BPO India chronology: The Birth(1995-2000)

1995


Pramod Bhasin and Nigel Andrews of GE make a case for captive back office operations in India. GE M & A asks Anderson Consulting to explore the market for third party vendors.

1996

British Airways sets up a 30 people captive back office in Mumbai to undertake data entry work. American Express assigns Raman Roy the task of setting up a call centre in Gurgaon. The same year, Anderson submits its verdict to GE: captive is the way to go.

1997

GE flags off captive BPO operations in Gurgaon through subsidiary GE Capital International Services (Gecis). Raman Roy is signed on as CEO. Gecis starts operations with basic data entry work.

1999

Driven by the Internet boom, Sanjeeev Agarwal, backed by $3 million venture funding from CDC Capital Partners, sets up Daksh eServices in Gurgaon and begins offering email support service.

2000

Raman Roy quits Gecis to set up Spectramind in Gurgaon. CustomerAsset and 24/7 Customer setup shop in Bangalore. All three rope in venture capital investment and follow Daksh’s lead in fashioning teir business models around email support services. The third party industry is born.

The Gold Rush(2000-02)

2001

The dotcom crash is followed by boom in demand for voice bsed services. Customer support and telemarketing services fuel boom in call centres. Captives like Dell, HSBC, Standard Chartered, AOL, and HP lead the boom. Multinational third partystart upsl land big ticket customers- Daksh-Sprint, Spectramind- American Express.

2002


Private equity investors, Indian IT sevices majors and large corporate houses rush into third party BPO. Warburg Pincus acquires a 70percent stake in British Airways’ captive. WNS Global Services is born. General Atlantic pumps $21 million into Daksh. Oak Hill Capital backs a management buyout of the Conseco group’s stake in EXL Services. Indian IT majors enter the space Wipro buys Spectramind for $100 million, Infosys sets up Progeon and Satyam announces Nipuna. ICICI subsidiary I-One Source buys CustomerAsset. India’s BPO revenues surge to $2.7 billion as on March 2003 and voice corners 60 percent of the market.

Consolidation(2002-04)

2003

Third party firms begin to scale up revenues and diversify service lines through aggressive M&A led strategies. WNS buys UK based Town and Country and US based ClaimsBPO to enter insurance segment. I-One Source buys British Telecom’s call centre in Ireland. Transworks is acquired by Aditya Birla Group.
2004

WNS becomes the first Indian third party BPO firm to hit $100 million revenues. IBM buys Daksh for $130 million. Signals the entry of the Global Big Five in India’s BPO market. GE sells 60 per cent in Gecis to private equity firms General Atlantic and Oak Hill Capital for $500 million. Gecis becomes the largest third party Indian BPO firm.
Coming of Age
2005 onwards

M& A – driven consolidation leads to emergence of four third party camps. Indian scale players with multiple service lines across the value chain- Genpact, I-One Source, EXL, WNS, MNC third party players – Convergys, ADP, Hewitt. Integrated IT and BPO services offering – Infosys, Wipro, IBM, Accenture, Niche players – Evalueserve, Office Tiger, Marketrx, Indecomm.

Captives continue to set up operations but are now looking at different models – BOT, hybrid (third party and captive). The next phase of BPO will see players in all categories moving towards high end, knowledge based services like analytics and market research.

Infosys BPO launches sales-support solution

Infosys BPO has launched a sales-support solution to reduce the amount of time spent by sales organizations in non-value adding administrative tasks.


The suite of services includes lead qualification, customer profiling, quoting, pricing, service revenue assurance and channel partner support.

The portfolio includes multi-industry services including order management, demand planning, replenishment planning, inventory management, forward and reverse logistics support.

The sales and fulfillment practice currently accounts for close to 20% of Infosys BPO’s revenues.

Energy efficiency, a key driver of Cloud Computing

Bangalore: During the economic slowdown, firms shifted to the 'Cloud' by considering the cost benefits involved, now with the improved market condition, energy saving is emerging as a significant factor for cloud computing adoption.


"There is a lot of work that we in the semiconductor industry do to develop solutions that makes cloud computing more energy efficient," says Paramesh Gopi, CEO and President of Applied Micro, a fabless semiconductor firm, providing energy efficient solutions. According to him, 2.2 percent of the U.S. electricity bills are accounted for by datacenters.

A study was conducted by Greenpeace on cloud computing vendor NetSuite to determine the energy savings of NetSuite's customers. By vastly reducing the need for servers and support equipment, such as server room air conditioning, Greenpeace found that the average NetSuite customer can cut its electricity bill by more than $10,000 per year. When added to the overall costs of hardware, software licenses, maintenance, personnel and occupancy, NetSuite calculates the cost reductions can exceed $100,000 per year, per customer.
The study also found that with more than 6,000 customers sharing datacenter resources, NetSuite's platform saved more than $61 million in energy bills per year. These savings amount to nearly 595 million kilowatt-hours annually, the equivalent of nearly 423,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, which is the average electricity consumption of 56,000 homes per year.

In order to expand its portfolio, recently Applied Micro launched its APM801xx family of energy-efficient embedded processors with a small form factor for Power Architecture-based products. The company's India design center at Pune, which was started in 2008, also plays a crucial role in designing these products, according to the CEO. The company currently has a headcount of 100 in India with plans to ramp it up to 160 by the end of this year.

What about Facebook on your mobile for free?

New York: In 45 countries including India the popular social networking site Facebook can be accessed through mobile for free or without any data charges on select mobile networks.
For this purpose, the entity has launched a new site '0.facebook.com' that includes all key features of Facebook but is optimized for speed.
Facebook, which has over 400 million users worldwide, has tied up with Indian wireless operators like Reliance Communications and Videocon to make the site available for cell phone users with zero data charges.
"Today, we are launching '0.facebook.com.' It, initially, is available through more than 50 mobile operators in 45 countries and territories with zero data charges," a Programme Manager for Facebook Mobile, Sid Murlidhar, wrote on a blog.
In India, the new site would be available on the networks of Reliance and Videocon.

Now, BPOs to be run by prisoners

Hyderabad: Clicking on a public-private partnership with global IT firm Radiant Info Systems, the Hyderabad's Cherlapally Central Jail will become the only prison in the country to have a BPO unit in its premises, reports Saswati Mukherjee from the Economic Times.

While Radiant Info Systems will invest money and expertise in the unit, prison authorities will provide space and labour. To begin with, the BPO will function in three shifts, with a strength of around 70 odd inmates in one shift. The prisoners will work from within the 'closed space' of the BPO office and will be taken out of the locked enclosure at the beginning and end of each shift.

Jail officials said that after the BPO is set up, the "interest level and aptitude" of the inmates will be considered before involving them in this ambitious project. According to C N Gopinatha Reddy, Director General of prisons, Andhra Pradesh, as many as 200-250 inmates could be engaged in the BPO unit and they will be shortlisted from inmates that are matriculates and graduates. Officials explained that those shortlisted would first be trained by experts and later absorbed by the BPO company.

"For starters, the convicts working at the BPO would not have access to phones as is the case in a call centre. They would be involved in bank-related work of data entry and transfer," said Reddy. "The idea is to ensure that on being released, the prisoners find it easy to get absorbed in the mainstream. Prisoners often find getting suitable employment post release a tough task. So, this is an attempt to ensure that their employers know them well in advance."

Call Centers in India

Global organizations have always preferred outsourcing call center services to India, when compared to outsourcing to China, Philippines, Malaysia and other Asian countries. India has always been the most preferred outsourcing location, because call centres in India offers a wide variety of advantages that other countries do not offer. Today, having call centers in India has become the norm for several global companies. India has been able to effectively meet the growing international demand for call center outsourcing services by providing cost-effective services and customer-oriented call centers. Many international organizations are also setting up call centres in India, because India has a large qualified workforce and can also provide cost-effective call center outsourcing services. Outsource call center services to India and give your organization a competitive edge. The following are a list of reasons why outsourcing call center services to India makes business sense.

Why outsource to call centers in India?
1. Large and educated workforce

Call centers in India have a largest number of qualified, tech-savvy, IT literate, trained, skilled and experienced professionals. India has the largest English-speaking population after the USA. India’s large and well-educated workforce has been one of India’s main advantages over other countries. India will continue to have a well-educated and large workforce, because India has an ever increasing number of college graduates and a large number of successful training industries. These factors ensure that India’s resources will keep increasing year after year.

India’s large manpower is willing to work for a lesser price. In a call center operation, manpower typically accounts for 55 to 60 percent of the total cost. In India, manpower is available at a fraction of the cost overseas. Initial investment in infrastructure and training can be expensive and make one believe that the promise of cost reduction is false. However, there will be savings and the fact that several global giants continue to set up call centers in India is proof of this.

2. Specialized call center outsourcing services

Call centers in India have experience in offering a number of call center outsourcing services, such as, center, telemarketing, technical helpdesk services, CATI services, disaster recovery services, email support services and chat support services amongst others. Call centers in India can also provide a host of IT enabled services, such as, helpdesk services, accounting services, transaction processing services, remote network management and end-to-end processing amongst others. Call centers in India can offer expert product specific solutions, such as risk modeling, data mining, actuarial services and underwriting variation analysis. Call centers in India offer cost-effective call center outsourcing services without compromising on quality. Call centers in India also have the best of technology, people, processes, resources, operational expertise.

3. Time Zone Advantages
More and more global organizations have been outsourcing call centers to India, because of India’s time zone advantages. India’s twelve hour time difference enables global organizations to provide their customers with 24x7x365 days services. By taking advantage of India’s time difference, companies in the U.S have been able to ensure that their customers receive round-the-clock customer support. By outsourcing call centers to India, you can take advantage of India’s time zone advantage.
Get the India Advantage!

4. India’s Policies

The Indian government has extended its support to the outsourcing and IT industry. The government of India has allowed duty free exports of capital goods and has provided tax exemption on the export of ITES. The Indian government has also aided the Indians in building software technology parks that have the latest in telecom facilities and infrastructure. This support from the Indian government has gone a long way in making India the world’s most preferred outsourcing location.

5. Latest Technology and High-end Infrastructure

Call centers in India employ the use of the latest technology, the best software and high-end infrastructure to provide high-quality customer support services. India has also experienced privatization and reduction in the tariff of internet services, telecom, cellular services and paging services. This has given India an advantage over other locations, in terms of infrastructure. India has the largest number of state-of-the-art call centers in the world. The Government of India has recognized the potential of IT-enabled services and has taken positive steps by providing numerous incentives.

6. Cost-effective call center services

Another important factor why global organizations prefer outsourcing call centers to India is because call centers in India offer cost-effective customer support services without compromising on quality. With the low cost of manpower available in India, Indian call centers have been able to provide high-quality call center outsourcing services on a 24x7x365 days basis, at a cost which is more than 50% less if performed in the U.S or U.K. These reasons have encouraged more global corporations to outsource call center services to India, because they can get access to quality call center outsourcing services at a cost-effective price.

7. India enjoys the confidence and trust of global organizations

India has been one of the first nations to step into the call center outsourcing industry. Global organizations have already outsourced call centers to India and have found India to be an ideal outsourcing provider. Today, some of the world’s global giants have a base in India, from where they provide customer support services to their worldwide customers on a 24x7x365 days basis. These successful call center outsourcing ventures have encouraged more and more global organizations to outsource call center services to India and give their organization a competitive advantage.

Outsourcing Call Center Services to Project BPO (STATIS)

Project BPO, a pioneer in outsourcing has been providing a wide range of services to global organizations. Statis’s technology-driven call center services can enable you to provide your customers with high-quality call center services, while saving on your operating costs. The following are a list of call center services that Project BPO offers.

Sutherland close to buying out Adventity

Sutherland Global Services, a multi-national BPO provider with significant offshore operations in Chennai, Kochi and Mumbai is close to acquiring Adventity, a BPO focussed on the financial services space, according to sources close to the development.

The deal size is pegged at $40-$45 million, which is roughly one time of Adventity’s annual sales. When contacted, Adventity CEO Kumar Subramanian told ET, “We don’t comment on market rumours.” On the other hand, Sutherland could not be contacted for comments.

While details were not available on why Sutherland zeroed in on Adventity, sources said the BPO has been scouting for acquisitions for sometime now. At the same time, this deal will provide an exit opportunity for Adventity’s investors, many of whom are private equity players. Sources said Sutherland will acquire 100% of Adventity, but this won’t ring in any management changes in the latter in the near term. Chennai-based brokerage Spark Capital is learnt to be advising Sutherland on the acquisition.

Adventity, funded by Norwest Venture Partners, CIBC Capital Partners, DA Capital and private investors, was founded five years back by a group of bankers. It has over 4,000 employees and provides equity research and financial analytics for banking, mortgage, financial services, airline & travel industries. Apart from delivery centers in India, it also has a presence in Houston and Dubai.

Sutherland, founded more than two decades back by Dilip Vellodi, an ex-employee of Xerox, is a private-held pure play BPO company with around 25000 employees. It has a strong offshore presence in India of well over 10000 employees and offers back office and customer lifecycle management services. The company is also in the process of setting up a campus in Chennai that will support 10,000 people.

Call Centers in India

Global organizations have always preferred outsourcing call center services to India, when compared to outsourcing to China, Philippines, Malaysia and other Asian countries. India has always been the most preferred outsourcing location, because call centres in India offers a wide variety of advantages that other countries do not offer. Today, having call centers in India has become the norm for several global companies. India has been able to effectively meet the growing international demand for call center outsourcing services by providing cost-effective services and customer-oriented call centers. Many international organizations are also setting up call centres in India, because India has a large qualified workforce and can also provide cost-effective call center outsourcing services. Outsource call center services to India and give your organization a competitive edge. The following are a list of reasons why outsourcing call center services to India makes business sense.

Why outsource to call centers in India?

1. Large and educated workforce

Call centers in India have a largest number of qualified, tech-savvy, IT literate, trained, skilled and experienced professionals. India has the largest English-speaking population after the USA. India’s large and well-educated workforce has been one of India’s main advantages over other countries. India will continue to have a well-educated and large workforce, because India has an ever increasing number of college graduates and a large number of successful training industries. These factors ensure that India’s resources will keep increasing year after year.

India’s large manpower is willing to work for a lesser price. In a call center operation, manpower typically accounts for 55 to 60 percent of the total cost. In India, manpower is available at a fraction of the cost overseas. Initial investment in infrastructure and training can be expensive and make one believe that the promise of cost reduction is false. However, there will be savings and the fact that several global giants continue to set up call centers in India is proof of this.

2. Specialized call center outsourcing services

Call centers in India have experience in offering a number of call center outsourcing services, such as, center, telemarketing, technical helpdesk services, CATI services, disaster recovery services, email support services and chat support services amongst others. Call centers in India can also provide a host of IT enabled services, such as, helpdesk services, accounting services, transaction processing services, remote network management and end-to-end processing amongst others. Call centers in India can offer expert product specific solutions, such as risk modeling, data mining, actuarial services and underwriting variation analysis. Call centers in India offer cost-effective call center outsourcing services without compromising on quality. Call centers in India also have the best of technology, people, processes, resources, operational expertise.

3. Time Zone Advantages

More and more global organizations have been outsourcing call centers to India, because of India’s time zone advantages. India’s twelve hour time difference enables global organizations to provide their customers with 24x7x365 days services. By taking advantage of India’s time difference, companies in the U.S have been able to ensure that their customers receive round-the-clock customer support. By outsourcing call centers to India, you can take advantage of India’s time zone advantage.

Get the India Advantage!

4. India’s Policies

The Indian government has extended its support to the outsourcing and IT industry. The government of India has allowed duty free exports of capital goods and has provided tax exemption on the export of ITES. The Indian government has also aided the Indians in building software technology parks that have the latest in telecom facilities and infrastructure. This support from the Indian government has gone a long way in making India the world’s most preferred outsourcing location.

5. Latest Technology and High-end Infrastructure

Call centers in India employ the use of the latest technology, the best software and high-end infrastructure to provide high-quality customer support services. India has also experienced privatization and reduction in the tariff of internet services, telecom, cellular services and paging services. This has given India an advantage over other locations, in terms of infrastructure. India has the largest number of state-of-the-art call centers in the world. The Government of India has recognized the potential of IT-enabled services and has taken positive steps by providing numerous incentives.

6. Cost-effective call center services

Another important factor why global organizations prefer outsourcing call centers to India is because call centers in India offer cost-effective customer support services without compromising on quality. With the low cost of manpower available in India, Indian call centers have been able to provide high-quality call center outsourcing services on a 24x7x365 days basis, at a cost which is more than 50% less if performed in the U.S or U.K. These reasons have encouraged more global corporations to outsource call center services to India, because they can get access to quality call center outsourcing services at a cost-effective price.

7. India enjoys the confidence and trust of global organizations

India has been one of the first nations to step into the call center outsourcing industry. Global organizations have already outsourced call centers to India and have found India to be an ideal outsourcing provider. Today, some of the world’s global giants have a base in India, from where they provide customer support services to their worldwide customers on a 24x7x365 days basis. These successful call center outsourcing ventures have encouraged more and more global organizations to outsource call center services to India and give their organization a competitive advantage.

Outsourcing Call Center Services to Project BPO (STATIS)

Project BPO, a pioneer in outsourcing has been providing a wide range of services to global organizations. Statis’s technology-driven call center services can enable you to provide your customers with high-quality call center services, while saving on your operating costs. The following are a list of call center services that Project BPO offers.