In recent years outsourcers, consultants, site selectors, economic development services, IT industries have been touting India like a shadow following an object. There might be myriad reasons to it but the foundation has been laid in the sector of business process outsourcing in India and no one can deny it!
Site Selector experts report that they have been busy seeking a location/country that promises better services, quality, interactive dialects, faster and convenient access, economical salary structure and minimal security risks. More often they end up suggesting India.
Their verdict
· Lower Costs
· High qualified workers
· Elevated educational systems
· Convenient dialects
· Affinity in accent
· Superior Customer Service culture
· Performance Levels
· Congenial ambience and stability
· Infrastructure
The call centers in India have more provisions than any other Asian countries (Pakistan, China and more) in terms of cost, education, living standards, infrastructure and stability as per the requisites of call center sophistication.
The wages comparison
Country ------------------------------------Hourly Wages (approx. in $)
U.K. --------------------------------------------------------$25 -30
U.S. --------------------------------------------------------$14 -20
Canada ----------------------------------------------------$10 -15
Philippines ------------------------------------------------$05 - 10
South Africa ----------------------------------------------$03 - 05
China ------------------------------------------------------$02 - 04
India -------------------------------------------------------$0.5 - 01
Indisputably the currency plays a vital role in Indian business potential. The rationale cause is the expansion of business and recognition of brand identity but the main justification as to why big tycoons seek their future in outsourcing to India is the opportune economical structure.
Prasad Unawane
Monday, April 04, 2005
Dell set to expand its wings in India.
One of the world’s largest PC maker have recently announced that they would push deeper in the low-cost countries by hiring another 1,200 staff for a call center in India. Texas based Michael Dell, founder and chairman of Dell Company said, “I am expecting around 1,500 employees in a year as compared to 300 to start with this recently inaugurated call center.”
This lately opened call center is based in Punjab, Mohali. Apart from this call center they have other two call centers in major cities in India, Hyderabad and Bangalore (profoundly known as the capital of Information Technology).
Dell employs more than 7,000 people in India, its largest workforce outside United States and within a couple of years the employee’s working in the Dell organization or their call centers in India will reach around 10,000 to 12,000. This is a sure shot boost to the Indian market, which is functioning like a magnet for other global corporations too. Approximately at the end of the financial year 2004-2005 the business process outsourcing sector is expecting a clock sales of $5.7 billion, an overall growth of 44% as compared to last fiscal year.
Dell further added, “I think India represents a great market for us. The business potential is expanding at a very rapid stage and the scale of call centers in India is pretty inspiring.”
The call center offers technical support, customer support services and application development.
Prasad Unawane
This lately opened call center is based in Punjab, Mohali. Apart from this call center they have other two call centers in major cities in India, Hyderabad and Bangalore (profoundly known as the capital of Information Technology).
Dell employs more than 7,000 people in India, its largest workforce outside United States and within a couple of years the employee’s working in the Dell organization or their call centers in India will reach around 10,000 to 12,000. This is a sure shot boost to the Indian market, which is functioning like a magnet for other global corporations too. Approximately at the end of the financial year 2004-2005 the business process outsourcing sector is expecting a clock sales of $5.7 billion, an overall growth of 44% as compared to last fiscal year.
Dell further added, “I think India represents a great market for us. The business potential is expanding at a very rapid stage and the scale of call centers in India is pretty inspiring.”
The call center offers technical support, customer support services and application development.
Prasad Unawane
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Outsourcing to India – Borg Warner drives into Outsourcing Arena
The low-cost country advantage continues. BorgWarner, the over $3 billion engine and drive train components manufacturer, is looking at Outsourcing more business, both in its core areas of manufacture and in the services field.
The company has identified three countries for conducting their Outsourcing business namely, Korea, China and India.
“We will set up, in the next six to 24 months, new business units in Thailand,” Timothy M Manganello, chairman and CEO, BorgWarner Inc, said. The company has a declared policy of getting additional $1.4 billion new business from Outsourcing to these low cost countries for the duration of year 20005-07.
Cynthia Niekamp, president and general manager, BorgWarner TorqTansfer Systems, part of Borg Warner’s drive train group, added that they visited the facilities of a major Indian software services company.The visit was part of their aim to source services from India. “We want to increase purchasing from the LCC, which is now 15%, to 25%. This is on the manufacturing side,” Ms Niekamp said, indicating that services, including software engineering design, would be additional.
BorWarner has already entered a joint venture and a wholly owned subsidiary in Chennai and holds two joint venture companies in Pune. Divgi Warner, where BorgWarner holds a 60% stake, is a 10-year old JV. BorgWarner’s global acquisition of the German company Beru, has given it another JV in Pune while, BW holds a 70% stake in that company.
Priyanka. S
The company has identified three countries for conducting their Outsourcing business namely, Korea, China and India.
“We will set up, in the next six to 24 months, new business units in Thailand,” Timothy M Manganello, chairman and CEO, BorgWarner Inc, said. The company has a declared policy of getting additional $1.4 billion new business from Outsourcing to these low cost countries for the duration of year 20005-07.
Cynthia Niekamp, president and general manager, BorgWarner TorqTansfer Systems, part of Borg Warner’s drive train group, added that they visited the facilities of a major Indian software services company.
BorWarner has already entered a joint venture and a wholly owned subsidiary in Chennai and holds two joint venture companies in Pune. Divgi Warner, where BorgWarner holds a 60% stake, is a 10-year old JV. BorgWarner’s global acquisition of the German company Beru, has given it another JV in Pune while, BW holds a 70% stake in that company.
Priyanka. S
Monday, March 14, 2005
Outsourcing to India: GECIS bags a $24m order from global auto manufacturer
Pramod Bhasin, president and CEO of Gecis Global, the biggest Outsourcing firm in the country, announced at an investor conference recently that the company had bagged a $24m order from a global auto manufacturer.
In a bid to maintain its margins in a fiercely competitive business environment, Gecis Global, needs many more such deals. The company wants non-GE revenue to contribute 25-30% of the total revenues in ‘06, up from 1% in ‘04.
According to Mr. Bhasin, the non-GE business should deliver close to 50% of the company’s total revenues in the next three years.
Gecis registered revenues of $426 m in ‘04. It plans to clock about 25% growth to $525m in ‘05. This Outsourcing Company also, plans to raise its total headcount to 23,500. GECIS currently employs 17,000 people out of, which 13,500 are in India, 2,300 in Mexico and 1,100 in China. It also has 575 people in Hungary.
Mr. Bhasin did not comment on the current margins that the firm clocks every quarter. However, market estimates put them in line with other companies like TCS, Satyam at 25-30%. “Our margins are competitive and we not see any pressures on our margins in the immediate future,” Mr. Bhasin said. “Though call centers and customer service will remain important offerings for us, we are increasingly focusing high-end value-added services where we are able to command a lot of value and prices are not very elastic,” Mr. Bhasin told ET in an interview.
Gecis earns nearly all of its revenue today from US giant General Electric group, which owns 40% in the firm. The remaining 60% is held by private equity funds General Atlantic and Oakhill. This Outsourcing Company plans to list on stock exchanges over the next few years. Mr. Bhasin said that the company is focusing on creating vertical expertise and domain knowledge in industries like insurance and healthcare and tap revenue in Europe and China. Furthermore, he also mentioned that the Company serves a host of non-GE clients, which include companies in the Pharma sector, computer manufacturers, automobile, financial services, consumer products manufacturer, airline, consumer electronics and media.
Priyanka. S
In a bid to maintain its margins in a fiercely competitive business environment, Gecis Global, needs many more such deals. The company wants non-GE revenue to contribute 25-30% of the total revenues in ‘06, up from 1% in ‘04.
According to Mr. Bhasin, the non-GE business should deliver close to 50% of the company’s total revenues in the next three years.
Gecis registered revenues of $426 m in ‘04. It plans to clock about 25% growth to $525m in ‘05. This Outsourcing Company also, plans to raise its total headcount to 23,500. GECIS currently employs 17,000 people out of, which 13,500 are in India, 2,300 in Mexico and 1,100 in China. It also has 575 people in Hungary.
Mr. Bhasin did not comment on the current margins that the firm clocks every quarter. However, market estimates put them in line with other companies like TCS, Satyam at 25-30%. “Our margins are competitive and we not see any pressures on our margins in the immediate future,” Mr. Bhasin said. “Though call centers and customer service will remain important offerings for us, we are increasingly focusing high-end value-added services where we are able to command a lot of value and prices are not very elastic,” Mr. Bhasin told ET in an interview.
Gecis earns nearly all of its revenue today from US giant General Electric group, which owns 40% in the firm. The remaining 60% is held by private equity funds General Atlantic and Oakhill. This Outsourcing Company plans to list on stock exchanges over the next few years. Mr. Bhasin said that the company is focusing on creating vertical expertise and domain knowledge in industries like insurance and healthcare and tap revenue in Europe and China. Furthermore, he also mentioned that the Company serves a host of non-GE clients, which include companies in the Pharma sector, computer manufacturers, automobile, financial services, consumer products manufacturer, airline, consumer electronics and media.
Priyanka. S
Monday, March 07, 2005
Outsourcing to India – Reliance gears up for Outsourcing to other clients
The Reliance group is moving into business process Outsourcing in a big way. Reliance Infocomm, its telecommunications arm, is charting the strategy.
Reliance Infocomm has a captive Center, however, it now plans to extend Outsourcing services to customers outside the group. It intends to leverage its expertise and provide Outsourcing services in the areas of telecom, manufacturing and financial services.
When contacted, a Reliance Infocomm spokesperson said: "Reliance has always been of the belief that India has tremendous capability in the Outsourcing business, owing to the large number of knowledge workers in the country.
We believe Reliance can leverage its expertise in the telecom, manufacturing and financial services domain to provide outsourcing services to clients overseas. In the area of telecom services, typically, our expertise is not limited to customer service but extends to network outsourcing, process design and engineering, and customer relationship management."
"We expect the Outsourcing business to contribute significantly to Reliance Infocomm's revenues in the next three years," he added. According to analysts, the Reliance group itself has a large customer base and has built the requisite capability to service them.
With both the infrastructure and resources in place, it makes sense for Reliance Infocomm to expand its business and outsource to other clients. Other Indian business groups like the Tatas, Godrej, the Aditya Birla group and the RPG group already have a presence in the Outsourcing business.
The Reliance group is moving into business process Outsourcing in a big way. Reliance Infocomm, its telecommunications arm, is charting the strategy.
Reliance Infocomm has a captive Center, however, it now plans to extend Outsourcing services to customers outside the group. It intends to leverage its expertise and provide Outsourcing services in the areas of telecom, manufacturing and financial services.
When contacted, a Reliance Infocomm spokesperson said: "Reliance has always been of the belief that India has tremendous capability in the Outsourcing business, owing to the large number of knowledge workers in the country.
We believe Reliance can leverage its expertise in the telecom, manufacturing and financial services domain to provide outsourcing services to clients overseas. In the area of telecom services, typically, our expertise is not limited to customer service but extends to network outsourcing, process design and engineering, and customer relationship management."
"We expect the Outsourcing business to contribute significantly to Reliance Infocomm's revenues in the next three years," he added. According to analysts, the Reliance group itself has a large customer base and has built the requisite capability to service them.
With both the infrastructure and resources in place, it makes sense for Reliance Infocomm to expand its business and outsource to other clients. Other Indian business groups like the Tatas, Godrej, the Aditya Birla group and the RPG group already have a presence in the Outsourcing business.
Priyanka. S
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Michigan-based auto parts maker Federal Mogul is all set to make a roaring entry into the Indian automobile Industry, with its plans to outsource auto ancillaries from India through the existing joint venture business with Goetze India.
“Discussions have reached fairly advanced stages for an outsource agreement with Federal Mogul where we would supply auto products to their global clients taking advantage of the cost factor.
In fact, we may even set up a new plant once the demand picks after the deal and even expand the product range to include bearings and auto parts adhering to latest eco-friendly norms,” said Anil Nanda, chairman and managing director, Goetze India.
Federal Mogul, which supplies ancillaries to auto majors like GM and Daimler Chrysler, holds 30% stake each in Goetze India along with Anil Nanda while public and institutional investors hold another 30%.
“With the new emission norms, several unorganized players in the auto ancillary segment will have to wind up which throws up more opportunities for us. Moreover, export markets have started looking up which offers better margins,” said Mr. Nanda.
This automobile company has started upgrading its manufacturing plants to introduce piston and piston rings that meet Euro III and Euro IV norms.
Last year, the Rs. 500 crore Goetze India had signed a technology agreement with Federal Mogul to use specific proprietary technology of the latter for manufacturing contemporary pistons. Analysts said that Goetze India is also working towards realigning the debt-equity structure where several options are being pursued to reduce the debt component including liquidating its Rs 11 crore investments in Escorts. Within the OEM segment, its revenues are spread across all auto players including Tata Motors, M&M, Bajaj Auto and TVS.
Priyanka. S
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Outsourcing to India –Indian Animation Industry steps in
In the face of stiff competition from more established animation firms in the Philippines, South Korea, China and Taiwan, the Indian animation industry is on a roll with its growing market share.
In the face of stiff competition from more established animation firms in the Philippines, South Korea, China and Taiwan, the Indian animation industry is on a roll with its growing market share.
Hollywood companies are increasingly Outsourcing cartoon characters and special effects to India because of lower costs and an English-speaking workforce that understands Western humor. Other animation companies are Outsourcing animation works to India that include -- animation for commercials and computer games
Indian Animation companies are working on animated films based on characters in Indian folklore and mythology, but designed to have universal appeal. These two streams are coming together. India's emergence as a hub for Outsourcing of animation work should not really come as a surprise. It has one of the biggest film industries in the world as well as a large supply of low-cost high-quality software engineers.
Toonz Animation, a leading company in Kerala, is one such animation company that, offers Outsourcing of animation work at rates 25 per cent to 40 per cent lower than other Asian studios and much lower than those of American studios.
Its most recent assignment was producing a ‘Christmas Day Special’ for children that would be broadcasted by BBC and to be shown in UK.
Indian Animation companies are working on animated films based on characters in Indian folklore and mythology, but designed to have universal appeal. These two streams are coming together. India's emergence as a hub for Outsourcing of animation work should not really come as a surprise. It has one of the biggest film industries in the world as well as a large supply of low-cost high-quality software engineers.
Toonz Animation, a leading company in Kerala, is one such animation company that, offers Outsourcing of animation work at rates 25 per cent to 40 per cent lower than other Asian studios and much lower than those of American studios.
Its most recent assignment was producing a ‘Christmas Day Special’ for children that would be broadcasted by BBC and to be shown in UK.
Other International animation films that are toying with the idea of Outsourcing animation work to India include, The Walt Disney Company, which is exploring India as a production base for its animation and feature films.
MTV is considering adding India to South Korea and the Philippines as Outsourcing destinations and the popular Cartoon Network is buying programmes made in India.
Priyanka.S
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Outsourcing to India – Goa organizes two-day Outsourcing Convention
A two-day convention based on the theme "Outsourcing: Challenges Ahead" was recently organized by Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The third IT convention, in the series under the banner of Goa Agenda, was addressed by number of nationally acclaimed IT leaders and attended by distinguished crowds drawn from industry, academics and administration.
In his welcome address, president of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry Nitin Kunkolienkar said that though Goa ranks high on most of the parameters required for the BPO sector, nothing much is being done to capitalize on Goa's advantages.
He also expressed a need for ascertaining the reasons for Goa's backwardness in the IT sector and expressed confidence that Goa will get its due in the BPO sector soon. The chief guest of the inaugural function, D-Link (India) MD, KR Naik termed Goa as an ideal destination for BPO due to its large English speaking population and unique culture.
Besides, the Interesting convention on business process outsourcing (BPO) and Outsourcing - The two-day symposium also, saw technical sessions devoted to software development, R & D and social/political opportunities and concerns.
A two-day convention based on the theme "Outsourcing: Challenges Ahead" was recently organized by Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The third IT convention, in the series under the banner of Goa Agenda, was addressed by number of nationally acclaimed IT leaders and attended by distinguished crowds drawn from industry, academics and administration.
In his welcome address, president of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry Nitin Kunkolienkar said that though Goa ranks high on most of the parameters required for the BPO sector, nothing much is being done to capitalize on Goa's advantages.
He also expressed a need for ascertaining the reasons for Goa's backwardness in the IT sector and expressed confidence that Goa will get its due in the BPO sector soon. The chief guest of the inaugural function, D-Link (India) MD, KR Naik termed Goa as an ideal destination for BPO due to its large English speaking population and unique culture.
Besides, the Interesting convention on business process outsourcing (BPO) and Outsourcing - The two-day symposium also, saw technical sessions devoted to software development, R & D and social/political opportunities and concerns.
Priyanka.S
Friday, February 04, 2005
Outsourcing to India -- Tricom to set up Outsourcing firm in Pune & Mumbai
Cashing in on the booming Outsourcing Industry, Non-voice business process outsourcing company Tricom India Ltd has decided to invest Rs. 20 crore (Rs 200 million) expansion programme, which includes a 600-seat facility in Mumbai and 1,500-2,000 seat facility in Pune.
Explaining further the Outsourcing firm said that the Mumbai facility would cover up to 22,000 square feet area and would be operational in two months, while the Pune facility would go live in the next 18 months. However, the company is yet to acquire a property in Pune.
Tricom India would be evaluating various options to finance the Outsourcing plan, it said, adding it would be through a mix of internal accruals and borrowings. This expansion would facilitate the Outsourcing company to cater to large orders in the business, which is growing at over 100 per cent per annum.
Earlier, Tricom India Ltd which had set up a wholly owned US subsidiary namely, the Tricom Document Management Inc, is also planning offices in New Jersey and Chicago in this quarter, it said.
Priyanka. S
Thursday, January 13, 2005
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.''
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.
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.
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.
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
Monday, January 03, 2005
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.
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.
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
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Outsourcing to India -- U.S legal Claims to be Outsourced to India
The Outsourcing Industry sure seems to be on a roll with the U.S. Legal Claims processing being eager to be processed in India. The legal work would be a significant departure from mere data capturing and imaging. Half a billion dollars worth of money is to be made in this business, believes one of the largest legal firms in the US representing Indian tech companies in California.
Ropers Majeski Kohn and Bentley (RMKB), a California-based legal firm with 130 lawyers on its payroll, is one of the top-25 legal firms in the state and among the biggest representing Indian IT businesses in the US.
This firm is in negotiations with Indian legal firms in Delhi and Mumbai to integrate Indian and US legal systems and bring in an Outsourcing company to handle some serious legal claims processing work.
RKMB represents HCL Technologies, Planet Asia, Transworld, Headstrong and Computech. It also handles the TechSpan and Headstrong merger that took place in early November to form a $100-million revenue company offering a wide range of infotech services.
RKMB represents HCL Technologies, Planet Asia, Transworld, Headstrong and Computech. It also handles the TechSpan and Headstrong merger that took place in early November to form a $100-million revenue company offering a wide range of infotech services.
“Companies in the United States want to do legal work on a fixed fee basis. Claims related legal work is huge business. However, it has a significant component of repetitive work that nonetheless requires much higher intellectual input work as compared to legal data processing and image capture. This is where we are looking for tie ups with legal firms in India,” said Michael J Ioannou, attorney at law, RMKB informed.
He said that his firm is taking up a pilot project for analysis in India. The project will involve Indian partners and focus on a few select legal cases. “After we assess the success of the initiative we will replicate the process on a larger scale,” he further added.
He said that his firm is taking up a pilot project for analysis in India. The project will involve Indian partners and focus on a few select legal cases. “After we assess the success of the initiative we will replicate the process on a larger scale,” he further added.
The legal firm is eyeing the significant savings that it would make in terms of legal fees to be paid to US lawyers for claims-related work. The firm is first targeting medical imaging, medical review and medical records cases pertaining to personal injury and other medico-legal issues.
According to the executives at this firm, The Indian Outsourcing partners will do the back office legal work while US lawyers in US courts will argue the cases. RKMB is also eyeing litigation work pertaining to Indian tech companies in the US.
“Most offshore Indian companies are better of facing litigation in the United States than in India as the process is much quicker in the US and does not keep IT firms in limbo for long periods of time. An average case will be on trial for one to two years which is a much shorter time period than in India,” said Ioannou. He added with a wink that Indian Outsourcing firms are also lucrative because they pay well and they pay on time.
India is already doing legal Outsourcing work from the US. Even as former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay and former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling are readying to face trial in the case pertaining to the meltdown in the global energy giant Enron, a Mohali based IT firm has been busy processing documents pertaining to the case.
IDS Infotech Limited has captured 37 million images of Enron documents and converted them into an electronic format. The work came to it through a US entity that outsourced the data conversion.
As for RKMB's previous work, RMKB has represented one of the top five public Indian companies in acquisition of a US software technology company and another in acquiring a small size Ohio and North Carolina based Outsourcing company. RKMB has also handled litigation work for some Indians.
Priyanka. S
Priyanka. S
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Outsourcing to India : Debt Collectors on the prowl!!!
Debt defaulters beware!! India has entered the new arena of debt collection and recovery in terms of Outsourcing. It comes complete with assurances of reducing debt recovery cost and the time needed for the process.
General Electric Co, Citigroup, HSBC Holdings and American Express are some of the Outsourcing companies that are using their India-based staff to pursue US credit card debts and mortgage payments by phoning delinquent debtors or tracking their whereabouts.
US industry executives say that low-cost Indian Outsourcing operations could influence the $18 billion dollar-a-year collections business works in America -- pushing it towards a more focused and persistent pursuit of ever smaller amounts of money, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Outsourcing companies in India are now offering third party debt collection services to US, European banks and other companies according to the newspaper reports.
Indian debt collectors are also opening their own offices or buying companies in North America to drum up more business. According to Indian Outsourcing executives, lower salary and technology expenses than their American rivals, can significantly reduce debt recovery costs. Thus, allowing US companies to go after even the smallest of debts. Furthermore, the Indian Outsourcing Company’s 24-hour service, can also improve recovery time according to the newspaper reports.
Priyanka. S
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Outsourcing to India: Japanese Companies to touch base India
Japanese Companies are all set to touch base with India where, Outsourcing is concerned. India, which has made a name for itself in the IT Outsourcing business, could also stand to benefit from Outsourcing in the manufacturing sector notably from Japanese companies.
“The Japanese manufacturing sector is strong and big and could look at more engagements with India given that other players like Korea have had good gains here,” said Mr. Kiran Karnik, president of Nasscom. He added that Japanese firms were not as aggressive as compared to their peers in the US or European firms who had been fast to latch on to the concept of Outsourcing (arising out of India’s positioning as a low-cost and quality IT service provider).
Mr. Karnik was speaking to the media on the sidelines of an interactive meeting jointly organized by Nasscom and the India Japan Initiative (IJI) furthermore, adding that Indian IT Outsourcing companies had good opportunity for expanding in the Japanese IT market.
Mr. Karnik was speaking to the media on the sidelines of an interactive meeting jointly organized by Nasscom and the India Japan Initiative (IJI) furthermore, adding that Indian IT Outsourcing companies had good opportunity for expanding in the Japanese IT market.
Reportedly, large IT players like Infosys and Wipro are some of the Indian companies that have set sights on Outsourcing to Japan. Queries on the glitches faced by Indian IT Outsourcing firms while, Outsourcing to Japan, Mr. Karnik said that besides the language barrier, there were other issues notably the social and cultural aspects.
Priyanka.S
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Outsourcing to India : U.K. Companies set sights on India
After the United Stated the Nation laying its bets on the Outsourcing Industry in India, it is now the turn of United Kingdom (U.K.) --- British Companies from diverse backgrounds such as Life Insurance to Communication as well as Publishers of Science, Technical and Medical Books have set sights on Outsourcing jobs to India.
To commence with, Norwich Union, Britain’s largest Life Insurance Company saved £140m by Outsourcing majority of its jobs to India, according to the company’s CEO Gary Withers. He said Norwich Union plans to achieve savings of a further £130m within the next three years, which is likely to include growth in the Outsourcing process to India. The British Company has announced plans to raise £1.7bn by securitising its equity release. It has also laid out plans to increase its market share by more than 50% over the next few years. Mr. Withers informed that Norwich Union would use the funds from the securitisation to capitalize on growth in the Outsourcing sector and plans to increase its market share from its current 12% of the British life and pensions market to 20% by the end of the decade.
Another major Company doing the rounds of Outsourcing jobs to India is the UK-based Publishing Company Alden Group – Publishers of Science, Technical and Medical Books is actively looking at the option of leveraging its overseas experience in India by Outsourcing jobs to India.
The $25 million Alden Group first entered India through a joint venture during the period 1998-2000. Set up a wholly owned subsidiary and grew its operations in Chennai from just 20 people to over 400 now. Recently, this British Company set up a unit in Trichy (Tamil Nadu) with about 50 people. “We are looking to expand our operations in both Chennai and Trichy. We would add about 150 people in the next one year, ” said Mr William Alden, managing director, Alden Group. The group has already shifted almost 80% of its operations to India from UK.
Joining the bandwagon is British insurance major Royal & Sun Alliance (RSA), which has announced that it would shift as many as 1,100 Outsourcing jobs from Britain to India in the next two years. The shift is expected to save the company more than 10 million pounds a year. The Outsourcing jobs would cover a range of front and back office functions, including call centre posts.
Some of the major and most familiar Reasons for Outsourcing to India as mentioned by these British Companies varied from Cheap Manpower that is available in the form of energizing young graduates to Low Wages to the growing desire to compete better in the global market with attractive pricing. Also, the Commendable Professionalism shown by Indian employees and The infinite opportunities for Greater Operational Flexibility has made many of these Companies put on their Thinking Caps and then, sees themselves laugh all the way to the Bank!
Some of the major and most familiar Reasons for Outsourcing to India as mentioned by these British Companies varied from Cheap Manpower that is available in the form of energizing young graduates to Low Wages to the growing desire to compete better in the global market with attractive pricing. Also, the Commendable Professionalism shown by Indian employees and The infinite opportunities for Greater Operational Flexibility has made many of these Companies put on their Thinking Caps and then, sees themselves laugh all the way to the Bank!
Priyanka.S.
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Security a High Priority while Outsourcing - Experts
Date: 25th September 2004
Outsourcing in recent times has gained high grounds due to the success factors such as slashed prices, around-the-clock operations and 24/7 production cycle that adds to overall productivity. India being in the forefront where Outsourcing to other regions is concerned.
Date: 25th September 2004
Outsourcing in recent times has gained high grounds due to the success factors such as slashed prices, around-the-clock operations and 24/7 production cycle that adds to overall productivity. India being in the forefront where Outsourcing to other regions is concerned.
However, it has been noticed that when it comes to outsourcing IT operations to countries such as India and China companies often fail to take into account cultural differences that may affect their security, according to experts attending the Gartner IT Security Summit in London today.
It is not about a minor issue like breaking into someone else' s mailbox but areas such as unauthorized access to firewall, special software's and other high-end security areas. This casual attitude toward privacy could have serious consequences when it comes to protecting corporate data, warn experts. Most of the high-end processes involve intellectual property rights, for which the Indian legal system doesn’t offer any protection. The situation is quiet different globally. Most of the US Outsourcing firms require their employees to sign an employment agreement that prohibits them from carrying, or transferring in any way, the company’s source code out of a development facility. And there are strict laws to protect the outsourcing firm's interest in the case of any breach of IPR contracts.
Source code is the most important intellectual property of any software vendor and theft of code means serious risk for any software manufacturer. An exposure of the source code to the external world can potentially risk years of research and development investment. With direct access to the source code, competitors stand to gain a direct access to the underlying technology as well as various product secrets or even potentially redistribute the illegally obtained source code as a competitive product. An additional issue with source code is that with the threat from terrorist organisations looms large, a transferred or sold data to hackers means the program can be altered and redistributed as the original to cause lot of damage not only to the Outsourcing company but to millions of computers wired to the networks.
Lawrence Lerner, senior technical architect of the Advanced Solutions Group at Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp said his company advises its clients to document its processes while outsourcing and get all parties involved to sign off on procedures to ensure transparency. As a result of high demand by Western companies looking to reduce costs, some outsourcing service providers in India and China are growing rapidly, hiring thousands of new employees in a month." When you are hiring 5,000 people at a time, you need to make sure that they all adhere to the same standards," Lerner said. Mentioning the rules and regulations in the Contract while, hiring is the only way of ensuring that security and regulatory compliance concerns are met.
Priyanka. S.
Friday, September 17, 2004
Insurance Outsourcing Gaining Ground
India has become one of the most popular destinations for outsourcing insurance processes and top insurance companies in the US and Europe—Cox Insurance Holdings, Aviva Life Insurance, AXA Sun Life have moved their processes to India based captive or third party outsourcing firms.
According to the Global Insurance Outsourcing report released by the Value Notes Outsourcing Practice, which looks at outsourcing, currently around 63 percent of India’s insurance outsourcing revenue comes from the US. Some of the top players in the insurance vertical are WNS, HTMT, EXL, ICICI, One Source and GTL.
The report emphasizes the potential for insurance outsourcing with over 1,500 property and casualty insurance companies and 1,300 health insurance companies in the US alone.
Globally, the banking, financial services and insurance vertical is the fastest growing segment in outsourcing. Several large Indian service providers have, thorough organic growth or acquisitions, set up centers in the US, Canada and other places that qualify as ‘near shore’ outsourcing destinations.
Jesmine
India has become one of the most popular destinations for outsourcing insurance processes and top insurance companies in the US and Europe—Cox Insurance Holdings, Aviva Life Insurance, AXA Sun Life have moved their processes to India based captive or third party outsourcing firms.
According to the Global Insurance Outsourcing report released by the Value Notes Outsourcing Practice, which looks at outsourcing, currently around 63 percent of India’s insurance outsourcing revenue comes from the US. Some of the top players in the insurance vertical are WNS, HTMT, EXL, ICICI, One Source and GTL.
The report emphasizes the potential for insurance outsourcing with over 1,500 property and casualty insurance companies and 1,300 health insurance companies in the US alone.
Globally, the banking, financial services and insurance vertical is the fastest growing segment in outsourcing. Several large Indian service providers have, thorough organic growth or acquisitions, set up centers in the US, Canada and other places that qualify as ‘near shore’ outsourcing destinations.
Jesmine
Monday, September 13, 2004
U.S Study Sings Praises Of Outsourcing To India
It might be touted as the next best thing that ever happened to the IT industry, but lending credence to all the brouhaha surrounding outsourcing, especially to India, is a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan Business School and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. The study has estimated that the average annual decline in quality-adjusted price for software projects developed offshore is about 14 percent or 56,000 dollars per project.
The outsourcing movement in software development is driven by a strong cost saving motive. In order to improve both quality and cost, some of the successful outsourcing software vendors have adapted and disciplined their development processes to squeeze costs out of the system. The study further added that, as the potential for further cost savings declines over time, reducing other sources of client dissatisfaction becomes more salient.
The study explored potential sources of customer dissatisfaction and how outsourcing vendors might address them. For example, more experienced development team members command higher wages and raise project execution costs, so vendors have an incentive to staff projects with less experienced members who are paid lower wages.
Some of the outsourcing locations such as India can also be a source of high variance in quality as local firms compete to bid the lowest price for overseas projects. Therefore, as global companies attempt to benefit from access to offshore resources, it is important to assess the process capabilities and the quality of training infrastructure of their offshore partners.
Jesmine
It might be touted as the next best thing that ever happened to the IT industry, but lending credence to all the brouhaha surrounding outsourcing, especially to India, is a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan Business School and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. The study has estimated that the average annual decline in quality-adjusted price for software projects developed offshore is about 14 percent or 56,000 dollars per project.
The outsourcing movement in software development is driven by a strong cost saving motive. In order to improve both quality and cost, some of the successful outsourcing software vendors have adapted and disciplined their development processes to squeeze costs out of the system. The study further added that, as the potential for further cost savings declines over time, reducing other sources of client dissatisfaction becomes more salient.
The study explored potential sources of customer dissatisfaction and how outsourcing vendors might address them. For example, more experienced development team members command higher wages and raise project execution costs, so vendors have an incentive to staff projects with less experienced members who are paid lower wages.
Some of the outsourcing locations such as India can also be a source of high variance in quality as local firms compete to bid the lowest price for overseas projects. Therefore, as global companies attempt to benefit from access to offshore resources, it is important to assess the process capabilities and the quality of training infrastructure of their offshore partners.
Jesmine
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Indian IT Firms Treading Towards Smaller Cities
Smaller Indian cities, which offer better prospects, are likely to witness Indian software makers and outsourcing firms queuing up before them. This changeover can be noticed due to the overcrowding and crumbling infrastructure in the metros.
The smaller cities are attracting IT firms and outsourcing firms like never before, as a large pool of human resource backs these cities, infrastructure and policy support. According to a recent study jointly conducted by Nasscom and KPMG, a city like Jaipur, hitherto ignored by IT services and outsourcing firms might soon emerge as a major hub due to a number of positive factors and government initiatives. Jaipur retains the advantage of small city- lower travel time, real estate and power availability. It has gained global visibility as the tourism hub of Rajasthan and is trying to leverage this for IT and ITES industry.
Similarly, Pune has also the potential to emerge as a preferred destination for software development and outsourcing activities in the country. The report says Pune was currently ranked attractive on parameters like human resources with more than 190 colleges, providing education in engineering, management and others, producing around 200,000 graduates every year. It has long been regarded as a location for industrial engineering and logistics businesses and this has naturally drawn investments from IT and ITES companies in related industries.
Overall cost of living in Pune is 37 percent lower as compared to that in the country's financial capital of Mumbai, impacting the house rent and transport allowances under cost-to-company.
Jesmine
Smaller Indian cities, which offer better prospects, are likely to witness Indian software makers and outsourcing firms queuing up before them. This changeover can be noticed due to the overcrowding and crumbling infrastructure in the metros.
The smaller cities are attracting IT firms and outsourcing firms like never before, as a large pool of human resource backs these cities, infrastructure and policy support. According to a recent study jointly conducted by Nasscom and KPMG, a city like Jaipur, hitherto ignored by IT services and outsourcing firms might soon emerge as a major hub due to a number of positive factors and government initiatives. Jaipur retains the advantage of small city- lower travel time, real estate and power availability. It has gained global visibility as the tourism hub of Rajasthan and is trying to leverage this for IT and ITES industry.
Similarly, Pune has also the potential to emerge as a preferred destination for software development and outsourcing activities in the country. The report says Pune was currently ranked attractive on parameters like human resources with more than 190 colleges, providing education in engineering, management and others, producing around 200,000 graduates every year. It has long been regarded as a location for industrial engineering and logistics businesses and this has naturally drawn investments from IT and ITES companies in related industries.
Overall cost of living in Pune is 37 percent lower as compared to that in the country's financial capital of Mumbai, impacting the house rent and transport allowances under cost-to-company.
Jesmine
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