US-based BPO provider Sykes Enterprises announced it has opened a new contact center in Cluj, Romania to support an existing global consumer product/technology client.
"Given the long-term growth opportunity in the customer contact management industry, the expansion into Cluj, Romania, builds on our initial beach-head in Eastern Europe going back more than a decade and further strengthens our low-cost near-shore delivery capability for the European continent", said Chuck Sykes, President and CEO, in a statement.
"With a deep and highly educated pool of labor, a competitive wage structure, a robust commercial infrastructure and an accommodative investment climate, Cluj is expected to serve Sykes' multinational clients looking to further diversify their service delivery strategy.
Source: CallcenterInternational
Full article: http://www.call-center-international.com/News/Industrynews/385/15054/Sykes-to-open-center-in-Romania.html
Monday, June 28, 2010
Domestic cloud computing mkt may cross $1 bn by 2015
The domestic cloud computing market is expected to touch $ 1.08 billion by 2015 from $ 110 million currently, research firm Zinnov said.
Cloud computing refers to a pay-per-use model of computing where applications and software are accessed over the Internet and not owned by users. IT companies can save huge costs on these products as they would not have to invest in purchasing them, resulting in reduced IT costs.
Sectors like banking and financial services, telecom, manufacturing and government would drive cloud adoption.
The global cloud computing market is expected to grow to $ 70 billion by 2015 from $ 20 billion now. The adoption of cloud computing is being led by the small and medium businesses.
Source: Economic Times
Full article: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6075815.cms?prtpage=1
Cloud computing refers to a pay-per-use model of computing where applications and software are accessed over the Internet and not owned by users. IT companies can save huge costs on these products as they would not have to invest in purchasing them, resulting in reduced IT costs.
Sectors like banking and financial services, telecom, manufacturing and government would drive cloud adoption.
The global cloud computing market is expected to grow to $ 70 billion by 2015 from $ 20 billion now. The adoption of cloud computing is being led by the small and medium businesses.
Source: Economic Times
Full article: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6075815.cms?prtpage=1
Hinduja Global Buys UK based Careline Services
Hinduja Global Solutions, a provider of outsourcing solutions, said its European subsidiary has acquired the UK-based customer relationship management company Careline Services.
‘Our acquisition of Careline Services is a continuation of our endeavour to expand the global footprint of HGSL. This acquisition provides us entry into the European market which offers great promise for the future and we are looking at expanding our presence here at a fast pace,’ HGSL CEO Partha Sarkar said in a statement.
The company did not disclose the financial details of the deal.
This is HGSL’s first acquisition in the UK.
Source: indlawnews.com
Source: global services media
http://www.globalservicesmedia.com/News/Home/Hinduja-Global-Buys-UK-based-Careline-Services/21/27/0/GS100622728489
‘Our acquisition of Careline Services is a continuation of our endeavour to expand the global footprint of HGSL. This acquisition provides us entry into the European market which offers great promise for the future and we are looking at expanding our presence here at a fast pace,’ HGSL CEO Partha Sarkar said in a statement.
The company did not disclose the financial details of the deal.
This is HGSL’s first acquisition in the UK.
Source: indlawnews.com
Source: global services media
http://www.globalservicesmedia.com/News/Home/Hinduja-Global-Buys-UK-based-Careline-Services/21/27/0/GS100622728489
WNS says closing in on domestic BPO deals
Keshav Murugesh has won investor confidence within the first 100 days in office as group CEO of WNS, as the rumours of stake sale have died down. In a conversation with DNA, Murugesh shared his roadmap for WNS, while maintaining that even the best of ideas in the world needs to be marketed.Excerpts:
At the recent Nasscom BPO Summit many executives were talking about talent crunch. What is it all about? Why all of a sudden?
It’s not actually talent crunch. In terms of actual numbers India produces enough graduates. If you see the statistics, India produces 3.5 to 4 million graduates, 10% of these graduates are engaged in this business. The crunch is in employable numbers. Of the 4 million graduates we are getting 10%, that’s a huge number. Every company will tell you — we interviewed 100 people and got only one person. That means 99% did not make the cut. We are worried about that.
BPO jobs have become quite a craze among students and unskilled graduates who have a grip on spoken English. So what talent are we talking about?
India is past that stage now when we said we just want some basic qualification to wow the world. Now it’s different. So what do we need in terms of talent? First is good spoken English. Second is the person has to have good presentation skills. Third thing is he must be commercially savvy, that is he must understand what I am doing and how is it impacting my clients’ client. Fourth is some amount of strategic orientation. In addition to these, if we can get people who understand business domains that would be very useful because BPO today is no longer about just reducing somebody’s cost.
We had of course started with that objective, but now and especially since the downturn clients asking us to lead their business. See every one is talking about stress, Europe is in stress, North America still has not emerged from recession, and India we are talking about talent crunch. It is counter intuitive. Everyone in the world is now saying that talent is required to reduce cost, to come with game changing ideas that ensure revenue continuity. They want to be led now. They are no longer interested in giving you the next work order. They want people who tell them these are three things that you do and your cost is down by this percentage and topline is up by this percentage.
So are you looking at consulting projects?
To some extent yes, actually all of us are to some extent working like consultants. We have to be that way. And this has to increase. If you look at the headroom for BPO business, the addressable market is $300 billion and what are we offering now, roughly $30 billion. There is that huge gap. So there is some reason why we are at that stage. We have to broaden our offerings.
But that seems to be quite far as at present your voice business is very high…
True and now process business also brings considerable percentage of revenue. But the most exciting part of WNS is that most of my clients are so under penetrated which means we have such huge scope to grow.But we need people who can lead the customer. We need people who can cross-sell, who can take part in the client’s strategic planning session and tell them that your business is stretched and these are the things you should do. If you have people like that then this industry’s potential is beyond imagination.
So at the ground level you have to position yourself as a consulting firm…
We are using the consulting word may be a bit more frequently here. That may not be our focus. Our focus is to deliver greater value and lead the customer. To do that I have to be like a consultant, I have to be like a BPO, I have to be like a service provider, whatever it takes. So you need to have learning and development processes in place, you need to have business domain skills in place, you need to have tremendous functional capabilities in place etc. So if you are looking at 20,000-25000 people in an organisation then may be about 1,000 think like this. I am saying what if I have 15,000 such people then the ability to penetrate existing clients increase.
So are you investing in creating new capabilities?
From a WNS perspective we are focusing on our existing businesses. Insurance travel, banking and financial services we are very strong. We are looking to see what are the new offerings we can add. We are introducing thought leadership in our horizontal offerings like research analytics, accounting, etc. Then we are looking at investing in new spaces where we should be in. There are two or three logical businesses that need help during recession. There are huge customer bases that they handle.
So you will take those customer database and do research and analytics?
Yes there are so many things that you can offer. After retail logistics and transportation is another area. There is huge scope for offering new services. Third is all governments are under public debt. They are looking at ways to reduce cost without compromising services to citizens.
Are you looking at the domestic BPO market?
Yes we are looking at it. We have not given any shape to it. We are talking for some potential deals. We will have some strategic planning discussion in July and will take some decisions relating to India. But the way of delivery and operation in India will be different.
Source: DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/money/interview_wns-says-closing-in-on-domestic-bpo-deals_1396493
At the recent Nasscom BPO Summit many executives were talking about talent crunch. What is it all about? Why all of a sudden?
It’s not actually talent crunch. In terms of actual numbers India produces enough graduates. If you see the statistics, India produces 3.5 to 4 million graduates, 10% of these graduates are engaged in this business. The crunch is in employable numbers. Of the 4 million graduates we are getting 10%, that’s a huge number. Every company will tell you — we interviewed 100 people and got only one person. That means 99% did not make the cut. We are worried about that.
BPO jobs have become quite a craze among students and unskilled graduates who have a grip on spoken English. So what talent are we talking about?
India is past that stage now when we said we just want some basic qualification to wow the world. Now it’s different. So what do we need in terms of talent? First is good spoken English. Second is the person has to have good presentation skills. Third thing is he must be commercially savvy, that is he must understand what I am doing and how is it impacting my clients’ client. Fourth is some amount of strategic orientation. In addition to these, if we can get people who understand business domains that would be very useful because BPO today is no longer about just reducing somebody’s cost.
We had of course started with that objective, but now and especially since the downturn clients asking us to lead their business. See every one is talking about stress, Europe is in stress, North America still has not emerged from recession, and India we are talking about talent crunch. It is counter intuitive. Everyone in the world is now saying that talent is required to reduce cost, to come with game changing ideas that ensure revenue continuity. They want to be led now. They are no longer interested in giving you the next work order. They want people who tell them these are three things that you do and your cost is down by this percentage and topline is up by this percentage.
So are you looking at consulting projects?
To some extent yes, actually all of us are to some extent working like consultants. We have to be that way. And this has to increase. If you look at the headroom for BPO business, the addressable market is $300 billion and what are we offering now, roughly $30 billion. There is that huge gap. So there is some reason why we are at that stage. We have to broaden our offerings.
But that seems to be quite far as at present your voice business is very high…
True and now process business also brings considerable percentage of revenue. But the most exciting part of WNS is that most of my clients are so under penetrated which means we have such huge scope to grow.But we need people who can lead the customer. We need people who can cross-sell, who can take part in the client’s strategic planning session and tell them that your business is stretched and these are the things you should do. If you have people like that then this industry’s potential is beyond imagination.
So at the ground level you have to position yourself as a consulting firm…
We are using the consulting word may be a bit more frequently here. That may not be our focus. Our focus is to deliver greater value and lead the customer. To do that I have to be like a consultant, I have to be like a BPO, I have to be like a service provider, whatever it takes. So you need to have learning and development processes in place, you need to have business domain skills in place, you need to have tremendous functional capabilities in place etc. So if you are looking at 20,000-25000 people in an organisation then may be about 1,000 think like this. I am saying what if I have 15,000 such people then the ability to penetrate existing clients increase.
So are you investing in creating new capabilities?
From a WNS perspective we are focusing on our existing businesses. Insurance travel, banking and financial services we are very strong. We are looking to see what are the new offerings we can add. We are introducing thought leadership in our horizontal offerings like research analytics, accounting, etc. Then we are looking at investing in new spaces where we should be in. There are two or three logical businesses that need help during recession. There are huge customer bases that they handle.
So you will take those customer database and do research and analytics?
Yes there are so many things that you can offer. After retail logistics and transportation is another area. There is huge scope for offering new services. Third is all governments are under public debt. They are looking at ways to reduce cost without compromising services to citizens.
Are you looking at the domestic BPO market?
Yes we are looking at it. We have not given any shape to it. We are talking for some potential deals. We will have some strategic planning discussion in July and will take some decisions relating to India. But the way of delivery and operation in India will be different.
Source: DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/money/interview_wns-says-closing-in-on-domestic-bpo-deals_1396493
TransGenez all set to tap the rural BPO market
Bangalore: TransGenez plans to establish Business process Outsourcing(BPO) units in rural areas. The company has already established BPOs in two villages in North India and is now intending to set up their BPOs in tier 2 and tier 3 cities of Karnataka like Hassan, Hubli and Dharwad.
"We would definitely face problems in dealing with issues like electrification, poor bandwidth and management of human resources, but we see huge potential in the rural market and are quite hopeful that it will pick up the trend soon,said Dhaval Kumar Gat, CEO, TransGenez.
They would be concentrating on areas related to live education, data entry jobs and other voice based activities.
Source: Silicon india
http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/TransGenez_all_set_to_tap_the_rural_BPO_market-nid-69115-cid-3.html
"We would definitely face problems in dealing with issues like electrification, poor bandwidth and management of human resources, but we see huge potential in the rural market and are quite hopeful that it will pick up the trend soon,said Dhaval Kumar Gat, CEO, TransGenez.
They would be concentrating on areas related to live education, data entry jobs and other voice based activities.
Source: Silicon india
http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/TransGenez_all_set_to_tap_the_rural_BPO_market-nid-69115-cid-3.html
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Cebu sets off to develop high-level outsourcing
Source: China Sourcing
http://en.chinasourcing.org.cn/content2.jsp?id=4881
Information technology consultancy firm Tholons, Inc. has partnered with the Cebu Investment Promotions Center (CIPC) in crafting a road map that will enable Cebu to graduate from being a voice-based outsourcing site into a knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) hub.
A memorandum of understanding between CIPC and Tholons was signed during the Cebu ICT and BPO Conference yesterday to launch the conduct of the study.
KPO services refer to knowledge-intensive work carried out by one company for another that require skills more sophisticated than speech, including research, analytical, financial, legal and engineering services.
"Cebu is basically ripe for this (KPO). It has all the requisites needed for a city to become a KPO hub," Jonathan D. de Luzuriaga, Tholons managing director for Southeast Asia, told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the annual meeting here.
These requisites include a track record in outsourcing, talent availability and strong support structure, among others. Part of the study would be the conduct of online tests to determine skills available in Cebu and suitability of these talents to KPO.
"We would be needing professionals who would do legal research, analytical services, financial accounting, engineering services and others," said Mr. de Luzuriaga.
The study is estimated to cost over P2 million, which will be financed from various sources, and is targeted to be completed in September this year. By then, industry stakeholders in Cebu will be brought together to form a group that will oversee implementation of the road map.
Joel Mari S. Yu, CIPC managing director, said such a road map would define Cebu’s niche in the KPO industry and match its talent capability with opportunities in the market.
"We need to know exactly what kind of skills are needed, what quantities are required and what the competition is doing," Mr. Yu added.
Cebu, currently the top emerging business process outsourcing (BPO) destination in the world based on Tholons’ survey last year, is expected to join the ranks of emerged outsourcing destinations this year.
Going into KPO services is the next logical step to push the outsourcing sector in Cebu forward, Mr. de Luzuriaga said.
"The global trend is going towards KPO. As technology advances, the need for low-end BPO decreases," he added.
Tholons earlier projected that the KPO market is poised to grow to $17 billion by 2010 from last year’s $3.7 billion, with India capturing the bulk of the market.
Other countries with growing KPO sectors are Northern Ireland and China.
Cebu’s outsourcing sector currently has around 40,000 employees and over 100 locators, about 70% of which are based at Asiatown IT Park.
http://en.chinasourcing.org.cn/content2.jsp?id=4881
Information technology consultancy firm Tholons, Inc. has partnered with the Cebu Investment Promotions Center (CIPC) in crafting a road map that will enable Cebu to graduate from being a voice-based outsourcing site into a knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) hub.
A memorandum of understanding between CIPC and Tholons was signed during the Cebu ICT and BPO Conference yesterday to launch the conduct of the study.
KPO services refer to knowledge-intensive work carried out by one company for another that require skills more sophisticated than speech, including research, analytical, financial, legal and engineering services.
"Cebu is basically ripe for this (KPO). It has all the requisites needed for a city to become a KPO hub," Jonathan D. de Luzuriaga, Tholons managing director for Southeast Asia, told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the annual meeting here.
These requisites include a track record in outsourcing, talent availability and strong support structure, among others. Part of the study would be the conduct of online tests to determine skills available in Cebu and suitability of these talents to KPO.
"We would be needing professionals who would do legal research, analytical services, financial accounting, engineering services and others," said Mr. de Luzuriaga.
The study is estimated to cost over P2 million, which will be financed from various sources, and is targeted to be completed in September this year. By then, industry stakeholders in Cebu will be brought together to form a group that will oversee implementation of the road map.
Joel Mari S. Yu, CIPC managing director, said such a road map would define Cebu’s niche in the KPO industry and match its talent capability with opportunities in the market.
"We need to know exactly what kind of skills are needed, what quantities are required and what the competition is doing," Mr. Yu added.
Cebu, currently the top emerging business process outsourcing (BPO) destination in the world based on Tholons’ survey last year, is expected to join the ranks of emerged outsourcing destinations this year.
Going into KPO services is the next logical step to push the outsourcing sector in Cebu forward, Mr. de Luzuriaga said.
"The global trend is going towards KPO. As technology advances, the need for low-end BPO decreases," he added.
Tholons earlier projected that the KPO market is poised to grow to $17 billion by 2010 from last year’s $3.7 billion, with India capturing the bulk of the market.
Other countries with growing KPO sectors are Northern Ireland and China.
Cebu’s outsourcing sector currently has around 40,000 employees and over 100 locators, about 70% of which are based at Asiatown IT Park.
KPO industry to sort out regulatory issues, says Genpact
Source: Hindu Busniess Line
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/06/23/stories/2010062353100700.htm
Leading knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) firm Genpact says the KPO industry will reconfigure itself and sort out regulatory issues as it increasingly adopts the charge-per-use cloud model.
Mr Pankaj Kulshreshtha, Senior Vice-President, Analytics and Research, Genpact, says: “While the industry is still trying to understand the cloud (which offers a shared service platform with end-to-end offerings without the need for a hosted environment), the future potential of KPO on the cloud is huge, especially in research and analytics.”
Genpact launched the ‘smart enterprise approach' earlier this year in an attempt to move towards a more end-to-end outcome; part of this will be delivered on the cloud. The company is currently working with an airport developer in the country to offer shared infrastructure and get paid based on transactions. It is also doing a few smaller experimental projects on the cloud. But data privacy issues and compliance requirements have to be worked out, as security about data is a big concern for customers on the cloud
. “But the industry will change and reconfigure itself for the cloud. Regulatory issues will be understood and taken into account while configuring solutions on the cloud,” says Mr Kulshreshtha.
Web analytics
Apart from the cloud, Genpact also sees lot of potential in Web analytics, which tracks the way consumers interact online. “Internet penetration and adoption is increasing… It is now possible to do secure transactions on the Net. The amount of information online is huge and the prominence of the Internet channel (in analytics) will increase and become more important of what we do in the future.”
Genpact is working with an online retailer in India to optimise its Web traffic and help get incremental revenues by targeting customers better.
There is also a lot of interest around social media. Genpact has done projects tracking user opinions and sensibilities on Twitter for retailers globally. It has also done some work using profiles on the professional networking site LinkedIn.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/06/23/stories/2010062353100700.htm
Leading knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) firm Genpact says the KPO industry will reconfigure itself and sort out regulatory issues as it increasingly adopts the charge-per-use cloud model.
Mr Pankaj Kulshreshtha, Senior Vice-President, Analytics and Research, Genpact, says: “While the industry is still trying to understand the cloud (which offers a shared service platform with end-to-end offerings without the need for a hosted environment), the future potential of KPO on the cloud is huge, especially in research and analytics.”
Genpact launched the ‘smart enterprise approach' earlier this year in an attempt to move towards a more end-to-end outcome; part of this will be delivered on the cloud. The company is currently working with an airport developer in the country to offer shared infrastructure and get paid based on transactions. It is also doing a few smaller experimental projects on the cloud. But data privacy issues and compliance requirements have to be worked out, as security about data is a big concern for customers on the cloud
. “But the industry will change and reconfigure itself for the cloud. Regulatory issues will be understood and taken into account while configuring solutions on the cloud,” says Mr Kulshreshtha.
Web analytics
Apart from the cloud, Genpact also sees lot of potential in Web analytics, which tracks the way consumers interact online. “Internet penetration and adoption is increasing… It is now possible to do secure transactions on the Net. The amount of information online is huge and the prominence of the Internet channel (in analytics) will increase and become more important of what we do in the future.”
Genpact is working with an online retailer in India to optimise its Web traffic and help get incremental revenues by targeting customers better.
There is also a lot of interest around social media. Genpact has done projects tracking user opinions and sensibilities on Twitter for retailers globally. It has also done some work using profiles on the professional networking site LinkedIn.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)