BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) Blog

New media outsourcing to India picks up

2011-08-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

Foreign companies have begun outsourcing new media work such as online reputation management, data mining, influencer identification and crisis management directly to small and mid-sized Indian social networking agencies. This is even as big agencies continue to sub-contract work to smaller agencies in India

Outsourcing Education

2011-07-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

Does It Matter If Someone in India Corrected Your College Paper?

Plenty of American businesses have outsourced jobs across the globe, and now colleges are jumping on the bandwagon. Colleges are hiring online "tutors" to check student work for grammar and other English mistakes and provide the kind of feedback students used to get from professors or teaching assistants before budget cuts resulted in staff layoffs and unmanageably large class sizes.

'IT-BPO sector contributing to India's growth'

2011-03-01T00:17:00.000-08:00

MUMBAI: Turning the spotlight on India's IT-BPO (business process outsourcing) sector, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) began its 19th edition annual India Leadership Forum 2011.

"The Indian IT-BPO industry has had a phenomenal run over the last decade, contributing immensely to India's growth," Nasscom chairman Harsh Manglik said.

" It is imperative for industry stakeholders to break out of the traditional mould that resulted in past successes and step up to the aspirations of 2020. I hope this event will provide the platform for the industry to discuss, debate and strategise the growth path ahead," he added.

IANS,Feb 7, 2011, 04.59pm IST

BPO calls reach B-School campus

2011-03-01T00:15:00.000-08:00

Managerial and consulting roles in call centres attract IIM graduates.

Business process outsourcing (BPO) firms that so far hired from tier three B-schools will now flaunt IIM graduates. Take the case of Delhi-based BPO firm EXL Services which has managed to hire over 10 management graduates from India’s premier Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. The highest ever for any BPO company so far, EXL Services has hired the IIM-A graduates for general managerial and consulting roles.

“This year we have been aggressive in hiring from B-schools as we want to grow our foot-print in these management schools. We have been hiring from B-schools since 2003-04, but that has always been limited to one or two students. This year we have managed to give offer letters to 10 students from IIM-A itself. Last year we hired around seven management graduates from top B-schools,” said Sanjay Gupta, Global HR Head, EXL Services. The company is visiting five to six more B-school campuses this year to meet its target of hiring 15-18 management graduates. The company is of the view that the focus on management talent is due to the shift that the industry is witnessing as well as the work that is coming to the Indian players.

BPO and IT services firms have traditionally hired large number of students from engineering colleges and graduation colleges. But hiring from top B-schools has always been a tad difficult as students prefer to work with sectors like banking, consultancy, and FMCG.

The trend to hire more management graduates is however, not limited to EXL services alone or to the third party BPO sector. Captive BPOs of IT companies are also joining the bandwagon. IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) plans to hire over 1,200 management students for FY11 from B-schools across the nation. Of these the company has already extended offer letters to 557 students. TCS BPO has also made 129 offers so far. READ MORE

Emergence of Rural BPOs in India

2011-01-05T00:22:00.000-08:00

Booming India Inc has led to skyrocketing real estate and infrastructure costs in Tier-1 cities. BPO industry has thrived all these years because of its ability to deliver services at a low cost. Increasing infrastructure costs, real estate costs, and salaries have raised BPO costs significantly and as a result Indian BPOs in Tier-1 cities are looking at Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities for operation.

Few entrepreneurs who had a vision of bringing the rural India into the mainstream of knowledge economy have found an opportunity here - setting Rural BPOs. The transformation of rural India started with the emergence of these Rural BPOs. The major hurdles that these BPOs faced is quality man power. As a result these rural BPOs have remained targeting low end jobs like data entry

Utilising high BPO prospects

2010-07-08T02:39:00.000-07:00

BUSINESS process outsourcing (BPO) is a form of outsourcing that involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of a specific business function (or processes) to a third-party service provider. Originally, this was associated with large manufacturing firms particularly some multinationals that outsourced sizeable segments of their supply chain. In the contemporary context, it is primarily used to refer to the outsourcing of services that can be done through the use of Information technology (IT). That's why some people call it as ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services).

International investment consultancy firm Mckinsey forecasted that, by 2010, the global BPO business will amount US$180 billion. India will be in prime position. China, the Philippines, and Malaysia will follow India. If Bangladesh fixes up a target of grabbing 1.0% of the total market share, then it can experience a large boost to its foreign exchange earnings. This sector is very much lucrative compared to other sectors as all the earnings from this service will be retained within the country. more

Indian Domestic IT BPO Market Growing

2010-03-24T06:54:00.001-07:00

March 21, 2010 (FinancialWire) The hardware and the IT services markets have traditionally grown faster in India. Economic growth and globalization have made Indian companies adopt best practices and improve capabilities with their products and services to compete in a global market place. BPO, on the other hand, in the domestic market is still nascent but propensity towards adoption is higher. Corporate houses in India have been quick in adopting IT as a first step in standing up to a globalized competitive landscape. Not just the private sector but the government sector also opened up to IT adoption. E-governance initiatives, which actually started about 30 years ago in India, have now reached local government organizations. The use of Information and Communication technologies can now be seen across various government departments.

BPO employees may soon work from home too

2009-10-01T23:45:00.000-07:00

Raman Roy’s Quatrro becomes first company to get DoT permission; starts pilot projects.

A year after the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) conditionally relaxed rules on IT-BPO employees working from home, Raman Roy, chairman & managing director of Quatrro BPO Solutions, has started pilot projects in Mumbai and Delhi to explore the possibility of scaling up the model.
Quatrro is the first BPO to have secured permission for this model from DoT. “This is a provisional permission. Once the company is able to meet all our security concerns, we will grant them a licence,” confirmed a senior DoT official on condition of anonymity.
The licence is a prerequisite for service providers to provide infrastructure and last-mile connectivity.
The $11-billion BPO sector employs over 750,000 people, and "working from home" could add significantly to the employment numbers, said Roy. He added that he has been “toying with the idea for nearly two years before I got help from software body Nasscom and the required permission from the DoT”.
Roy plans to launch another pilot in Chennai soon. He has also appointed a dedicated team of six senior employees — including a lawyer and a technician — to make these pilots successful.

Is the BPO industry on the wane?

2009-10-01T23:41:00.000-07:00

Is the BPO industry on the wane? Even though many may consider this sort of apprehension too unlikely, some reports do depict that the industry is not in the right track or failing to gratify the aspiration.
A new report conducted under the auspices of analyst firm Gartner is of the view that almost one quarter of the acclaimed Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) operatives will cease to exist in the form of separate entities by 2012. In accordance with its views, owing to continual rise of new vendors, acquisitions may have a decisive effect on market and this stunning reality will change the BPO provider landscape in the coming years. What should be the necessary task then? Gartner thinks that the enterprises have to search for warning signs while appraising BPO vendors to lessen risks. read more

Advantage of SEO Outsourcing

2009-07-05T02:34:00.000-07:00

SEO Outsourcing is mainly the Outsourcing of the SEO tasks which is mostly meant to enlarge the traffic to a site and make it visible to the bunch on the Internet.

The main purpose of Outsourcing SEO tasks is for the fact that an SEO in a company is considered to be a perfect loner.

With the obligation of high trafficking, an SEO is always recognized to be overfull with tasks and thus is speculated to be bringing lower production.

More details and affordable SEO services : SEO4website.com

Banking Outsourcing and India

2009-07-05T02:32:00.000-07:00

Understanding the demanding requirements of Banking Customers in various locations helps the banks to swell new marketing products and strategies. This further leads them to stay ahead in the highly competitive global market. It is predictable that with a growth rate of approximately 37%, Indian revenues from banking and financial departmental services would reach to a height of $6.5 billion by the fiscal year of 2011.

Globally the banks have by and large realized the fact that Banking Outsourcing is a tactic which; cut down cost, expanding their scopes and optimizing their revenues. The gradual move towards International Banking Outsourcing magnifies the requirements to recognize and pick vendors according to their potential and abilities to provide the Outsourced Banking Services at specified locations.

Banking Outsourcing and India

With real time round the clock service providers in India, who process online 24x7, with reliability and precision, banking outsourcing solutions is increasing its reaction in the country as well as its employee, thereby enabling the bank to be more flexible and alert.

What is BPO Consulting?

2009-07-05T02:29:00.000-07:00

BPO Consulting provides business process outsourcing, consulting and accounting system implementation to small, emerging growth and concept-stage businesses. Employees of BPO Consulting include experienced CPAs, MBAs, accountants, and bookkeepers.

Outsourcing BPO to India - The Long Term Benefits

2009-07-05T02:28:00.000-07:00

Amidst the mounting furor against outsourcing one has to examine things more objectively. In the short term, cost benefits and value addition may not be apparent because of the initial investment involved in training and infrastructure. Also outcries against migration of jobs seem to cement the argument. However, as the NASSCOM report shows, the long term benefits are very powerful. Not only does outsourcing BPO to India allow global companies to avail of some of the best talent and expertise at competitive rates, but it also allows the company to actually save several jobs, which it might have had to lay off otherwise.

U.S. BPO services in healthcare to reach $5.3 billion in 2012

2009-07-05T02:23:00.000-07:00

As per its January 2009 estimates, technology research firm IDC expects U.S. BPO services in healthcare to reach $5.3 billion in 2012, at a compound annual growth rate of 14.6 percent from 2007 levels.

Healthcare spending in the United States is expected to touch $2.5 trillion, or about 17.6 percent of the country's economy, in 2009. This roughly equals the total gross domestic product of France.

Is there a career path in the BPO industry?

2009-06-03T01:39:00.000-07:00

Popular belief is that there are numerous job opportunities but fewer career opportunities in the BPO sector, but I feel that the Indian BPO industry currently has boundless career opportunities. This is evident from the fact that over the years the scope of services has grown from providing just voice-based marketing and customer relationship management services to transaction processing in finance and accounting, human resources, learning and procurement, legal transcription, animation and multimedia, content creation, as well as industry-specific services focusing on the insurance, healthcare, pharmaceutical and utility industries.

For example, companies in the life science industry are quite familiar to outsourcing; they outsource some of their critical processes like drug discovery, clinical trials, product manufacture, and data management. Thus the mainstream outsourcing service providers require specialist knowledge and skill sets to perform traditional life science functions such as clinical data management and pharmacovigilance (the monitoring of drug safety). India is a popular offshore location for outsourcing these sensitive functions, due largely to cost benefits and the availability of an appropriately skilled talent pool.

Sourced from The Hindu

How are parents viewing their wards’ choice of BPO jobs?

2009-06-03T01:38:00.000-07:00

With youngsters wishing to join a BPO because they genuinely see it as a long-term career option, parents are also becoming more supportive towards this avenue. There is an increasing realisation that BPOs are just not about call centres, but about providing the right opportunities and building skills and global exposure. In a nutshell, employees in the BPO industry now get a challenging career with tremendous growth opportunities, hands-on experience of understanding different geographies, customs and cultures early in life. This experience of understanding and appreciating diversity is very valuable for their professional growth.

Outsourcing's Next Hot Spots, Who's next after India?

2009-04-02T01:58:00.000-07:00

Companies will soon see outsourcing as a game of dice – hedging their bets and spreading outsourcing deals across the world, a report by the London School of Economics (LSE) has predicted.

Report co-author professor Leslie Willcocks said today the global growth in IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) in various new countries across the globe will allow businesses to gamble on many different offshoring deals.

"At one level it is a craps game, you spread your bets and you take your chances," he said.

"One country may be highly risky but you are willing to go ahead with the deal because you know that you can transfer it out if something goes wrong.

"Offshoring today is a transitionary phase in a much larger movement towards a global division of labour."

The LSE's Beyond Bric report looked at 14 countries outside the traditional IT and BPO hubs of Brazil, Russia, India and China (Bric). Bric countries currently dominate the outsourcing market – accounting for $45bn of its $55bn annual global value.

The report examined fledgling IT and BPO outsourcing industries in Central and Eastern Europe; the Middle East and Africa; Asia and the Americas.

Willcocks said India's struggles with high levels of staff turnover, rising costs and overburdened infrastructure is making emerging competitors more attractive.

"India will continue to dominate for the next 20 years but it has run into some challenges.

"Meanwhile, China is seen as having difficulty in languages and problems with intellectual property and Russia can't seem to get its act together.

"If the non-Bric countries can take advantage of these countries' challenges then they will be able to work that to their advantage. They should look to learn from India's mistakes of not developing infrastructure and skills base fast enough to keep up with that growth."

The predicted growth in the global ITO and BPO markets – which Willcocks described as "recession proof" – with outsourcing revenue set to grow between six and nine per cent each year.

The need for more offshore deals will be compounded by a desire for nearshoring along with widespread skills shortages among Western countries. The UK is predicted to have a shortfall of more than 14,000 IT specialists by 2010 and the US a shortage of 15 million by 2025, Willcocks said.

Topping the report's list of the outsourcing hotspots in many areas was Egypt. The country is a good fit for offshore IT outsourcing, BPO and call centre deals because of its low costs, its ability to scale up its offerings and the 31,000 science, tech and engineering and 20,000 English speaking graduates it produces each year.

The report, which was commissioned by the Egypt's Information Technology Industry Development Agency, says that Egypt needs to work on improving its management skills and transportation systems, changing perceptions of risk in the US and on attracting more high value work from Western clients.

Provided by silicon.com—Driving Business Through Technology - source via : businessweek

Genpact named ‘Best Performing BPO Provider’ & ‘Best Performing Finance & Accounting Outsourcing Firm’ in the 2009 Global Services 100 Survey

2009-03-05T01:57:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK — Genpact (NYSE:G), a leader in the globalization of services and technology and a pioneer in managing business processes for companies around the world, today announced that it has been ranked as the Best Performing BPO Provider & Best Performing FAO Provider in the 2009 Global Services 100 listing. The awards were presented at the 2009 Global Services Conference on February 26, 2009 in New York City.

Genpact has been a consistent performer in the Global Services 100 Survey, having been named the winner of the Best Performing BPO category for the last three years – 2007, 2008, and 2009. For the first time this year, Genpact has also been named number one in the Finance & Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) category. Genpact is the only company to have won in two categories this year.

“We are proud to have retained our position as the Best Performing BPO Provider, and are delighted to have also been named the ‘Best Performing FAO’ firm this year. Our process expertise in delivering end-to-end services across a breadth of industries and operational excellence driven by our Six Sigma, Lean and Re-engineering capabilities have allowed us to stand out in this tough environment”, said Mr. Pramod Bhasin, President & CEO of Genpact. “We thank Global Services, neoIT, our customers and employees for this important recognition”, added Mr. Bhasin.

Obama Shocks India: No Tax Break For Firms Offshoring Jobs

2009-03-05T01:53:00.000-08:00

US President Barack Obama, in his first address to a joint session of US Congress, has said that his Government will not give tax breaks to US companies that ship jobs overseas.

Thursday, February 26, 2009: ASSOCHAM president Sajjan Jindal has expressed serious concern over the Obama administration decision to deny tax benefits to US companies that outsource their jobs, adding that it will prevent free flow of goods and services under WTO regime. In a statement, Jindal said that the beneficiary of outsourcing jobs has not only been the receiving country but more so the country which has outsource their jobs in the past and the trend will remain so even in future. Estimates reveal that a US$ job outsourced fetched the outsource country more than 10 times of economic benefits and therefore discourage outsourcing by denying tax benefits can prove disastrous, Jindal added.

Outsourcing your Logo Design

2009-02-09T23:17:00.000-08:00

Why not outsource to a company that specializes in logo design? There are many companies that now focus their efforts solely on logo design. There are a variety of benefits to choosing this path:

Cost Savings: Outsourcing your design will cost you a fraction of what it would hiring an independent designer or using in-house staff.
Faster Turnaround Time: Logo design companies will make your project a priority and have a thorough understanding of the design process.
Fresh Perspectives: Having someone look at your ideas and concepts from a fresh point of view is always a good idea in logo design.

CustomLogosDesign.com brings you into the logo design process. With Custom Logos Design your logo is created just for you with your input. It allows you to get the best logo for your business. With Custom Logos Design you get the benefit of voicing your opinion and then having the logo created by an experience logo design professional made to your specifications. It is definitely what you want when designing a logo, so that you are sure to get a logo design that best represents your company. more

CustomLogosDesign.com offers Affordable Logo design Services in India, Australia, United States / USA, UK, Canada etc.

BPO - Process Risks

2009-02-05T22:46:00.000-08:00

Process risks are, by far, the most comprehensive set that needs to be managed properly for ensuring minimal operational problems. Each business process has its own set of metrics that are important to the buyer as well as the vendor of these services. The perspectives of the clients and vendors of BPO services regarding risks are interesting. To the BPO services buyer, overall high customer satisfaction is the goal of customer-facing processes. Other risks may be important, but are subservient to the customer satisfaction goals.

The BPO services vendor is interested in making sure that process risks covered by contractual obligations are addressed first and foremost. Since many contracts include provisions for incentives and penalties for meeting and not meeting certain metrics, they end up high on the agenda. However, many vendors go above and beyond these and keep track of other metrics that help them with internal agent performance evaluations. Other metrics that will help them make sure that the business process is executed properly could also be monitored, whether they need to disclose these to the customers or not. They know that if these metrics aren't met consistently, the entire contract may be in jeopardy sooner or later.

A broad classification of process risks is one of qualitative risks and quantitative risks. Qualitative risks may deal with customer satisfaction issues and are measured usually by the BPO client using customer satisfaction surveys, in case the processes are customer facing. In non-customer facing processes such as financial accounts finalization, qualitative risks may be linked to an assessment of how well the services were provided.

Quantitative risks broadly deal with efficiency and effectiveness risks. They can be dealt with appropriately through prudent and appropriate choice of metrics. Efficiency metrics usually deal with time-related aspects of a business process. Average handle time and average hold time are good examples of efficiency metrics that deal with telephone support. Efficiency metrics may also include such items as number of loan cases handled per hour or number of claims handled per hour.

BPO: To be strategic, consider these questions

2009-02-05T22:27:00.000-08:00

Can we reasonably find areas that are acceptable for outsourcing? What areas of the business are good candidates for outsourcing? Can we get buy-in from the C-level executives? Can we get buy-in from the mid-level managers involved, including those in IT? Answers to those often-tough questions come from meetings and discussions that include all the business units involved.

Economic recession & BPO industry

2009-01-23T21:01:00.000-08:00

Economic recession has hit the world with vengeance. But the industry which has thrived this adversity is the BPO industry. When costs of doing work in-house has increased in the companies abroad, they have started to outsource their business requirements, which in turn has become a blessing in disguise to us.

The global economic scenario goes haywire now-a-days. People frantically talk about economic recession with a ‘what-will-be-my-future’ sort of look in their anxiety-filled eyes.

Even Nasscom, the industry association, points out that the current fiscal crisis in the United States will adversely affect the Indian BPO/IT sectors as the clients from USA would be very vigilant in their unrestricted spending on outsourcing their projects.

The revenue generated by the BPO & KPO industry in India is estimated to Rs.1,160 crores and provides employment to almost 7-8 lakh people in the year 2007-08. The largest contributor to the Indian BPO-KPO export market in 2007 is USA with a lion’s share of around 61%.

Why An All-in-one Accounting Services Outsourcing Is Preferred

2009-01-23T20:57:00.000-08:00

Not placing all your of eggs in the same basket may be a wise decision, but what is also true is that it does not apply to accounting services outsourcing. It is simply because unlike eggs, most of the accounting functions are interlinked and it would really create a confusing situation if different service providers are hired for each specific accounting process. Starting from basic bookkeeping and continuing to final accounts preparation, financial analysis and tax preparation, most of these accounting sub-processes fall in a linear functional path and it would be better if all of these are managed by a single accounting services outsourcing provider.

The list of all-in-one accounting services outsourcing providers may contain only a few names, but since such services are still readily available, businesses need not worry too much. In a way, it can actually work to their advantage because the less the number of providers, the less will be the effort businesses will have to make in order to select the right accounting services outsourcing provider. Finding the right accounting services outsourcing provider will further eliminate any worries that businesses might be having about placing all of their eggs in the same basket. Achieving desired results such as cost savings and efficiency and accuracy improvements will also become a lot easier then.

Scandal / Scam by India's Satyam founder Ramlinga Raju

2009-01-13T04:31:00.000-08:00

Satyam founder Ramlinga Raju has been booked for:

* Criminal conspiracy, after he confessed to perpetrating a 7,000-crore financial fraud
* He also faces charges of cheating for presenting a false picture
* Forgery for doctoring accounts and showing inflated revenues
* Raju and his brother have been booked for criminal breach of trust, now that the future of nearly half-a-lakh employees are at stake
* He’s also been booked for misappropriation of funds - several financial documents and bank statements are missing
* All charges are non-bailable

read all about scandal / scam here

Latest business process outsourcing (BPO) building offers flexibility, efficiency

2008-12-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

The completion of 1880 Eastwood Ave. this year signifies another excellent structure in Eastwood City Cyberpark.

This latest building from #1 business process outsourcing (BPO) office buildings developer Megaworld Corporation is guaranteed to offer the best location in Metro Manila when it comes to prestige, expenditure and overall client satisfaction. 1880 Eastwood Ave. is tailor-made to suit all kinds of BPO firms. It is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week, has full back-up power, and the latest telecommunications services, guaranteeing consistent high-bandwidth and fiber optic cables.

The building has six elevators, and service facilities set up on both ends of the office floors. This means that all operations are conducted at the heart of the building, maximizing space and increasing efficiency. “We are offering the best real estate solutions for BPO companies,” Megaworld FVP for business development Jericho Go stated. 1880 Eastwood Ave.’s adaptable design can accommodate the shifting schedule specifications of various BPO clients.

BPOs have the option to lease the amount of space best suited to their needs and once they decide to expand, they have the option to lease adjacent spaces or floors as they see fit, creating wide and easy to manage spaces. Also, the building is adjacent to 1800 Eastwood Ave, and locators have the option to combine office space in both buildings.

Financial requirements are also taken into consideration. According to Go, “Megaworld allows for maximum flexibility in the negotiations of the terms of the lease that will allow BPO companies to remain competitive in the global marketplace.” Ultimately, the lease costs in Eastwood City over a span of 5-10 years will still offer significant savings, as opposed to lease costs in Makati or Ortigas given the same length of time.

Found in the center of a bustling and modern 24/7 community, the advantageous position of 1880 Eastwood Ave. offers modern amenities and entertainment along with a natural and relaxing environment.
For more information on 1880 Eastwood Ave., BPO firms may call 912-0708 or visit www.megaworldcorp.com.

Source : Philstar

Slowdown to benefit BPO industry in India

2008-12-05T21:05:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: Indian industry will feel the real impact of the current meltdown in the US and other developed economies in the first quarter of 2009, with the business process industry likely to see job losses of up to a quarter of a million, said Samir Chopra, President, Business Process
Industry Association of India (BPIAI).

Addressing delegates at a session on 'Surviving US Recession- Developing & Transforming Policies', Chopra, however, saw a silver lining in the ongoing recession for the BPO sector, saying that it would compel more companies in the US and Europe to look at outsourcing as a way cut their costs and improve efficiencies.

South Africa: 2010 Opens BPO, Tourism Opportunities for Gauteng

2008-11-28T07:39:00.000-08:00

Johannesburg – The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), infrastructure and tourism are some of the opportunities presented by the 2010 Fifa World CupTM.
“In terms of business opportunities brought about by the 2010 Fifa World Cup, South African entrepreneurs can invest in infrastructure, particularly the maintenance of newly built structures, tourism and the BPO industry,” said Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economic Affairs, Mandla Nkomfe.
“The tourism industry is basically our new gold, as it contributes more than the actual gold mining industry does to the country’s Gross Domestic Product [GDP],” highlighted the MEC.
Speaking at the biggest inter-business soccer exhibition in the world, Soccerex 2008 on Wednesday, Nkomfe indicated that Gauteng was also the home of the BPO industry or call centre industry in South Africa.
Over 70 percent of all call centres in the country is based in Gauteng, he said, adding that in recognition of the importance of this industry, both IBM and Virgin Mobile have located their call centres in Gauteng. more

Call centers and business process outsourcing providers are among industry sectors in India that are likely to cut more than 25% of their staffing

2008-11-02T23:19:00.000-08:00

Call centers and business process outsourcing providers are among industry sectors in India that are likely to cut more than 25% of their staffing soon, according to a report by a trade body.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) said on Wednesday that companies in those sectors were faced with shrinking margins.

The prediction comes as the Diwali festival in India draws to a close. Companies postponed layoffs until the festival was over on humanitarian grounds, ASSOCHAM said.

Earlier this month, top Indian outsourcers like Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services reported slower revenue and profit growth in the quarter to Sept. 30. These companies get most of their revenue from the U.S. and Europe, with a large number of their customers in the troubled banking and financial services sectors. (Listen to a podcast asking whether outsourcers can survive the down economy.)

India's economy is also slowing down. The country's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, last week cut its estimate for the country's gross domestic product growth for the fiscal year ending next March 31 to a range of 7.5% to 8%, from an earlier forecast of 8%.

New hiring by India's IT and services outsourcing industry has slowed down, but companies are not yet considering large-scale cuts, according to analysts.

Demand for data entry work in india

2008-11-02T23:16:00.000-08:00

There is Demands increasing for data entry work in india. Most companies provide a list of prerequisites on the basis of which they assign work at home. They provide training for an entire batch and then have the software installed in the at-home employees computer system.

The employers either pay on a monthly basis, or per job basis, depending on their company policy. They have do require the data entry personnel to stay connected with the main office server.

The advantage of this is that one can seek assignments for a couple of companies at a time so that monotony does not step in, and can work as many hours as one wishes, not going below the desired minimum working hours set by the company.

BPO forum

2008-10-12T23:42:00.000-07:00

Visit www.mtb2b.com - a bpo forum addressing all issues related to bpo with news / updates and information for bpo industry.

Bpo’s Welcome Nurses For The Health Care Business

2008-08-26T03:15:00.000-07:00

Indian Nurses have never had it so good. After being wooed by hospitals in the US and Gulf, now the Indian IT/ITes sector is opening their gates to these Florence Nightingales. Outsourcing firms in the healthcare and life sciences and insurance space have started recruiting nurses and para medics to do jobs that require these specializations. read more

ESO (Engineering Services Outsourcing)

2008-07-18T03:28:00.000-07:00

ESO stands for Engineering Services Outsourcing.
Engineering Services Outsourcing (ESO) includes product design, research and development and other technical services across sectors like automotive, aerospace, hi-tech/telecom, utilities and construction/industrial machinery.
Spending on engineering services was $750 billion in 2004 and is projected to grow to $1.1 trillion globally by 2020, according to a recent Nasscom and Booz Allen Hamilton study - Globalisation Of Engineering Services - the next frontier for India.
ESO also stands for Educational Services Outsourcing. Education is a growing sector and the demand for Indian educators is on the rise. ESO market is estimated to be USD eight billion dollars and Indian teachers are currently offering services to countries like US, UK , Canada , and the Middle East. Though the main demand is from USA, newer markets of Netherlands and Europe too are fast opening up for Indian teachers.

EPO (Engineering Process Outsourcing)

2008-07-18T03:27:00.000-07:00

EPO stands for Engineering Process Outsourcing. India's engineering process outsourcing (EPO) business would grow 10-fold by 2014 to touch USD 30 billion and make the country a major hub in this area. The global EPO market, on the other hand, will grow to around USD 110-USD 140 billion by 2015

The IT Examiner's quick guide to outsourcing

2008-07-04T02:38:00.000-07:00

In recent years India has become an outsourcing Hub for the West, mainly because of lower costs and a good talent base available in the country.
The outsourcing services include customer care, BPO, medical transcription, telemarketing, market research , manufacturing, designing data management services, engineering services, financial services, creative services, web analytics services, healthcare services, ghost writing, digital image editing services, and software services.
So what exactly is outsourcing and why do companies do this, with India hogging the limelight? There are questions whether or not the economic slowdown will affect the outsourcing trend and even whether it will expand to other areas.
Outsourcing can be defined as a process in which a company delegates some of its in-house operations/processes to a third party. Thus, outsourcing is a contractual transaction through which one company buys services from another while keeping ownership and ultimate responsibility for the underlying processes. The clients inform their provider what they want and how they want the work performed. So the client can authorize the provider to operate as well as redesign basic processes in order to ensure even greater cost and efficiency benefits. Importance in outsourcing should be understood where the third party or partner company takes full responsibility of any part of operations undertaken.
When a company decides to concentrate on what it's best at, it decides to subcontract some of the process such as testing, manufacturing, development to a certain extent to a vendor company to reduce the overhead costs of the main company and make more efficient use of land, labour and resources for more important activities.
Source and more details

Top BPO jobs

2008-06-21T01:01:00.000-07:00

For top bpo jobs and career oppotunities, other bpo resources, bpo indian and worldwide companies listing & directories, classified ads, bpo works check out www.bpo.biz now.

BPO opportunity seen in UK due to UK 'knowledge worker' shortage

2008-06-21T00:57:00.000-07:00

MANILA, Philippines--The current shortage of "knowledge workers" in the United Kingdom is good news for the country's outsourcing push in Europe.
A recent report from The Work Foundation, a London-based research and consultancy firm, said that the UK will need to attract more highly skilled workers from overseas for its high technology and "'knowledge intensive" industries.
The report's author noted that numbers are "relatively low," with only 167,000 high skilled workers in the country.
Reached for comment, Stephanie Weber, European IT Services Center (EITSC) business development manager, said UK companies have been suffering from the skills shortage for some time now.
According to the report, Filipinos are the third largest group of highly-skilled migrant workers, with a population of around 10,000. Indian nationals are by far the largest group with more than 45,000 followed by about 25,000 workers from the United States.
Next to the Philippines is South Africa (8,000) and Australia (6,500).
Under the previous work permit regime in the UK, 24 percent of highly skilled migrants were ICT professionals, 13 per cent were service managers and almost 10 percent in the healthcare sector.

BPO vendors see larger US deals by year-end

2008-05-07T01:11:00.000-07:00

Clients expected to complete internal evaluation process by then

Mixed fortune

It is a temporary slump in offshoring due to the US credit crunch and the BPOs expect the same factors to fuel increased demand for outsourcing by year-end.

The uncertain environment has indeed forced client companies in the US to ‘reprioritise’ and ‘review’ their roadmap for the future
Adith Charlie

Mumbai, May 4 Is recession good or bad for the business process outsourcing sector? Probably both! Recession in US seems to be a mixed bag for Indian BPO vendors.

They do agree there has been a temporary slump in offshoring due to the US credit crunch, but expect the same recession-related factors to fuel increased demand for outsourcing by the end of the calendar year.

Both IT and BPO companies are witnessing a spate of project delays and cancellations, especially in the financial services space, due to recession in the world’s largest economy. It must be noted that clients can save up to $5 million in costs annually if they enter into a major outsourcing contract. So why are the US companies going slow on their BPO engagements even when they want to cut costs in a recession?

Says Mr Raju Venkatraman, Joint Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Mumbai-based Firstsource Solutions, “When a company is hit by a crisis that is at least 100 times bigger than the cost benefits that outsourcing will bring, would it think about saving $5 million a year or find solutions for the bigger problem?” Outsourcing is important, but not a priority in a crisis-like situation, he adds. - Source

India is the most favored destination for BPO / outsourcing. Future of Indian BPO

2008-04-02T22:47:00.000-07:00

India is the most favored destination for outsourcing. In 2003-2004, ITES-BPO companies were the largest recruiters in the IT/ITES sector, adding around 70,000 jobs. According to a research conducted by NASSCOM, Indian IT/BPO sector will employ more than 1.1 million Indians by 2008.

The future of BPOs in India depends upon the quality of education imparted to our young generation. In the recent past, there has been a decline in the quality of education in India, though the number of institutes has gone up. Education is not growing at the same pace as Indian economy.

Checkout latest BPO updates, BPO Industry News, BPO India Jobs & openings, BPO Classifieds and more

BPOs get `code of conduct` for employees` security, finally

2008-03-14T03:56:00.000-07:00

Taking the first concrete step towards curtailing the rising incidents of crime against business process outsourcing (BPO) staffers, a group of 32 Pune-based BPOs and National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) have framed a �code of conduct� to ensure their physical security.

The code of conduct, which is soon expected to be replicated across the country, deals with aspects such as security during travel, selection of transport vendors, internal communication and security within company premises.

Pune city has a BPO community of more than 95,000 and some 3,000 cars and jeeps are used as pick-up and drop vehicles for them by the 32 units.

Prominent players like Wipro, Zensar, WNS, KPIT Cummins, Mphasis and Ocean Connect have all agreed to implement the code of conduct framed by the best practises committee.

Outsourcing provide many benefits

2008-03-05T00:42:00.000-08:00

# Allow the Company to focus on their primary strengths and core competenices while letting the outsourced agency do the rest.

# BPO / Outsourcing help reduce the company overhead costs.

# Outsourcing takes away the the hassle of continuously hiring and training new employees.

# Business Process Outsourcing ensures an improved level of customer service for your clients.

# Outsourcing minimizes the huge capital investment needed in setting up offshore operations.

BPO.biz : One stop bpo resource - BPO Portal launched.

2008-02-26T21:57:00.000-08:00

BPO.biz : One stop bpo resource - BPO Portal launched.
BPO.biz features BPO Jobs for job seekers and BPO employers, Free BPO classified Ads, BPO industry news, blog & updates, BPO Business Directory and more.

BPO Jobs: BPO.biz is the exclusive place where you will find the best of bpo & call center jobs. We bring you the openings existing in the top Indian BPO companies thus helping you to get the best BPO jobs in India. If your are a recruiter or direct employer looking for the best candidates for your BPO job vacancies, BPO.biz offers you the best place to win them. It's completely free to post your BPO, Call center job vacancies here. Yes, we don't charge you for this till 10 jobs. We understand BPO industry and we know your BPO company needs. Just go ahead, lets reach the best of the candidates out there.

BPO Classifieds: Post BPO Ads. View BPO Ads - Free of cost. Find BPO Service Offerings and BPO Service requirements Ads here in this section. Find BPO (Business process outsourcing) services available and BPO offerings & find BPO Services Required ads. a this section.

MBA can work in a BPO!

2008-02-18T02:02:00.000-08:00

MBA can focus on the BPOs that are specialised/ niche players in that domain. MBA degree holders can bring much more to the table, and use your knowledge/ expertise to add additional value.

50% BPO staffers smoke: Study

2008-02-05T02:58:00.000-08:00

MUMBAI: A stressed-out youngster who works odd hours and is addicted to his cigarette. If that's your image of a BPO employee, it may not be too way off. "Smoking is common in BPOs," say doctors from cancer hub, Tata Memorial Hospital, who have recently launched an ambitious study to track the tobacco consumption patterns in four BPOs in the city.

The two-year-long study was launched in August 2007 and preliminary findings showed that more than 50% of employees turned to cigarettes during work hours.

Their concerns coincide with the growing emphasis on creating smoke-free environments, especially to keep youngsters away from passive smoke, which was the focus of the World Cancer Day observed on Monday.

While the BPOs in the study were no-smoking precincts, nothing stopped workers from taking a puff in their breaks, every two hours. So also, hookah bars nearby were also to blame for the addictive habit.

"Through the study, we are trying to understand why youngsters in BPOs who are generally educated and fall into the high income earning bracket take up smoking," said Dr Gauravi Mishra, consultant in preventive oncology at Tata Hospital.

As part of the study, doctors would also be initiating employees into behaviour therapy, pharmaco-therapy, education material and conducting focused group discussions to help workers kick the habit.

But it's not just youngsters in BPOs we need to worry about. Head of Tata Hospital's preventive oncology, Dr S Shastri pointed out how school children, too, were being initiated into tobacco, many being just passive smokers. This was an area of concern as cancer is already among India's leading killers with 8 lakh Indians being diagnosed with cancer every year. "We should have zero-tolerance when it comes to tobacco exposure for school children. Passive smoking is particularly harmful to the metabolism of children and pregnant women," he said.

The statistics were alarming. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey showed that a stunning 13% of school children were using tobacco in some form and one in three students lived in homes where someone smoked. Another doctor pointed out how children were more harmed as they inhaled more air and in turn more carcinogens.

Filmmaker and cancer survivor Anurag Basu joined the Tata doctors and Salaam Bombay Foundation in a smoke-free childhood campaign. He said, "When I was young, I thought it was macho to smoke. But looking back, I think one should be taught about the harmful effects of tobacco just as one is taught traffic rules, in school itself," he said. Basu was forced to quit smoking when he landed up in Tata hospital, years ago.

Source

Are BPO jobs no longer attractive? Working for a BPO today is a fast way to rake in the moolah!

2008-01-31T23:00:00.000-08:00

But what’s it like to be a BPO employee? The popular perception now is that ‘BPO’ is no more the acronym for Brighter Prospects & Opportunities. But is this true?

Well, the truth is that the BPO industry has done a whole lot of good for the country in terms of providing mass employment opportunities. In the early 1990s, it was unheard of for a graduate to get a job without having any additional qualifications. Today, an English-speaking graduate from any town or city in the country can easily find employment.

So, while the West continues to depend on us because of the relatively cheaper costs and intellectual capital here, why are people still hesitant to take up a BPO job? A former BPO employee, Arvind quit his job and opted for higher education. “It’s difficult to climb the corporate ladder beyond a certain point without a master’s degree.

A stint with a BPO became absolutely necessary to kill spare time while preparing for the numerous entrance exams to various colleges. I don’t want to be a BPO employee all my life,” he says.

Source

Personality tips for BPO interviews : Body language

2008-01-03T23:46:00.000-08:00

Walk with confidence; keep your chin parallel to the floor. Shake hands firmly when you meet the interviewer. Look at people and talk. Maintain eye contact; however, don't stare.

Keep your hands out of the pockets and don't fiddle with things like pen and paper. Don't fold your hands while talking to someone -- it conveys the impression that you are not open to their conversation.

And if you want to make a whole world of difference, SMILE.

BPO companies show the sector has been quite resilient

2007-12-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

The latest quarterly results of the BPO companies show the sector has been quite resilient in the face of multiple challenges: strengthening rupee, subprime problems and a possible demand slowdown in the US. However, high attrition rates, in excess of 50% in some cases, continue to be a serious concern for the industry. The listed BPOs that are delivering services primarily from India — Genpact, WNS, EXL and Firstsource — have notched up good sequential and year-on-year growth in revenue.

The bottom line, too, has grown well except in the case of WNS, which has taken a one-time hit due to its client mortgage lender First Magnus Financial Corporation going bankrupt. The BPO companies have managed to contain the currency risks largely through hedging. Genpact, for instance, is substantially hedged for its rupee costs for 2008 and 2009.

Geographical diversification has helped as well. Firstsource now has a better revenue split with the share of the US and UK coming down to 45% and 42% respectively, and that of India going up sharply to 13.2%. Most companies in the sector have even managed to improve operating margins.

BPO - Acronym & Definition

2007-12-04T21:56:00.000-08:00

There may be many popular meanings for BPO with the most popular definition being that of
Business process outsourcing or Business Process Outsourcer

OTHERS
Acronym Definition

BPO	Baltic Ports Organization
BPO	Bank Payment Order
BPO	Bartlesville Project Office (US DoE)
BPO	Base Post Office
BPO	Base Procurement Office
BPO	Basic Postflight Operations
BPO	Basic Protection Officer (International Foundation for Protection Officers)
BPO	Benevolent & Protective Order (of Elks of the USA)
BPO	Benzoyl Peroxide
BPO	Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
BPO	Blanket Purchase Order
BPO	blood program office (US DoD)
BPO	Bond Pad Opening
BPO	Boston Pops Orchestra
BPO	British Post Office (British Telephone System)
BPO	Broker Price Opinions
BPO	Broker's Price Opinion (FNMA)
BPO	Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
BPO	Bundesparteiobmann (German; Austria, Europe)
BPO	Busch Post Office (Rutgers College)
BPO	Business Process Object
BPO	Business Process Optimization
BPO	Business Process Outsourcing

BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) Resources & Guide

2007-11-15T00:14:00.000-08:00

Outsourcing is contracting with another company or person to do a particular function. Almost every organization outsources in some way. Typically, the function being outsourced is considered non-core to the business. An insurance company, for example, might outsource its janitorial and landscaping operations to firms that specialize in those types of work since they are not related to insurance or strategic to the business. The outside firms that are providing the outsourcing services are third-party providers, or as they are more commonly called, service providers.

Outsource And Delegate. How To Work Less And Make A Lot More Money!

The Internet Marketers Guide To Outsourcing. The Ultimate Guide To Outsourcing Is Here! Nuff Said.

How big is the Indian KPO market?

2007-11-02T02:30:00.001-07:00

According to industry estimates, by 2010, the size of the KPO industry would be worth $17 billion globally, out of which India would hog almost $12bn. Nasscom and Evalueserve estimate that by 2010, 300,000 jobs would be created in the KPO space and 70% of these jobs are expected to come to India. But the picture is not as rosy as it looks. The KPO industry will have to wade through many challenges to keep up the expectations and predictions for its bright future.

One of the major problems faced by the KPO industry is the dearth of skilled manpower with domain expertise. The client's expectations and quality requirements are very high. Also in the KPO space, client conversion and development takes longer compared to other processes. If India wants to get 70% of KPO jobs by 2010, then serious intervention at the educational level and investment in training are imperative.

Outsourcing is not new, its popular for decade

2007-11-02T02:21:00.000-07:00

Outsourcing is not new - it has been a popular management tool for decade. One can safely say outsourcing has evolved :-

1960's - time-sharing
1970's - parts of IT operations
1980's - entire IT operations
1990's - alliances/tie-ups
2000's - IT-enabled services

5 Indian cities among top global outsourcing / BPO hubs

2007-10-03T02:02:00.000-07:00

Reflecting the immense potential of India's information technology and outsourcing prowess, five Indian cities are among the top 10 global emerging outsourcing destinations with Chennai topping the list.

Among the top 10 cities, Hyderabad is ranked at the second position followed by Pune (3rd), Kolkata (5th) and Chandigarh (9th).

The study jointly carried out by Cyber Media's Global Services magazine and investment advisory firm Tholons has drawn up a list of 'Top 50 Emerging Outsourcing Cities' and India is represented with six cities including Coimbatore (21st) while China has five cities.

The Philippines city of Cebu (4th), Vietnamese city of Ho Chi Minh (6th), Colombo (7th), Shanghai (8th) and Beijing (10th) have also found a place in the top-10 chart.

"With the demand-supply gap widening, newer Tier II cities will play a critical role in re-engineered globalisation models," said Tholons Chairman and CEO Avinash Vashistha.

Low cost, developed infrastructure, skilled workers and low attritions are the main reasons for Chennai bagging the top spot.

"Chennai is expected to house more than 73,000 workers of the top three Indian IT companies (TCS, Infosys and Wipro) by 2010," the report said.

In addition, it point out that Chennai is an established location for automotive engineering services, product development and health care BPO. It also houses big names like Accenture, Cognizant, TCS, Infosys, IBM, Satyam and Sun Microsystems.

India remains the most favoured outsourcing / BPO destination

2007-10-03T01:58:00.000-07:00

India remains the most favoured outsourcing destination, according to CyberMedia's Global Services survey on Emerging Outsourcing Destinations in 2007.

Even as fears that the rupee appreciation and rising wage costs would blunt its edge, India still boasts of the largest number of cities (6) which figure among the top 50 emerging cities, followed by China (5), Brazil (3), the Philippines (3) and USA (3), among others.

The study identified Asia and East Europe as the favoured destinations for information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO), as 19 Asian and 12 East and Central European nations featured in the list of the top 50 emerging outsourcing cities globally. Bangalore, New Delhi, National Capital Region (NCR), Manila, Mumbai and Dublin dominated as the top five cities that have established themselves as prime outsourcing cities by servicing the global corporate world for over a decade, the study said.

The top three emerging outsourcing cities world-wide from India are Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. While Kolkata ranked fifth, followed by Kolkata in the ninth spot.

BPO companies zero in on healthcare outsourcing

2007-09-02T23:35:00.000-07:00

ndian software services BPO companies are setting their sights on the healthcare outsourcing market. Hospitals and large physician groups in the US outsource activities such as patient records, handling claims, medical policies for the government and third party administrators (TPAs), so that hospitals do not have to bear these overheads.

Indian BPOs, which earlier forayed into the healthcare segment through medical transcription, which involved necessary documentation to satisfy regulatory and insurance provider requirements, are now looking at high-end outsourcing contracts.

Recently, companies like Wipro, Firstsource and Apollo Health Street, the BPO arm of the Apollo Group, have acquired companies in the US to grab a lucrative share of the healthcare market.

“Healthcare outsourcing deals cost $30-60 per hour, which is three times more than normal BPO work, Canaan Partners’ Alok Mittal said.

Source

Apart from the higher dollar billing rates, the size of the healthcare outsourcing market is also huge. The size of the US hospital care market is around $700 billion and administrative costs are estimated to be around 14 per cent or $100 billion, Ananda Mukerji, managing director, Firstsource, said.

Sensing this market potential, Indian companies are positioning themselves as an end-to-end service provider “Our Infocrossing acquisition would enable us to bring in expertise in health plan and payer management segments,” Suresh Vaswani, president, Wipro technologies, said.

Explaining the strategy behind Indian companies’ acquisition spree, an analyst from a leading brokerage house said earlier Indian players used to get sub contracts from hospitals and TPAs, whereas now can get these contracts directly through acquisitions in the segment.

Another area of business that Indian companies are eying along with the BPO part is the infotech business, which could give them more predictability in generating future revenues.

“This acquisition in the US comes with a significant IT business, Apollo Health Street, managing director, Sangita Reddy said.

Call centers provide a number of advantages to companies.

2007-08-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

Call centers provide a number of advantages to companies. By centralizing telephone-based service and support in one location, companies can easily adjust staffing to match call volume. Call centers can be located almost anywhere, allowing companies to take advantage of time zones and cheaper labor rates in different states and countries. Call centers also centralize the technology needs of companies, allowing major telecommunications setups to be installed in a small handful of call centers instead of a number of smaller offices, making upgrades and training easier to complete.

BPO creates thousands of jobs in the developing world

2007-08-02T09:13:00.001-07:00

BPO creates thousands of jobs in the developing world and also becomes the reason for employment drop in the first world countries like UK and US. But why Americans & British should oppose this? This is exactly what globalization means.ie.the best & the cheapest products/service gets exported to all corners of the world.

A company may use BPO because of cost considerations

2007-08-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

A company may use BPO because of cost considerations, or simply because they do not have the expertise to deal with certain areas. Many companies have come under criticism for using BPO to cut costs, especially in the call center area. Many of the call centers that companies use are now based in third world countries. They may also be based in slowly developing countries, where the cost to run a business is far lower than in the location of the main company. India, for example, is home to many call centers for businesses around the world.

Should IT, BPO staff work longer?

2007-07-27T01:50:00.000-07:00

The appreciation of the Indian rupee against some currencies, especially the US dollar, has come as good news for many, but for those in the BPO and IT sector, it means no more Saturday night partying.

Several IT and BPO firms in Bangalore have decided that their employees will have to work on Saturdays too in order to counter the negative impact of the appreciating rupee.

Do you think this is a step in the right direction? Or will this demotivate IT & BPO staff? Could increased work hours lead to less productivity?

Instead of making employees work for longer hours, should the IT industry come up with better plans to counter the crisis?

Rupee rise: No big pay hikes for IT, BPO staff

2007-07-27T01:48:00.000-07:00

The appreciation of the Indian rupee has probably hit the IT and BPO sector the hardest. IT pundits say that the days ahead will be hard as the need of the hour is more time and dedication.

Apart from working extra hours, employees in the IT and BPO sector will now have to bear with cost-cutting, which would mean that their salary increments could be affected.

At least 47 per cent of the expenditure incurred by IT firms is in the form the salary paid to employees.

BPO in India - Good companies, bad karma!!

2007-07-03T02:18:00.000-07:00

BPO in India - Good companies, bad karma!!

There’s also concern on the profit margins of Indian IT firms (especially smaller and medium-sized ones) post 2009, when the Software Technology Parks of India scheme expires.

Meanwhile, more service providers are now nibbling at the outsourcing pie. The number of providers winning contracts has increased by 64 per cent in the past four years - from 55 in 2002 to 90 in 2006.

The Big Six of outsourcing - Accenture, ACS, CSC, EDS, HP and IBM - still dominate the offshore outsourcing market, having won 73 per cent of all contracts in 2006, compared to 18 per cent for the Indian providers (source: TPI).

The good news for Indian IT firms, though, is that the Big Six are winning a decreasing proportion of deals valued at over $50 million (over Rs 200 crore). In 2006, the India-based providers achieved 7 per cent of the total market share, up from a minuscule 0.5 per cent in 2002.

The BPO sector in India is going through a bumpy phase this year

2007-07-03T02:16:00.000-07:00

The BPO sector in India is going through a bumpy phase this year. Based on some of the recent indicators, industry observers believe the expected result may be mild compare to the previous five years, which was at 14 percent.

The first quarter of 2007 witnessed the lowest number of contracts signed since the first quarter of 2003. The contract value was also the lowest compare to third quarter of 2002 as pointed out by Mr.Indraneel Banerjee, project director, Technology Partners International, a sourcing advisory firm.

The industry also witnessed a shift away from large multi-process BPO agreements to single function contracts of a smaller size.

Next in line to BPO and KPO is EPO (Engineering Process Outsourcing)

2007-07-03T00:47:00.000-07:00

Next in line to BPO and KPO is EPO (Engineering Process Outsourcing), which is expected to grow 10 times over the next seven years. The EPO is also likely to promote India as a major hub in this part of the world. Industry analysts believe that if EPO maintains to keep consistent pace it is likely to touch USD 30 million.

The Indian Governments Commerce Ministry came out with a report citing that over the last couple of years (2004-06), the demand for Engineering Process Outsourcing to India has grown at a rate of 30-35 percent and this is likely to add momentum in the coming years.

A study conducted by the state-run Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) says, "The global EPO market, is expected to grow at a rate of USD 110-140 billion by 2015 taking Indias share to 20-27 percent". Taking into account Indias last year (2006-07) result that touched USD 26 billion the EEPC is expecting the industry to grow substantially.

Shootout at a BPO

2007-06-05T04:32:00.000-07:00

Shootouts are nothing new to love stories; boy discovers girlfriend is having an affair, gets drunk, finds a gun, and shoots the “other” boy — or some variation of such a story. Such stories remain in the news for a couple of days before getting overtaken by other newsworthy stories.
Last week’s shootout at HCL BPO in India, when a squabble between three employees (two lovers + one more) led to the shootout, too, made brief headlines before giving way to other news. Yet, for those Western companies seeking BPO and IT services from India, and for the Indian providers of such services, the news will have a more lasting impact.
Customer companies seeking services from third parties will be justified in asking a few questions:

1. If an employee at a leading BPO company could bring in a weapon into the office premises, what security measures could be breached at a lesser established BPO company ?
2. Agreed, physical security and data security are two separate things. Yet, if, despite all security measures discussed above, a company cannot keep its own employees secure, how can they keep the customer company’s data from being stolen ?

Please click here for a video news report by an Indian news channel.

Top BPOs in India - BPO Companies India

2007-06-05T04:25:00.001-07:00

Top BPOs in India : For an industry short on lists of BPO companies, here is a listing of the top BPOs in India. Amongst them are: EXLService, Firstsource, Genpact, HCL BPO, IBM Daksh.

The global outsourcing industry is not short on listings of IT-service companies, though it does lack listings of BPO providers. Everest Research Institute brings out a list of top Indian BPO players at a time when corporate America needs to know about offshore BPO playersas it increasingly offshores its finance and accounting, human resource and customer-service business processes.
Everest recognizes that these top Indian BPO companies (See Table 2) as global players are competing on the basis of not only cost efficiency but also on process and industry expertise.

WNS posted about a 141% increase in its net profit at $8.9 million for the quarter ended March 31. Its revenues grew by over 109% at $110.7 million.

The Indian IT-BPO sector is likely to achieve a target of $60 billion in export revenues by 2010,

2007-05-20T23:05:00.000-07:00

According to a special report by the information technology department, India, the software and ITES exports from the country grew from $12.9 billion in 2003-04 to $23.6 billion in 2005-06 and exceeded by 32 pcer cent last fiscal.

The Indian IT-BPO sector is likely to achieve a target of $60 billion in export revenues by 2010, according to the Union Communications and Information Technology Ministry, Govt. of India.

According to a special report by the information technology department the software and ITES exports from the country grew from $12.9 billion in 2003-04 to $23.6 billion in 2005-06 and exceeded by 32 pcer cent last fiscal. In 2006-07 the IT-BPO sector witnessed a revenue growth of about ten times over the last decade, the report stated adding that the total IT-ITES exports from the country exceeded $31.3 billion during the year.

BPO is an Industry, Finally!

2007-05-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

The IT services firms had reacted to BPO in a way incumbents typically do to a new, disruptive opportunity — first shrugging it off; then embracing it quite apologetically; and finally arguing that the only way forward for BPO is to align itself with IT services. Now, they have decisively been proved wrong.

IT COMPANIES GOT INTO BPO NOT BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT IT WAS THE NEXT BIG THING. ON THE CONTRARY, THEY TOOK IT AS A SHORT-TERM REMEDY FOR COUNTERING THE SLOWDOWN IN IT SERVICES.

Xchanging, Genpact, WNS, and EXL Service are all examples of what the industry calls pure-play BPO service providers. They make all their money selling business services, in contrast to many others who also provide IT services.

Call center / BPO and Outsourcing Jobs - A win-win situation

2007-05-02T04:54:00.000-07:00

Reiterating the economists and the sociologists, the cheap labor in India owes its origin to the high rate of unemployment here. Hundreds of thousands of graduates are jobless and desperate for work in India. With higher studies only an option for the affluent, professionals too are facing increasing difficulties in recruitment. And as far as skilled labor is concerned, it is limited to few technical branches of work. Here is where the call center industry fills the gaps.

Call center units are not very demanding as far as qualifications and prerequisites are concerned. Most call center jobs require a basic understanding of computers and a good grasp over English. And the urban youth of India are computer literate graduates with a command over English language. This is the ideal unskilled labor that the call center industry is looking for.
Call center executives only need to be trained in soft skills that include voice neutralization and accent training. This helps to give them an accent more familiar with the people they are going to be talking to. For Indians, this is a smooth transition. Ours is not a country that has evaded the influence of the West and Americanism has seeped into our daily lives like ink on blotting paper.

Accounts BOP : Write-up, Tax processing and data entry

2007-05-02T04:52:00.000-07:00

Traditionally, Business Process Outsourcing has been a management tool available only to large companies. These companies saved millions of dollars by outsourcing their non-core functions, such as accounting, finance and Human Resources to specialized service providers.
As a CPA firm, you realize that accounts outsourcing is not just a quick-fix solution to your immediate problems. It should be an integral part of your long-term strategy. You can grow your business when you outsource the data entry / write-up work and effectively utilize the existing staff by taking on more clients.

Outbound Customer Service Processes

2007-05-02T04:47:00.000-07:00

Customer Information Verification Calls
Lead Generation by Qualifying Contacts
Interest Generation in Promotions
Setting Up Appointments for Sales Calls
Change Requests Handling
Collections for Sales, Billing & Warranty
Loyalty Program Administration & Management
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One of the biggest advantages of offshoring to India is cost savings

2007-04-03T00:43:00.000-07:00

Companies have been able to save about 30 to 40 percent for most services by outsourcing processes to India. Cost savings in India can be accounted for by savings in the following three heads:

Labor: Indian professionals work at wages much lower than that in the US and Europe.
Capital: Infrastructure costs in India are lower thus saving significantly on capital.
Labor management: The number of employees required during a project is not same throughout the course of the project. Hence, when a business process is carried out in-house, companies have to pay the employees and maintain office space for them, even if these employees are not working on any project. Outsourcing enables companies to do-away with the expenditure on bench labor, as the outsourcing vendor allocates the bench employees to projects for other clients or bears the cost of inefficiency.

An excellent example of a company that has achieved cost savings by offshoring to India is General Electric (GE). After offshoring its BPO operations to India, GE found a reduction of 25 percent on its labor cost. This lead to an increase of 150 percent in the Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA).

There is a vast difference in the labor costs in US/Europe and India in the IT industry as well. An IT professional with 1-2 years of experience in the US and Europe charges USD 50,000 to 70,000 per year. On the other hand, a professional with same experience level costs about USD 8,000 per year in India, about 11 to 16 percent of that in the US and Europe.

Risks factors to be considered when picking an offshore location

2007-04-03T00:42:00.000-07:00

Offshore location risk factors include:

Infrastructure instability
Management of offshore resources
Confidentiality of information
Time zone differences
Cultural differences
Language barriers
Unknown suppliers
Uncertain legal rights
Geopolitical instability

Why is work going offshore?

2007-04-03T00:38:00.000-07:00

Work is traveling offshore because of new information technologies such as the Internet, voice over IP, and enterprise applications, which make it easier than ever to hire, manage, and coordinate lower-cost, well-educated labor in the global economy.

There are also competitive and cost management reasons. Many executives know that if their competitors are going offshore to find technology or process support for drastically lower costs, they have to follow suit. If their competitors are finding the skills they require through an offshore outsourcing firm, they have to do the same.

Work is also migrating offshore because of the recent global economic downturn. Companies are more focused on improving their return on IT investments and closely managing IT spending. To attain high-quality IT services at a lower cost, companies are turning to providers with offshore delivery capabilities.

Automatic Data Processing examples

2007-03-24T00:36:00.000-07:00

ADP services - batch processing, time-sharing, facility management, etc.

Programming and systems analysis, design, development, and simulation
Key punching, data entry, transmission, and teleprocessing services
Systems engineering and installation
Equipment installation, operation, and maintenance

Cost Effective Solution: Outsourcing

2007-03-24T00:32:00.000-07:00

Outsourcing is done to save money, improve quality, or free company resources for other activities. Outsourcing was first done in the data-processing industry and has spread to areas, including call centers. Outsourcing is the wave of the future. The decision to outsource is often made in the interest of lowering firm costs, redirecting or conserving energy directed at the competencies of a particular business, or to make more efficient use of worldwide labor, capital, technology and resources. Call centers are considered as one of the most common outsourced task for companies. In fact, it is also regarded as the first tasks to be outsourced. Peter Ryan, an analyst for Data monitor explained this statement saying that: -

"The call center industry is now looking to adopt more third-party customer care services than ever before. This means that their horizontal functions will be shifting to more profitable requirements. Additionally, the need to satisfy demand from multiple contact channels as opposed to strictly voice-based services will be crucial for success over the long term.”

Source: aabpo.org

India has a winning edge over other countries because

2007-03-24T00:28:00.000-07:00

India has a winning edge over other countries because of the following reasons.

Availability of English speaking, skilled human resources in plenty
Availability of cheap work force to offer cost effective BPO Solutions.
Well defined process to address global needs.
High conscious towards quality.
Government's support to develop the industry.
Availability of advance technology at par with western countries.
Flexible human resources to work in various time zones.

Top Internet Marketing Products Reviewed

2007-03-15T02:35:00.000-07:00

Top Internet Marketing Products Reviewed

"Making Money Online is Easy Right? It Can Be if You Know What You're Doing"
"TheWealthyPages" will teach you how to earn money online, and best of all, it's free. We've reviewed all of the top "making money" programs online and have created this site to help you determine which products and services will actually help you make money online!

Lesson #1: How Does Someone Make Money Online?
Lesson #2: What If I have No Experience?
Lesson #3: Be careful who you choose to learn from.

Click here : Top Internet Marketing Products Reviewed

Advantages of BPO

2007-03-01T08:04:00.000-08:00

An important aspect of business process outsourcing is its ability to free corporate executives from some of their day-to-day process management responsibilities. Once a process is successfully outsourced, they get more time to, explore new revenue streams, accelerate other projects, and focus on their customers.

By outsourcing their back office operations to third world countries, companies have the following advantages:

Achieve cost reductions – this is made possible through process improvements, reengineering, and use of technologies that reduce and bring administrative and other costs under control.

Key in on company's main business – with the day-to-day back office operations taken care of, the management is free to impart more time to building the company's core businesses

Obtain outside expertise – Rather than recruiting and training personnel, BPO ensures that domain experts from another company provide the needed guidance and skills.

Meet constantly changing customer demands – many BPO vendors provide the management with flexible and scalable services to meet the customers’ changing requirements, and to support company acquisitions, consolidations, and joint ventures

Achieving revenue increases – by outsourcing non-core processes, companies can focus on increasing their sales and marketshare, develop new products, expand into new markets, and enhance customer service and satisfactions.

-source : offshoringtimes.com

Outsourcing Tips - When hiring or working with an outsourcer, follow these guidelines:

2007-02-26T20:25:00.000-08:00

• Try fixing whatever's not working on your own first. You may have internal resources that can work better than you think.
• Carefully evaluate what really can be outsourced. Generally, projects that require team interaction or brainstorming don't work too well. Self-contained tasks or projects are more suited to outsourcing.
• Put in the time and effort, upfront, to find the specific expertise you need.
• Consider management costs. Sometimes services look good on paper but you end up eating the savings in training and oversight costs.
• Be prepared for challenges. It takes a while to build the relationship and synchronize the timing.
• Don't walk in blind. Start with some paid consulting, if need be, so you can ask the right questions in choosing a vendor and keep knowledgeable tabs on performance.
• If you outsource significant hunks of your operations, consider having a staff employee(s) to act as a liaison. You want to outsource functions but not accountability.
• Watch out for hidden costs. These may include paying layoff-related expenses, overtime costs for remaining employees who may now have more work to do, and telecommunications costs for remote workers.

Best BPOs / Top 10 BPO companies

2007-02-20T08:16:00.000-08:00

1 IBM Global / Daksh
2 Accenture
3 Hewlett Packard
4 MphasiS
5 Ernst & Young/Capgemini
6 Wipro Spectramind
7 ICICI One Source
8 eFunds Global Outsourcing
9 Convergys
10 Affiliated Computer Systems

Want to survive? Outsource!

2007-02-20T08:03:00.000-08:00

More aggressive outsourcers are aiming to create radical business models that can give them an edge and change the game in their industries. Old-line multinationals see offshoring as a catalyst for a broader plan to overhaul outdated office operations and prepare for new competitive battles. And while some want to downsize, others are keen to liberate expensive analysts, engineers, and salesmen from routine tasks so they can spend more time innovating and dealing with customers.

"This isn't about labor cost," says Daniel Marovitz, technology managing director for Deutsche Bank's global businesses. "The issue is that if you don't do it, you won't survive."
The new attitude is emerging in corporations across the US and Europe in virtually every industry. Ask executives at Penske Truck Leasing why the company outsources dozens of business processes to Mexico and India, and they cite greater efficiency and customer service. Ask managers at US-Dutch professional publishing giant Wolters Kluwer why they're racing to shift software development and editorial work to India and the Philippines, and they will say it's about being able to pump out a greater variety of books, journals, and Web-based content more rapidly.

Ask Wachovia Corp., the Charlotte (N.C.)-based bank, why it just inked a $1.1 billion deal with India's Genpact to outsource finance and accounting jobs and why it handed over administration of its human-resources programs to Lincolnshire (Ill.)-based Hewitt Associates.
It's "what we need to do to become a great customer-relationship company," says Director of Corporate Development Peter J. Sidebottom. Wachovia aims to reinvest up to 40% of the $600 million to $1 billion it hopes to take out in costs over three years into branches, ATMs, and personnel to boost its core business.

-Pete Engardio, BusinessWeek

Golden rule for BPO success

2007-02-03T22:34:00.000-08:00

New Delhi, Feb. 1: The country’s software services and business process outsourcing (BPO) companies can realise $60 billion in export revenues by 2010 if they reduce operational costs and improve profitability, the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) has said.

India is now the leading destination, having captured 65 per cent and 46 per cent of the global offshore IT and BPO markets respectively.
“As the market leader, it is imperative that we continue to set standards for the global industry. IT and BPO centres in India must now provide additional benefits such as speed, flexible operating models, innovation and productivity enhancements, which can be achieved by excelling in operations,” Nasscom president Kiran Karnik said.

outsourcing contract questions, why you want to buy bpo?

2007-02-03T22:32:00.000-08:00

Outsourcing contract? You should be able to tell your prospective vendors:

What you want to buy;
How you want to measure results;
How you plan to manage the relationship;
The price you want to pay.

2007-02-03T22:29:00.000-08:00

Protecting Buyers In A BPO Contract

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) can give companies a decided advantage in today's marketplace. However, four legal issues have the power to derail an outsourcing contract's success. If buyers include legal protections in their outsourcing contracts, they can enjoy the advantages BPO outsourcing brings, according to attorney David Pace, a partner in the Dallas office of Arter & Hadden LLP.

BPO is growing because companies want to focus on their core businesses. Pace says there is a growing sense in today's marketplace that companies need to shed their ancillary processes. "Then they are not distracted from focusing on what they do for a living," he says.
BPO also provides an accounting advantage. If a buyer sells its plant and equipment to the outsourcer, these items disappear from the asset side of the balance sheet. Now there's no need to depreciate them over a number of years. Instead, these costs migrate to the expense side of the ledger as a cost of goods sold. Companies can deduct these expenses in the year they were taken, if it so chooses. Pace calls this "financial engineering."

Outsourcing a process also means the buyer no longer has to manage the head count. This is an attractive benefit in today's tight labor market. The unemployment rate in May was 4.1 percent. Recruiting and retaining talent in a tight market is difficult. The level of difficulty increases with the specialized knowledge required. The outsourcer, on the other hand, is adept at attracting the best and the brightest in its field.Outsourcing a process also means the buyer no longer has to manage the head count. This is an attractive benefit in today's tight labor market. The unemployment rate in May was 4.1 percent. Recruiting and retaining talent in a tight market is difficult. The level of difficulty increases with the specialized knowledge required. The outsourcer, on the other hand, is adept at attracting the best and the brightest in its field.

source and full story:
http://www.bpo-outsourcing-journal.com/jul2000-legal.html

Business Process Outsourcing CEO voted UK's top entrepreneur

2007-01-27T23:39:00.000-08:00

Business Process Outsourcing CEO voted UK's top entrepreneur
In an interesting example of turnabout, Indian-born Dinesh Dhamija, Founder/CEO of Technovate, a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firm, has been named England's top entrepreneur by the country's leading monthly business magazine, Management Today. Technovate is a subsidiary of Europe's number one online travel agency, Ebookers.

Being in the travel industry, the company was hit hard by the aftermath of 9/11, but has bounced back even stronger than before, thanks to the BPO center in India. Dhamija cites two main reasons for their success: a low turnover rate in the Indian BPO center, and the European call center, with 40 native speakers offering service in nine languages.

Read the full article

Mid-size companies are quickly jumping aboard the outsourcing wagon

2007-01-27T23:38:00.001-08:00

Mid-size companies ($500,000 - $2 billion in annual revenue) are quickly jumping aboard the outsourcing wagon to solve their business challenges. However, specialized knowledge and skills are required to successfully capture the anticipated benefits from outsourcing. This knowledge is generally lacking in mid-size companies, still very young in their outsourcing experiences

BPO in insurance sector: Pains and prescription : White Papers

2007-01-27T23:34:00.000-08:00

AbstractOutsourcing is not a new phenomenon or concept, and least of all, a fad. It arose out of the need of an individual, or any organization to get someone else to do a job which either they couldn’t do themselves, or chose not to. In fact insurance industry itself might have born out of the need to outsource one’s risks!
This white paper discusses about Business Process Outsourcing as it stands today focusing on future growth areas in the insurance sector. It gives an outlook of the key drivers, inhibitors, outsourced processes, latest trends and projections of outsourcing in insurance.
Authors: Balakrishna Ramani, Devendra Singh
Download this paper Source: wipro.com

Lessons From The Outsourcing Primer:

2007-01-27T23:33:00.001-08:00

Some consider business process outsourcing (BPO) to be information technology (IT)-enabled business processes.
BPO has to be a contractual delegation of an ongoing process to an external contractor and not be used strictly for individual projects.
Though BPO is seen as the emerging market, it antedates information technology outsourcing (ITO).
BPO has evolved into a diverse set of markets that are separated into three categories: finance and administration; operations; and sales, marketing and customer care.

Software, IT-BPO exports to cross $ 31 b

2007-01-23T01:37:00.000-08:00

India's software services and IT-BPO exports would exceed 31 billion US dollars in the current financial year, posting a growth of 32.6 per cent over the last fiscal, industry body Nasscom has said.
The employment in the sector would exceed 1.6 million, up from 1.28 million last financial year.
This figure, however, does not include employment in the IT hardware sector, Nasscom said in its 'Strategic Review 2007' report released here today. (Agencies)

India outsourcing faces UK workers' ire

2007-01-23T01:28:00.000-08:00

LONDON, JANUARY 16: Workers of TV Licensing, the body responsible for collection and enforcement of television licence in Britain, have voted overwhelmingly to strike to protest against plans to outsource work to India.
The decision to agitate (94.6 per cent of workers voted in favour of it) was taken after Capita, a leading BPO and services company which employs a majority of the workers, revealed its plans to outsource work to Mumbai.

India's outsourcing mkt soars

2007-01-19T08:47:00.000-08:00

While globally, IT firms witnessed an overall drop in new outsourcing contracts in 2006, Indian companies -- such as Infosys, TCS and Wipro bucked the trend with a sharp jump of over 14 times in their market share in the past four years, a new study shows. In contrast to the massive gains registered by Indian service providers, the market share of 'Big Six' global outsourcing majors -- Accenture, IBM, HP, ACS, CSC and EDS declined to 46 per cent last year, from 71 per cent in 2002. The market share of India-based providers rose to 7 per cent last year, from less than 0.5 per cent in 2002. According to a new study by outsourcing advisory firm TPI, there are tougher times ahead for the global IT majors as they face intensifying competition from new market players.

IT Outsourcing Exports of India

2007-01-19T08:41:00.000-08:00

IT outsourcing exports of India became more than dollars eighteen billion in the previous fiscal year, actually that is grew up by thirty five percent from the last year’s annual growth. If India would not focus on multi-dimensional and innovation services, it might potentially accelerate only IT Outsourcing exports by an enormous twenty billion dollars by fiscal year 2010.
In India's total IT outsourcing exports, U.S. accounted it about sixty eight percent and Europe is accounting twenty four percent. About thirty five percent of Information Technology export services by India and sixty five percent of the exports form Business Process Outsourcing, call center, and related services to these sectors such as Knowledge process outsourcing that came from entirely owned operations in India by MNC.

Number of multinational organizations, technology firms and user companies has set up Software Development, BPO, and Call center franchisees in India while at the same time Indian IT Outsourcing companies are offering services to Europe and American based organizations.Currently, India's Business Process Outsourcing industry is employs more than one million people and it is the figure according to survey study, and those jobs were not created only in the big cities (metro and mega) but in smaller towns too. Due to high demand of Indian software, BPO services, Call center the industry faced a shortage of employees that is particularly sensitive in an industry of BPO & call center. The industry will have to improve its process and services to add greater value and after sell services to the clients and improve the productivity in IT Outsourcing industry.

Staff’s salary have been increased in Software Development Industry due to shortage of staff, and organization were able to contain at times even lower their costs by better utilization of resources, low infrastructure costs, decreased telecom tariffs and broadband connection cost.Now for the long term, India's Information Technology outsourcing industry would have to forge ties with educational institutions for ensuring a larger supply of quality IT - professional for the industry, itself.

Another study report says that the nation's IT Outsourcing Exports and services are expected to grow by in-between thirty to thirty percentages in the next year. In this year, exports of Information Technology software grew by 30.5 % to achieve $12 billion, while exports of BPO, Call center and related services grew by 44.5 percent to reach $5.2 billion. Despite fierce opposition in the previous year for Offshore Outsourcing from politicians and employee’s union in USA the growth in IT outsourcing exports came swiftly.

IBM - From Business Machines to Business Methods

2007-01-13T04:17:00.000-08:00

IBM's direction marks a shift from its storied history as a computer industry bellwether. For decades, IBM concentrated on machines to carry out accounting and computing tasks. IBM was behind the curve on the emergence of the personal computer, and though it later gained ground against companies like Apple Computer, IBM was slow to adapt to the changes it brought in the marketplace. By 1993, the company's annual net losses reached a record $8 billion. Lou Gerstner, who took the reins of the company in 1993, is credited with emphasizing services as a key to the company's turnaround. Nearly half of IBM's $89 billion in revenue last year came from its services unit. (Gerstner's turnaround strategy is highlighted in a new book from Nightly Business Report and Knowledge@Wharton titled, "Lasting Leadership: What You Can Learn from the Top 25 Business People of Our Times.")
IBM became a leader in IT outsourcing, which refers to a company farming out work such as managing central computer centers or handling technical support calls. Big Blue began extending its services reach from the technology arena to business tasks about the time the company acquired the consulting wing of accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, in late 2002. The roughly $3.9 billion deal was a landmark move. IBM combined the roughly 30,000 employees from PwC Consulting with about 30,000 IBM workers to form a new division called Business Consulting Services. The idea behind the acquisition and new unit was to generate revenue by joining IBM's technology prowess with PwC Consulting's business expertise. Analysts say the PwC Consulting deal has helped IBM compete in the BPO arena.

source and courtesy: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

The disadvantages of outsourcing / bpo

2007-01-13T04:15:00.000-08:00

Loss of managerial control, because it is more difficult to manage outside service providers than managing one’s own employees working possibly in the same building. · Often the hidden costs are difficult to calculate or prepare for. These include legal costs related to putting together a contract between two companies and the time spent to coordinating the contract. · Another disadvantage of outsourcing can be a threat to security and confidentiality. If your company is outsourcing processes like payroll, medical transcriptions or other confidential information, a company must be very careful in choosing which process it wants to outsource and to which provider. · A possible loss of flexibility in reacting to changing business conditions, lack of internal and external customer focus and sharing cost savings may also be a disadvantage of outsourcing. · Other disadvantages of outsourcing may include unfavorable contract lengths, loss of competitive edge, problems in contract renewal, and contractual misunderstandings.

BPO in India - It's family first at tech cos & BPOs

2007-01-05T22:55:00.000-08:00

Not many companies find fame in office cafeterias. But it was at just such a venue that Ness Technologies’ decision to “make the first job offer to an employable spouse” of an onsite employee found favour. “If a Ness employee is being sent onsite and has an employable spouse, as a policy, Ness always makes the first job offer.

IT behemoth Infosys also understands that thankful employees might go beyond their call of duty. According to an Infosys spokesperson, “The company handles such issues on a case-to-case basis. If the employee’s spouse is also working within Infy, then he/she may be transferred to the same place. Or, the option of a year-long leave can also be availed in such cases.”

With a growing number of employees being sent onsite for long duration projects, IT companies are leading from the front in shaping flexible HR policies. “It is an employee’s family that most often has to make sacrifices for his/her success. Therefore, it is only fair if company policies cover the family as well,” says an HR analyst.

BPOs open more doors to women

2007-01-05T22:41:00.000-08:00

Move over Penelope Cruz, BPOs are giving a more relevant meaning to the phrase ‘Woman on Top’. Anxious to be fair to the fairer sex, BPOs in India are implementing innovative ideas to hike the ratio of woman employees in their workforce. Doing the rounds are measures like training women to get into senior management positions, giving higher monetary incentives for women referrals and higher perks for placement agencies to draw women candidates to interviews. IBM Daksh, which employs 20,000 professionals in India, is taking a cue from its parent IBM, and focusing on a `diversity program’. IBM Daksh will look at putting women in senior positions over the next quarter, says DP Singh, VP — Strategic HR, IBM Daksh Business Process Services.

Data security top priority in BPO

2006-12-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

Data security is seen as more important than employment laws in business process outsourcing (BPO) deals, a survey has found.

Ninety per cent of managers consider issues such as the protection of intellectual property rights, contract enforcement and data protection more relevant to their business than laws relating to the transfer of staff, according to new research from the National Outsourcing Association (NOA).

The top legal issues managers cited as important include the ability to enforce contracts with offshore providers (93 per cent), data protection that allows cross-border transfers (93 per cent) and technology transfer laws (83 per cent).

source & read complete story at:http://services.silicon.com/bpo/0,3800004865,39164697,00.htm

BPO Increases capabilities of the employees and the company

2006-12-14T23:42:00.000-08:00

Apart from other advantages, business process outsourcing has another big advantage which leads to increase in capabilities of the employees and the company. With this know-how increased capabilities can be seen. In addition to doing things more efficiently, employees can expand their ability to deliver new products and services to their customers. Then there are the factors of scalability and scope. Companies that want to grow internationally must continuously invest in infrastructure and find talent around the world and this is possible only trough business process outsourcing. Many outsourcing providers are already established globally and help in increasing the capabilities of the companies that are outsourcing their work to these BPOs.

World's Top 20 / Best BPOs

2006-12-14T23:37:00.000-08:00

World's Top 20 BPOs / Best BPOs of World / Top 20 Global BPO Companies

1 IBM Global / Daksh
2 Accenture
3 Hewlett Packard
4 MphasiS
5 Ernst & Young/Capgemini
6 Wipro Spectramind
7 ICICI One Source
8 eFunds Global Outsourcing
9 Convergys
10 Affiliated Computer Systems
11 Sutherland Technologies
12 Oracle
13 Hewitt/Exult
14 HCL Technologies
15 Xansa
16 CSC
17 Unisys
18 Keane
19 Satyam
20 CGI
Source : internet

Data conversion process

2006-12-02T22:01:00.000-08:00

The data conversion process includes entry, verification and correction of the captured data. Using indigenously developed application, the data is captured and sent for verification. The entered values are checked for typographical errors. The fields with such errors are "tagged" and sent for correction. The tagged fields are corrected with the actual value and sent for final verification.

Main Global & India BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) Services

2006-12-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

Main Global & India BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) Services includes the following:

Transcription, Technical Transcription, Medical Transcription, Medical Billing, Medical Coding, Word Processing, AS400 Outsourcing, Electronic Media Recording, E Publishing, Data Conversion, Data Harvesting, Data Processing, Business Outsourcing Services, Back office Processing, Web Program Development, Web Designing, Portal Development, Software Development and other value additions.