Outsourcing to India -- Infosys makes headway in the Outsourcing arena

Robust customer interest; increased interest in Infosys' technology and consulting practices have resulted in 51 per cent rise in software major Infosys’ net profits being placed at Rs 497.34 crore. There was sustained demand for Outsourcing, according to Mr. Basab Pradhan, Head, Worldwide Sales and Senior V-P, who added, “Clients have responded favorably to the combination of our consulting services and offshore delivery.''

For those who came in late --- Infosys Technologies reported a 51 per cent growth in its profits for the third quarter at Rs 497.34 crore, and a 49 per cent rise in revenues to Rs 1,875.61 crore, over the corresponding period in the previous year.

The Software major has 434 active worldwide clients, one new client in an engagement valued at over $50 million, joining the three the company already had. Infosys earns two thirds of its revenues from providing Outsourcing services to North America, 22 per cent from Europe, 2.1 per cent from India and the balance from the rest of the world. "We are seeing the greatest traction from the financial service and telecom service providers and expect to do much better in transport and logistics sectors as well," Mr. Pradhan said.

Providing information on customer wins during the quarter, Mr. Nilekani said Infosys has secured an important deal with an Asian and North American divisions of an automotive manufacturer.

During the quarter, Infosys started working with an engineering design house in the US on a design project. Large corporations in the insurance and healthcare industries have shown interest in Infosys' offerings, Mr. Nilekani said. He further added that, a US-based Health company into applications and healthcare content had engaged Infosys to analyze, design and implement new systems that strengthen their internal processes.
Another Outsourcing deal includes, a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) network in the US that has selected Infosys to rewrite its core system. Earlier, Infosys had worked on developing an enterprise roadmap for content management for one of the largest insurance companies in the US.

Priyanka. S

Outsourcing to India -- Orange adds color to Indian Outsourcing Industry

Orange, Britain's largest mobile phone operator is all set to add color to the Indian Outsourcing Industry with, its plans to Outsource 1,500 jobs, or 12 percent of its British workforce, to India. Cost cutting is said to be the reason behind Orange Outsourcing its jobs to India The British Telecom major is beginning trials with two specialist sub-contractors, Convergys and Vertex, wherein 215 call center workers in Delhi will answer customer service inquiries during peak periods.

"A final figure on the numbers we intend to Outsource will not be decided until these trials are complete. The steps we are taking will not lead to site closures and redundancies,” said an Orange spokesman.

"This Outsourcing is intended to help Orange Customer Services cope with high demand and ensure the company continues to offer customers the high level of service they have come to expect over the last 10 years."
Call center staff make up half of Orange UK's 12,000-strong workforce, with the lion's share working in the Northeast in Darlington, Peterlee and North Tyneside. The group is also making 200 staff redundant from the technical department at its Bristol headquarters, where it has offered some information technology staff one-year salary deals.

Priyanka. S

Year 2005 -- Outsourcing to India opens new vistas with Health Care & Technical Services

Starting the New Year on a good note, The Indian Outsourcing Industry has finally matured. Moving beyond the yuppy image, and following the instant success of the Payroll and transaction processing – Outsourcing to India has opened up new vistas in the arenas of HealthCare, investment management, engineering design and technical services
.“Outsourcing to India will not be restricted to retail, telecom, travel, finance,’’ agrees Sunil Mehta, head (research), Nasscom.

The Outsourcing market for biotech products for human and animal health is expected to touch Rs 9,354 crore in five years, a three-fold growth from 1999, as per estimates of the department of biotechnology. The good news for biotech is its new pharma focus -- Chennai-based Shreaya Lifesciences is setting up an Rs 60-crore plant in Pune for biotech drug manufacturing.

According to Alok Gupta, country head, Yes Bank, developing a new biotech lead would enable Indian companies outsource it to MNCs at attractive terms. At present, at least 35 companies, including Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotech and Bharat Biotech, Ropar-based Panacea Biotech and Pune-based Serum Institute and Cadila Pharmaceuticals, are working on modern biotech products.
According to sources in Exim Bank, India has the potential to attract huge venture capital in this health-care segment, as the government is now streamlining the biotechnology approval processes. With established Pharma companies entering the field, medium-scale biotech companies are also exploring a new class of drugs that global majors may find attractive for further development.

Other potential areas for Outsourcing to India,include the Real Estate wherein India Inc, is also contributing its bit.
Furthermore, the International fashion fraternity is taking a keen interest in Outsourcing to India with Wal-Mart, America’s most preferred shopping chain deciding to outsource $7-10bn worth of apparels to India.This presents major opportunities for Indian designers and Fast-growing European brands like Zara and H&M to head to these shores, keeping in mind the Indian tastes. The emergence of Satya Paul and ‘W’, for instance, as strong ‘Indian clothes’ brands that go beyond the Fabindia and Anokhi handloom appeal portends that this sector has a strong potential for Outsourcing.
On the IT Front, the new year will see the IT and ITeS companies taking up more than 70m sq ft of space in cities like Jaipur, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Kochi and Bangalore. Outsourcing to India will continue to gain traction with more than 80% of Fortune 500 companies evaluating outsourcing most of their non-strategic processes to India.

Poaching and job-hopping are expected to accelerate further in an industry seeing attrition rates of over 50%. As long as the globally integrated knowledge economy continues, the Outsourcing crowd here will continue to swell.

Priyanka. S