely Delhi could never be considered on-site!!

I got angry; I took it kind-of personally - well, he was after all, saying that my on-site experience at Delhi was not to be considered. I got puffed up and ready to argue, but my friend said he had to pick up cash at the ATM and walked away.

Later, when I was at home and in a calm mood, I thought this over, finally. I realized
that for some reason, my company (I am not sure about other companies in India, but I think they are also the same) seems to consider only US travel as on-site. I feel this is ridiculous.

Why should I feel so? Let me put forth my reasons. Let's start by answering this question:

Why is on-site experience valued?

Let me provide the answer too: On-site experience is valued because for the first time, you are face-to-face with the customer. While at offshore, you can easily say that this-bug-cannot-be-fixed/I-cannot-come-on-Saturday-to-fix-that-bug and such stuff. But you cannot say that in front of the customer, because if you do, the customer then stares at you in anger. And I tell you - that stare pierces your heart, that stare gives you guilt feelings, that stare gives you cold sweats - your company, rather YOU have just lost a customer. The customer has just taken one step down the road to never recommending you and your company to others.

Lost. That very word makes you sweat. That very word, that very stare, ensures that even after you go home, you keep thinking about it. The customer's face, after you finished speaking, is what comes into your head, and you cannot shake it away, for some reason, which you don't know.

That, in my opinion, is why on-site experience is so valued. You face the customer. Not everybody can do that. And when you return, after having successfully moved your application to production, and after having been given a personal send-off by your all-smiling customer, you return to two things - 1) the knowledge and the satisfaction that you have just retained a customer, and 2) the applause of all your colleagues. Soon, you find that everybody in your company listens to you all the more. Its not that they weren't listening before; its just that they listen to you all the more.

It is for this lesson that on-site experience is so valued. Now the question is, where can you get this experience? Only in the US? I say, no!! Customers are spread throughout the world, and wherever your customer is, you can gain this experience. He may be in Delhi or in San Francisco, but whatever it is, on-site is valued for customer relationships, not for US travel.

And that's why I expect people to respect me and my experience when I say I travelled on-site and solved my customer's problems!! It might be Delhi, but when my application didn’t work the way the customer wanted it, he raised his voice, and said, “What application is this, yaar?” And that’s it – it sends me into a flurry. I immediately note it down, and when I return, include the feature into the application.

On-site is valued for customer relationships, not for US travel.

What are your views on this? Am I wrong here? Is there something I don't seem to understand? I would love to hear any opposing views, so feel free to comment on this post or mail me regarding this.