Showing posts with label BPO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BPO. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
HCL BPO signs 5-yr deal with UK water utility
HCL BPO, a division of HCL Technologies, has signed a five-year deal with a Britain-based water utilities client that has around 5,000 employees. As of now, the company has less than 100 people working for the client, but it expects to add more by June-end. HCL is also in talks with four other potential water utilities in the UK and Europe as well as some energy utilities.
Wipro BPO hiring 1,200 for Hyderabad centre in 6 months
Wipro BPO would be adding 1200 employees to its Hyderabad unit over the next 6 to 8 months. The employees would be graduates or under graduates from science and commerce background, the company said during a media conference.
The company is planning to hire about 8000 employees across its various campuses next year. Presently, the BPO unit has 22,600 employees on its roles, of which, 3,150 are located in its Hyderabad campus.
"We have seen some impact of the poor economic conditions in the US. But this should help us get more outsourced work," Ashutosh Vaidya, head of Wipro BPO said.
The company gets most of its business from the US market. Europe comes next in line. The contribution from other geographies to its earnings is marginal.
Wipro BPO had posted revenues of $290 million in the last fiscal year and contributes about 7 per cent to the parent company’s revenues.
Wipro BPO handles 123 processes for its customers in domains such as banking & capital markets, insurance, travel & hospitality, hi-tech manufacturing, telecom and healthcare sectors.
Vaidya felt that the anti-outsourcing sentiment prevalent in the US is a cause of concern. "Ultimately, it’s a business decision that our clients have to make," he said.
The company is planning to hire about 8000 employees across its various campuses next year. Presently, the BPO unit has 22,600 employees on its roles, of which, 3,150 are located in its Hyderabad campus.
"We have seen some impact of the poor economic conditions in the US. But this should help us get more outsourced work," Ashutosh Vaidya, head of Wipro BPO said.
The company gets most of its business from the US market. Europe comes next in line. The contribution from other geographies to its earnings is marginal.
Wipro BPO had posted revenues of $290 million in the last fiscal year and contributes about 7 per cent to the parent company’s revenues.
Wipro BPO handles 123 processes for its customers in domains such as banking & capital markets, insurance, travel & hospitality, hi-tech manufacturing, telecom and healthcare sectors.
Vaidya felt that the anti-outsourcing sentiment prevalent in the US is a cause of concern. "Ultimately, it’s a business decision that our clients have to make," he said.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Wipro BPO loses Delta Air Lines contract
Delta Follows Trend, Brings Home All Call Centers
Wipro BPO has lost its outsourcing contract with Delta Air Lines following negative customer feedback. Delta has been Wipro’s client since 2002. Spokespersons at Delta, the Atlanta based carrier, have gone on record saying that it has stopped routing customer service calls to India. The move makes Delta the second big carrier to shift customer service work from India after United Airlines did so in February.
“Customer acceptance of call center representatives in other countries was low, and our customers are not shy about letting us have that feedback,” Delta CEO Richard Anderson said in his April 16 message to Delta employees, news agencies reported.
Wipro BPO has lost its outsourcing contract with Delta Air Lines following negative customer feedback. Delta has been Wipro’s client since 2002. Spokespersons at Delta, the Atlanta based carrier, have gone on record saying that it has stopped routing customer service calls to India. The move makes Delta the second big carrier to shift customer service work from India after United Airlines did so in February.
“Customer acceptance of call center representatives in other countries was low, and our customers are not shy about letting us have that feedback,” Delta CEO Richard Anderson said in his April 16 message to Delta employees, news agencies reported.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Cognizant to kick off operations in Kolkata
IT biggie Cognizant will kick off operations at its second IT services unit in Kolkata before September. This was indicated by a senior West Bengal IT department official.
Cognizant founder and vice chairman N Lakshmi Narayanan met West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Writers' Buildings to discuss the progress of the company’s second IT unit in the city.
Talking to newsmen after the meeting, the Cognizant VP said, "Work at the Bantala unit is progressing according to plan."
Cognizant is setting up its second IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) services unit in Kolkata with an investment of close to Rs 188 crore. This is expected to sharply raise Cognizant's footprint in Kolkata with the addition of over 5 lakh sq ft of office space that may accommodate nearly 4,000 new employees.
The new fully-owned techno-complex will come up on 20 acres in the Bantala IT SEZ. In this light, the state government official said, "Cognizant’s second unit will be operational before the Pujas. It will have a capacity to accommodate some 4,000-to-6,000 people. This will be enhanced to 16,000 subsequently."
At present, out of its 44,000 global workforce, around 33,000 are at the India development centres spread across eight cities, including Chennai and Bangalore.
In addition to this facility, Cognizant will continue to lease additional facilities in Kolkata to meet its headcount growth requirements, according to a company press release.
Cognizant has around 4,000 professionals in Kolkata focussing on segments such as financial services, pharmaceuticals, retail, enterprise resource planning and customer relations.
Cognizant founder and vice chairman N Lakshmi Narayanan met West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Writers' Buildings to discuss the progress of the company’s second IT unit in the city.
Talking to newsmen after the meeting, the Cognizant VP said, "Work at the Bantala unit is progressing according to plan."
Cognizant is setting up its second IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) services unit in Kolkata with an investment of close to Rs 188 crore. This is expected to sharply raise Cognizant's footprint in Kolkata with the addition of over 5 lakh sq ft of office space that may accommodate nearly 4,000 new employees.
The new fully-owned techno-complex will come up on 20 acres in the Bantala IT SEZ. In this light, the state government official said, "Cognizant’s second unit will be operational before the Pujas. It will have a capacity to accommodate some 4,000-to-6,000 people. This will be enhanced to 16,000 subsequently."
At present, out of its 44,000 global workforce, around 33,000 are at the India development centres spread across eight cities, including Chennai and Bangalore.
In addition to this facility, Cognizant will continue to lease additional facilities in Kolkata to meet its headcount growth requirements, according to a company press release.
Cognizant has around 4,000 professionals in Kolkata focussing on segments such as financial services, pharmaceuticals, retail, enterprise resource planning and customer relations.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Genpact sets sights on home turf, aims to bag 30 outsourcing deals
Genpact is eyeing around 30 outsourcing deals in India across sectors like manufacturing, telecom, utilities and financial services, according to the company’s president and CEO Pramod Bhasin. The country’s largest BPO firm by sales has also zeroed in on China, Japan and West Asia as growth markets.
The country’s BPO market, valued at $1.3 billion, is expected to grow by 40% in 2009. "The domestic market is very receptive towards outsourcing. Deal sizes, however, remain small, ranging between $1 million and $5 million," Mr Bhasin said.
The country’s BPO market, valued at $1.3 billion, is expected to grow by 40% in 2009. "The domestic market is very receptive towards outsourcing. Deal sizes, however, remain small, ranging between $1 million and $5 million," Mr Bhasin said.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wipro may open second unit this year in Philippines
The local unit of global outsourcing giant Wipro Technologies wants to open a second call center in the Philippines within this year, less than two years after it opened its first Philippine facility in Cebu.
Wipro, whose parent Wipro Ltd. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, opened its first Philippine call center at the Cebu IT Tower within the Cebu Business Park in April last year, with only 50 workers.
It is hiring 200 more workers to bring its work force to 600. In the next two to three months, 250 more workers will be hired and Wipro is expected to fully occupy all four levels — around 6,000 square meters — that it is leasing at the Cebu IT Tower.
Wipro, whose parent Wipro Ltd. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, opened its first Philippine call center at the Cebu IT Tower within the Cebu Business Park in April last year, with only 50 workers.
It is hiring 200 more workers to bring its work force to 600. In the next two to three months, 250 more workers will be hired and Wipro is expected to fully occupy all four levels — around 6,000 square meters — that it is leasing at the Cebu IT Tower.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
'Employee referrals have worked for us': Genpact COO
Source: BusinessStandard
Interview with VN Tyagarajan chief operating officer (COO) of Genpact.
How tough is doing business now?
The going is indeed tough for IT firms, with pressure on pricing and less work coming in. Much depends on the company one deals with, as leaders could have changed and one would have to start the dialogue all over again. However, the number of companies wanting to outsource is rising. Genpact’s IT services business is only around 20 per cent. This part will surely feel the impact. However, around 85 per cent of our BPO work (accounting for 80 per cent of Genpact’s revenue) is non-discretionary. Hence, the impact can be contained.
But what are your clients telling you?
They want us to help them streamline processes, make these more efficient, which in turn will help them cut costs and do decent business in a slowing economy. All our services come under the broad umbrella of business process management. While this may sound another buzzword, we are unique in the sense that we have developed detailed benchmarks for each process and business insight. This helps us provide better end-to-end solutions and satisfy clients.
So, is there any change in your strategy?
We are accelerating work with existing customers to increase mindshare. Then, we are helping clients manage their inventory and receivables better, while reducing delinquencies. This helps them conserve more cash. We are also looking at domestic business, now a separate business division. On this front, we are discovering that many banks and institutions want to outsources services like finance and accounting (F&A), insurance, collections, customer service and procurement. We also plan to expand our business in China. We have around 3,500 employees there. The Philippines (unit) has around 700 employees.
Are you hiring more?
We have never done much lateral hiring since we promote (almost 85 per cent) from within the company. Most of our hiring is just-in-time, so we do not have a “bench”. Besides, employee referrals have worked for us. It’s also a channel that sees the least attrition.
For the past five years, Genpact has had 16 storefronts in cities like Vizag, Lucknow, Bhubaneshwar, Jamshedpur and Chandigarh. Though, currently, with reduced focus on hiring, and our tie-up with NIIT, we don’t require a separate storefront for hiring anymore. Around 15-20 people enter our storefront daily. We interview them and the hiring is done on the spot if the candidate is found fit. For 2008, storefronts contributed 17 per cent of the total associate (employee) level hires.
The approximate initial investment for each storefront varies from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, subject to multiple factors such as the city, location and the nature of the work managed such as hiring, training, vendor sourcing, campus drives, etc.
The set-up is also dependent on employability options in the region. Most centres are on a lease model, with Genpact bearing the infrastructure cost.
Are you asking people to leave, given the tough environment?
Given the GE legacy, Genpact has always believed in performance appraisals. The poor performers have always been asked to go. This period is no different.
What’s your inorganic growth strategy?
Forecasting is tough in this environment. How do we value a company today? We would rather be happy with cash in safe havens. Having said that, our acquisitions (four till date) have always been to fulfil a gap which our clients want.
Interview with VN Tyagarajan chief operating officer (COO) of Genpact.
How tough is doing business now?
The going is indeed tough for IT firms, with pressure on pricing and less work coming in. Much depends on the company one deals with, as leaders could have changed and one would have to start the dialogue all over again. However, the number of companies wanting to outsource is rising. Genpact’s IT services business is only around 20 per cent. This part will surely feel the impact. However, around 85 per cent of our BPO work (accounting for 80 per cent of Genpact’s revenue) is non-discretionary. Hence, the impact can be contained.
But what are your clients telling you?
They want us to help them streamline processes, make these more efficient, which in turn will help them cut costs and do decent business in a slowing economy. All our services come under the broad umbrella of business process management. While this may sound another buzzword, we are unique in the sense that we have developed detailed benchmarks for each process and business insight. This helps us provide better end-to-end solutions and satisfy clients.
So, is there any change in your strategy?
We are accelerating work with existing customers to increase mindshare. Then, we are helping clients manage their inventory and receivables better, while reducing delinquencies. This helps them conserve more cash. We are also looking at domestic business, now a separate business division. On this front, we are discovering that many banks and institutions want to outsources services like finance and accounting (F&A), insurance, collections, customer service and procurement. We also plan to expand our business in China. We have around 3,500 employees there. The Philippines (unit) has around 700 employees.
Are you hiring more?
We have never done much lateral hiring since we promote (almost 85 per cent) from within the company. Most of our hiring is just-in-time, so we do not have a “bench”. Besides, employee referrals have worked for us. It’s also a channel that sees the least attrition.
For the past five years, Genpact has had 16 storefronts in cities like Vizag, Lucknow, Bhubaneshwar, Jamshedpur and Chandigarh. Though, currently, with reduced focus on hiring, and our tie-up with NIIT, we don’t require a separate storefront for hiring anymore. Around 15-20 people enter our storefront daily. We interview them and the hiring is done on the spot if the candidate is found fit. For 2008, storefronts contributed 17 per cent of the total associate (employee) level hires.
The approximate initial investment for each storefront varies from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, subject to multiple factors such as the city, location and the nature of the work managed such as hiring, training, vendor sourcing, campus drives, etc.
The set-up is also dependent on employability options in the region. Most centres are on a lease model, with Genpact bearing the infrastructure cost.
Are you asking people to leave, given the tough environment?
Given the GE legacy, Genpact has always believed in performance appraisals. The poor performers have always been asked to go. This period is no different.
What’s your inorganic growth strategy?
Forecasting is tough in this environment. How do we value a company today? We would rather be happy with cash in safe havens. Having said that, our acquisitions (four till date) have always been to fulfil a gap which our clients want.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Accenture BPO looks at single digit pay hikes
Some of the IT and BPO companies are riding against the tide to hand out pay hikes to employees despite the economic slowdown. Accenture BPO turns out to be one but only with rather small increases.
The IT major has handed over raises to some of its middle level staff but is yet to announce the variable pay which is due by the end of March. However, employee promotions are currently on hold.
One employee said, “There is no talk going in Accenture about the variable pay. This means that it would be paid out like it was in the prior years. There was an increase in salary for whom it was due however there is no promotions i.e. movement from one level to the other. Apart from that, variable payout and sub-level movement is happening.”
Last year, Accenture paid a double digit per cent pay rise.
Variable pay is a chunk of an employee’s gross remuneration that is based on his/her annual performance assessment as well as the company’s annual performance.
Sources said, “Everything is not fine but I guess it is trying to differentiate between key resource and discardable resource because hike given to key resource is maximum single digit per cent hike and for others it falls between four per cent to six per cent”.
The IT major has handed over raises to some of its middle level staff but is yet to announce the variable pay which is due by the end of March. However, employee promotions are currently on hold.
One employee said, “There is no talk going in Accenture about the variable pay. This means that it would be paid out like it was in the prior years. There was an increase in salary for whom it was due however there is no promotions i.e. movement from one level to the other. Apart from that, variable payout and sub-level movement is happening.”
Last year, Accenture paid a double digit per cent pay rise.
Variable pay is a chunk of an employee’s gross remuneration that is based on his/her annual performance assessment as well as the company’s annual performance.
Sources said, “Everything is not fine but I guess it is trying to differentiate between key resource and discardable resource because hike given to key resource is maximum single digit per cent hike and for others it falls between four per cent to six per cent”.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
‘Buy US’ clause seen in some IT outsourcing contracts
Source: livemint.com
According to the fine print of the final stimulus Bill, passed in the US, TARP recipients cannot outsource call centre work to foreign firms and can hire only a limited number of foreign workers on H-1B visas.
Indian information technology (IT) services firms could see business slowing from US banks and financial institutions that have been bailed out by that country’s government, which has also become increasingly protectionist as it tries to protect jobs in the world’s biggest economy.
At least two people familiar with the matter said they have recently seen IT outsourcing tenders with so-called “buy American” or work-onsite clauses that ensure that the business goes to an American firm or to one operating on American soil.
“I have seen some ‘buy American’ inserts in a small number of requests for proposal, but this doesn’t seem to be enforceable,” said Phil Fersht, research director for global business and outsourcing services at AMR Research, an IT advisory firm.
According to Fersht, one of these was for a health care firm, and a few others for financial services firms that had been bailed out by the government.
According to the fine print of the final stimulus Bill, passed in the US, troubled assets regulation programme (TARP) recipients cannot outsource call centre work to foreign firms and can hire only a limited number of foreign workers on H-1B visas.
The second person, an executive at an Indian IT services company who did not want to be identified also said that some US firms that had usually been comfortable with moving work offshore were becoming risk averse in the current environment. “They (customers) insist that critical work should be retained within the US,” added the executive who said this measure wasn’t protectionist, but a possible reaction to economic uncertainty.
Nasscom, the Indian software industry’s lobby group, said the US government had to do this to tackle an economy on a downswing. “The fact of the matter is that they are giving funds to TARP. They have to look at generating employment locally. We will see some of these kinds of small issues rising. We are confident that better sense will prevail,” said Ameet Nivasarkar, vice-president of Nasscom.
The US, the world’s biggest spender on technology is in a recession, triggered by a crisis in its financial system, which has seen several firms going bankrupt and several others being wholly or partly taken over by the federal government. The world’s largest economy has shed 4.4 million jobs since December 2007 with nearly half of those losses coming in the last three months, prompting President Barack Obama to announce plans to cut tax breaks for firms that move jobs to foreign shores.
Indian IT services firms such as Infosys Technologies Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) derive a significant portion of their revenue from companies in businesses such as banking, financial services, and insurance. Such firms contributed almost 41% of the $40.4 billion (Rs2.09 trillion) revenue of Indian IT services firms in the year to March 2008. As business slows from US firms, Nasscom forecasts that growth for the IT firms will halve to 16% in the year to March.
An analyst said outsourcing firms could also face subtler constraints. “At least those programmes are overt,” said Peter Redshaw, vice-president for research in banking and finance services at Gartner Inc., a technology research firm, referring to the US legislations. “A second issue is the rise in ‘soft constraints’ where governments, central banks and regulators put pressure on banks (such as greater scrutiny or a need for higher transparency) that may inhibit decisions to go offshore.”
“So, banks may in some cases be prohibited from going offshore or they may need to be more politically sensitive and risk averse in their operations,” Redshaw added.
India’s two largest IT firms, however, said they were yet to encounter TARP-related constraints. TCS and Infosys Technologies said that they haven’t seen any impact due to these measures. “Currently, we are not seeing any such impact from any of our clients,” said V. Balakrishnan, chief financial officer at Infosys.
Still, the legislations itself were passed only last month and it is likely it will take a while before Indian firms feel the fallout.
Analysts say that a bigger impact on offshoring would, however, be felt if Obama goes ahead with his plan to cut tax breaks for companies that offshore work.
“However, I would expect clauses to be put into contracts that allow for work to be pulled back onshore in the event of tax changes that impact offshoring,” said Fersht of AMR.
According to the fine print of the final stimulus Bill, passed in the US, TARP recipients cannot outsource call centre work to foreign firms and can hire only a limited number of foreign workers on H-1B visas.
Indian information technology (IT) services firms could see business slowing from US banks and financial institutions that have been bailed out by that country’s government, which has also become increasingly protectionist as it tries to protect jobs in the world’s biggest economy.
At least two people familiar with the matter said they have recently seen IT outsourcing tenders with so-called “buy American” or work-onsite clauses that ensure that the business goes to an American firm or to one operating on American soil.
“I have seen some ‘buy American’ inserts in a small number of requests for proposal, but this doesn’t seem to be enforceable,” said Phil Fersht, research director for global business and outsourcing services at AMR Research, an IT advisory firm.
According to Fersht, one of these was for a health care firm, and a few others for financial services firms that had been bailed out by the government.
According to the fine print of the final stimulus Bill, passed in the US, troubled assets regulation programme (TARP) recipients cannot outsource call centre work to foreign firms and can hire only a limited number of foreign workers on H-1B visas.
The second person, an executive at an Indian IT services company who did not want to be identified also said that some US firms that had usually been comfortable with moving work offshore were becoming risk averse in the current environment. “They (customers) insist that critical work should be retained within the US,” added the executive who said this measure wasn’t protectionist, but a possible reaction to economic uncertainty.
Nasscom, the Indian software industry’s lobby group, said the US government had to do this to tackle an economy on a downswing. “The fact of the matter is that they are giving funds to TARP. They have to look at generating employment locally. We will see some of these kinds of small issues rising. We are confident that better sense will prevail,” said Ameet Nivasarkar, vice-president of Nasscom.
The US, the world’s biggest spender on technology is in a recession, triggered by a crisis in its financial system, which has seen several firms going bankrupt and several others being wholly or partly taken over by the federal government. The world’s largest economy has shed 4.4 million jobs since December 2007 with nearly half of those losses coming in the last three months, prompting President Barack Obama to announce plans to cut tax breaks for firms that move jobs to foreign shores.
Indian IT services firms such as Infosys Technologies Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) derive a significant portion of their revenue from companies in businesses such as banking, financial services, and insurance. Such firms contributed almost 41% of the $40.4 billion (Rs2.09 trillion) revenue of Indian IT services firms in the year to March 2008. As business slows from US firms, Nasscom forecasts that growth for the IT firms will halve to 16% in the year to March.
An analyst said outsourcing firms could also face subtler constraints. “At least those programmes are overt,” said Peter Redshaw, vice-president for research in banking and finance services at Gartner Inc., a technology research firm, referring to the US legislations. “A second issue is the rise in ‘soft constraints’ where governments, central banks and regulators put pressure on banks (such as greater scrutiny or a need for higher transparency) that may inhibit decisions to go offshore.”
“So, banks may in some cases be prohibited from going offshore or they may need to be more politically sensitive and risk averse in their operations,” Redshaw added.
India’s two largest IT firms, however, said they were yet to encounter TARP-related constraints. TCS and Infosys Technologies said that they haven’t seen any impact due to these measures. “Currently, we are not seeing any such impact from any of our clients,” said V. Balakrishnan, chief financial officer at Infosys.
Still, the legislations itself were passed only last month and it is likely it will take a while before Indian firms feel the fallout.
Analysts say that a bigger impact on offshoring would, however, be felt if Obama goes ahead with his plan to cut tax breaks for companies that offshore work.
“However, I would expect clauses to be put into contracts that allow for work to be pulled back onshore in the event of tax changes that impact offshoring,” said Fersht of AMR.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
First BPO in J&K; Aegis to set up two BPO units in Jammu and Kashmir
Essar controlled-Aegis BPO is planning to set up two business process outsourcing (BPO) units in the state of Jammu and Kashmir (JandK). While one BPO unit will come up in Srinagar in Kashmir, the other will be set up in Jammu. The total investment entailed by Aegis on the BPOs will be around Rs 100 crore.
"Essar has a large national footprint and we see JandK, with its young and dynamic leadership, playing an important role in India's economic growth and development," said Shashi Ruia, chairman, Essar Group. He added that Aegis' initiative will hopefully encourage other big companies to invest in the state. The venture is expected to create direct and indirect employment opportunities for 2,000 people in the state.
The first centre in Srinagar is expected to be operational in the next three months. With this, Aegis will become the first BPO company to set up operations in the state.
"Essar has a large national footprint and we see JandK, with its young and dynamic leadership, playing an important role in India's economic growth and development," said Shashi Ruia, chairman, Essar Group. He added that Aegis' initiative will hopefully encourage other big companies to invest in the state. The venture is expected to create direct and indirect employment opportunities for 2,000 people in the state.
The first centre in Srinagar is expected to be operational in the next three months. With this, Aegis will become the first BPO company to set up operations in the state.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wipro eyes multi-skilled workforce (IT and BPO skills)
In an effort to slash hiring and increase efficiency, Wipro Technologies, one of the leading IT companies in the country, is training its employees to turn into a multi-skilled workforce.
The Bangalore-headquartered company is providing training to its employees in different domains and technologies to cater to the current requirements as the company is pursuing for integrated deals by providing both BPO and IT services by a single team.
"When people are multi-skilled, we will likely have fewer people. Instead of having two individuals being paid lower salaries, we are better off paying more to a single person who is capable of doing both work. This not only improves turnaround times, but also efficiency in operations," Girish Paranjpe, Joint CEO for Wipro's IT business, told Business Standard.
With an aim of optimally using its manpower in both IT and BPO operations, Wipro has already signed a few large integrated deals, wherein the company is providing both the IT outsourcing and BPO services by a single team. The company has transitioned some of their employees from each of these two businesses (IT and BPO) to work for such projects.
According to Paranjpe, the company has signed up three-four large clients who have outsourced their entire IT and BPO activity to the company. By the end of FY09, the company expects that close to 1,000 people will be deployed in the integrated outsourcing projects.
"One of the things we are trying to drive is integrated projects by offering both BPO and IT services. So, it makes more sense to have a fungible team. Much of our new work, we are hoping to do in an integrated fashion — where we will manage the IT application and also carry out the business process for the clients," Paranjpe added.
In December last year, Wipro had offered close to 2,000 campus recruits from various engineering colleges jobs in the BPO business till they could be absorbed in the company's IT business. The experiment of putting engineering graduates into BPO work, however, seems to have seen a very limited success as the company found many of them unsuitable for BPO works.
Analysts say, Wipro's experiment of putting engineering graduates into BPO work was driven by the company's aggressive quest to make the manpower multi-skilled so that they could be useful as the company signs more number of integrated deals.
Of about 1,000 people who had accepted the offers to join the BPO jobs, the company found only about 300 suitable for the job after initial screening. Among those who failed to qualify the initial screening, close to 450 people are undergoing training now, and will be asked to take the test again, according to Wipro's Head of HR Pratik Kumar.
Said Kumar, "If today we are looking for engineers for BPO works, it's not because we have engineers who are sitting idle. But because suddenly we found that nature of the job is such, we require engineers as well. It's is not a utilisation issue. It's an issue of the integrated nature of the work which is throwing opportunities."
The Bangalore-headquartered company is providing training to its employees in different domains and technologies to cater to the current requirements as the company is pursuing for integrated deals by providing both BPO and IT services by a single team.
"When people are multi-skilled, we will likely have fewer people. Instead of having two individuals being paid lower salaries, we are better off paying more to a single person who is capable of doing both work. This not only improves turnaround times, but also efficiency in operations," Girish Paranjpe, Joint CEO for Wipro's IT business, told Business Standard.
With an aim of optimally using its manpower in both IT and BPO operations, Wipro has already signed a few large integrated deals, wherein the company is providing both the IT outsourcing and BPO services by a single team. The company has transitioned some of their employees from each of these two businesses (IT and BPO) to work for such projects.
According to Paranjpe, the company has signed up three-four large clients who have outsourced their entire IT and BPO activity to the company. By the end of FY09, the company expects that close to 1,000 people will be deployed in the integrated outsourcing projects.
"One of the things we are trying to drive is integrated projects by offering both BPO and IT services. So, it makes more sense to have a fungible team. Much of our new work, we are hoping to do in an integrated fashion — where we will manage the IT application and also carry out the business process for the clients," Paranjpe added.
In December last year, Wipro had offered close to 2,000 campus recruits from various engineering colleges jobs in the BPO business till they could be absorbed in the company's IT business. The experiment of putting engineering graduates into BPO work, however, seems to have seen a very limited success as the company found many of them unsuitable for BPO works.
Analysts say, Wipro's experiment of putting engineering graduates into BPO work was driven by the company's aggressive quest to make the manpower multi-skilled so that they could be useful as the company signs more number of integrated deals.
Of about 1,000 people who had accepted the offers to join the BPO jobs, the company found only about 300 suitable for the job after initial screening. Among those who failed to qualify the initial screening, close to 450 people are undergoing training now, and will be asked to take the test again, according to Wipro's Head of HR Pratik Kumar.
Said Kumar, "If today we are looking for engineers for BPO works, it's not because we have engineers who are sitting idle. But because suddenly we found that nature of the job is such, we require engineers as well. It's is not a utilisation issue. It's an issue of the integrated nature of the work which is throwing opportunities."
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wal-Mart may award outsourcing contract worth US$500mn
Wal-Mart has not looked at BPO or IT outsourcing so far, but the current economic environment is forcing the retailer look for more cost saving options.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's top retailer, is reportedly considering awarding a business process outsourcing (BPO) contract worth as much as US$500mn. According to reports, IBM, TCS, WNS and Wipro are among the leading contenders for the lucrative contract.
Wal-Mart has not looked at BPO or IT outsourcing so far, but the current economic environment is forcing the retailer look for more cost saving options, including outsourcing of non-core processes.
Wal-Mart will expand staffing of certain elements of IT application maintenance and development with some of India’s leading Information Technology firms, the company says on its web site.
"India is one of several countries that the company is targeting as part of its remote sourcing model for IT activities," it adds.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's top retailer, is reportedly considering awarding a business process outsourcing (BPO) contract worth as much as US$500mn. According to reports, IBM, TCS, WNS and Wipro are among the leading contenders for the lucrative contract.
Wal-Mart has not looked at BPO or IT outsourcing so far, but the current economic environment is forcing the retailer look for more cost saving options, including outsourcing of non-core processes.
Wal-Mart will expand staffing of certain elements of IT application maintenance and development with some of India’s leading Information Technology firms, the company says on its web site.
"India is one of several countries that the company is targeting as part of its remote sourcing model for IT activities," it adds.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
'United Airlines' to bring back call-center jobs from India
United Airlines said it plans to shift 165 customer service jobs from India and Mexico to giant call centers outside Chicago and Honolulu as it overhauls how it fields passenger feedback about its flights.
By the spring, passengers will only be able to share complaints or queries about United flights by sending e-mails or letters, a process the company says is more efficient than phone interactions.
As of the end of April, Chicago-based United plans to turn off a phone line that lets customers lodge complaints or praise service on its flights, the airline told workers Tuesday.
Customers who dial 1-800-UNITED-1 will be directed to put service concerns into writing, although they will still be able to make reservations, track lost bags or seek refunds via phone.
By the spring, passengers will only be able to share complaints or queries about United flights by sending e-mails or letters, a process the company says is more efficient than phone interactions.
As of the end of April, Chicago-based United plans to turn off a phone line that lets customers lodge complaints or praise service on its flights, the airline told workers Tuesday.
Customers who dial 1-800-UNITED-1 will be directed to put service concerns into writing, although they will still be able to make reservations, track lost bags or seek refunds via phone.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Amtex Systems to expand Indian BPO operations
Amtex Systems, a fast growing New York based IT consulting and service company has announced expansion of BPO division of its Indian subsidiary based in Chennai. It is said to be investing over Rs 6 crore in setting up a new 4000 sq ft facility here with a 150 seater capacity. This will be in addition to its existing facility.
Amtex employs more than 1500 professionals globally and has 12 offices across six countries, earning Rs 400 crore. It is ranked among the top four privately held companies in global IT consulting and services in New York region.
Amtex employs more than 1500 professionals globally and has 12 offices across six countries, earning Rs 400 crore. It is ranked among the top four privately held companies in global IT consulting and services in New York region.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Infosys BPO gets "positive rating" by Gartner
Infosys BPO, the business process outsourcing subsidiary of Infosys Technologies, today announced that it received a 'positive' rating in Gartner's MarketScope for comprehensive finance and accounting business process outsourcing, 2008.
Infosys BPO was amongst the 11 vendors evaluated for the reports, which focused on vendor capabilities in the comprehensive F and A BPO market, the Bangalore-headquartered company said in a statement.
Infosys BPO was amongst the 11 vendors evaluated for the reports, which focused on vendor capabilities in the comprehensive F and A BPO market, the Bangalore-headquartered company said in a statement.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Caretel Infotech hires 600 people for BPO ops
Dalmia group company Caretel Infotech is upbeat about the opportunities in the BPO space and has hired about 600 people, even while others are handing out pink slips to employees amid the current slowdown.
"In last 30 days, we have recruited 619 employees for our various projects from metros and even small towns like Chindwara at Rajasthan for our Kisaan Call Centre Project. For our various assignments, we will be recruiting more and more people from all over India and train them for the future," Caretel Infotech Chief Executive Officer Amit Roy said in a statement.
Friday, December 26, 2008
50,000 techies may lose jobs in next six months in India
Source:UNITES
Bangalore: It is really tough time for employees in IT and BPO sectors in India as worsening economy may cause to lose over 50,000 jobs in these sectors over the next six months. Employees in Big and small firms are likely to be the most impacted section of the downturn in next six months, while it was employees in medium-sized companies met job losses largely during September-December period.
Karthik Shekhar, General Secretary, Union of IT Enabled Services (UNITES) India finds that there was a loss of 10,000 jobs in IT and BPO sectors during the September-December period. According to the UNITES India, companies in trouble could resort to salary and incentive cuts without trying to squeeze the staff, rather than adopting the layoff path.
Karthik further added that employees are willing to agree with cuts in their salary and other incentives for 12-16 months and when the demand picks up again such benefits should be restored to them. He said senior officials of the industry had concurred with the figure of 10,000 job losses in September-December, stating that it accounted for bottom 5 percent of the performers.
"Continued slowdown, likely tax application to companies outsourcing jobs under the new U.S. regime and tightening procedures with regard to H1B visas are among key reasons cited for acceleration in issue of pink slips," he opined.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Infosys BPO, Mphasis keep on hiring
Source: IT Examiner
The top two BPO companies in India, Infosys BPO and Mphasis have rubbished the recent report of Indian BPO industry chopping 2.5 lakh jobs by the first quarter of 2009 which has been creating doubt and uncertainty in the minds of many BPO employees in India.
Speaking to IT Examiner, The Infosys BPO vice-president and HR head, K Raghavendra rubbishing what he called a mere speculation said BPO sector will lose 2.5 lakhs jobs. Commenting on the report, Raghavendra said, “the reports was completely bull and speculative”.
One more relevant article from Market Watch
Hexaware announces new organisation structure
Source: Business Standard
IT and BPO services provider Hexaware Technologies, announced a new organisation structure with focus on three major verticals--BFSI, travel and transport, and emerging verticals (manufacturing and healthcare).
“The planned structure will facilitate aggressive account mining, enable us to define and penetrate target accounts better and provide greater value to our customers. We believe it will also foster a more collaborative approach within Hexaware, spurring our accelerated growth in the future,” said P R Chandrasekar, CEO and vice chairman, Hexaware.
BPO, IT companies may have to pay more for 24X7 broadband
Source: The Economic TimesMUMBAI: BPOs, IT firms and enterprise users of Internet should brace up for higher prices of bandwidth if they want capacity that is disruption-proof even in case of disasters like the latest undersea cable cuts in the Mediterranean region. Possible restoration by Friday.
Operators are mulling increasing prices for offering round-the-clock or restorable leased line services, top industry sources told ET. Leased lines are dedicated circuits which provide permanent Internet connectivity and are heavily used by IT and IT-enabled services industry for voice and data transfer.
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