Friday, November 18, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Obama announced that there would be no tax breaks to US companies that outsource their jobs abroad. Clearly a step to deter US companies from outsurcing their work to other countries. Outsourcing as a strategy has been adopted by companies not only in US but also across the world and its benefits are universally acknowledged. It would be interesting to see if US govt successfully curbs outsourcing by US companies as it gives an oppurtunity for non-US companies to grow financially by getting that competitive edge. Most of top performing companies across various industry verticals are based in US and this might change change soon.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Friday, January 04, 2008
While BPOs claim that the strategy could give employees growth opportunities in the organisation, industry experts caution that it can work to the companys advantage only in the short term, as attrition in BPOs is linked mainly to salaries. This is an attractive strategy. But it needs to be bundled with on-the-job attractions to avoid boredom. If not, it may not work in the long run as the employees may end up doing the same work even after they are promoted, said Adecco (India & Middle East) CEO Sudhakar Balakrishnan.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Infosys BPO Idol, as the contest is known, is expected to get the employees involved in activities other than business, and "create a vibrant, passionate and culturally stimulating workplace," says the company.
The show has been organised on the lines of the American Idol. The elimination rounds have already been held. To maintain the same aura and energy around the event, the Infosys BPO has introduced the concept of wildcard entries, SMS voting system and a live band. Each participant is given time to practice with the band to ensure their singing is flawless.
The SMS voting system was introduced in the fifth round, which had 10 contestants. The SMS votes are given 20 per cent weightage, according to organisers. In a week, following the start of the fifth round, the event has received 5,525 SMS votes.
Besides, the company is also sending out mailers on each participant called 'Know Your Infy Idol', wherein the participants share personal information. Each participant is also expected to canvass for votes with innovative ideas to increase his/her SMS poll rating.
Said Newtom Paul, a participant: "Infosys BPO Idol is a great opportunity to show my talent. Very few people know I can sing, Infosys BPO Idol has given me the much-needed exposure. I have also established friendships with other colleagues."
The event is being organised at three locations in India including Jaipur, Pune and Bangalore. For the final round scheduled at Infosys' Bangalore campus on December 21, Bollywood playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthy will be the judge.
The winners of the contest will be awarded an all-expenses paid trip to Singapore for two persons. The other six finalists would get an i-Pod shuffle.
"The participants of Infosys Idol are given opportunities to participate at all our other events and functions. We are providing them with various platforms to showcase their talent," said Nandita Gurjar, Group Head, HR, Infosys Technologies.
Looking at the response received for the Infosys BPO idol, Infosys BPO is looking at continuing the event next year and making it an annual affair.
Infosys BPO, which was in the news till recently for high attrition rates, is planning to organise many such events to get its employees involved with the organisation.
With the aim of raising awareness on India as a sourcing hub for global firms in different sectors,
The Supply Management Institute (SMI) in partnership with the Indian Institute of Management — Bangalore (IIM-B) are going to organize India Sourcing Summit in Bangalore.
The two-day summit is scheduled to begin on February 8. , is expected to see a participation of representatives from over 150 global firms, the organisers said here on Friday.
In a flat world, global firms prefer sourcing materials from cheaper and cost-effective destinations without compromising on quality of the goods they are procuring. India is fast emerging as a hub for global sourcing not only for IT or ITeS, but also in traditional sectors like apparel, automotive, special chemicals and electronic components.
According to a CII-McKinsey report, the sourcing of electronic components from India is expected to touch $15-18 billion in 2015 from $1.25 billion in 2005. The report also says sourcing of apparel from India is expected to be in the range of $25-30 billion in 2015 from $6.1 billion in 2005, and auto-components to be $20-25 billion from a mere $1.1 billion in 2005. The sourcing of special chemicals which was of the order of $1.6 billion in 2005, is expected to reach $12.15 billion in 2015.
At a time when sourcing occupies the top priority of lot of global firms, India will remain in the forefront before they go in for global sourcing being a low-cost destination; relatively safer place for IP protection, language capabilities and know-how of the people regarding the requirements of global sourcing.
“Sourcing is global and international business. This will change the dynamics of doing business in future. However, Indian firms need to undertake steps to meet the scale of the Chinese firms, and groom talents in sourcing and supply chain management to stay competitive in the game,” said Constantin Blome, secretary, Indian Sourcing Summit.
Many a global firms have recently come out with their sourcing from India. Auto major BMW has recently opened its international procurement office in Gurgaon. EADS, a major player in aerospace and defence, has opened its sourcing office in India, apart from sponsoring a chair for sourcing and supply management at IIM-B.
According to Bolme, who is also the EADS-SMI Endowed Chair for Sourcing and Supply Management, German auto majors are now aggressively looking at India as a major supply base of auto-components, after the success of Japanese auto manufacturers. This would create enormous opportunities for students in India, to pursue career in sourcing and supply chain management, he added.
Source: Business Standard
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Fujitsu Consulting launched its fourth development centre at Noida, just outside the national capital, at an investment of $10 million. It also announced plans to mirror this facility in 12 months.John T. Rose, president and chief executive officer of Fujitsu India, said the company expected a huge demand for offshore development in the country for which it will make strategic acquisitions with a focus on mid-tier firms.
The company had recently acquired OKERE Inc, a New York-based consulting and information technology services company that has operations in India.
“The opening of this office will substantially improve our ability to deliver leading services to clients anywhere in the world,” Rose told reporters here after inaugurating the new office, which can seat 1,200 people.
He said the induction programme and expansion plans - where an additional 10,000 sq. ft. of space will be added over the next 12 months - would focus on employing quality personnel.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Bangalore, September 28: Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata are rated among the top five emerging destinations worldwide in the latest ranking of top 50 promising outsourcing cities around the globe. Bangalore, Delhi NCR and Mumbai, along with Manila and Dublin, are the five established hubs that are unlikely to fade from the outsourcing map, according to a study by services globalisation & investment advisory firm Tholons and media group Global Services.
he study ranked Chennai as the top most emerging hub for outsourcing globally, with established expertise in application development and maintenance, finance and accounting, product development, engineering services and testing. The Tamil Nadu government was IT-friendly, and an upcoming Mahindra World City, slated to be the world’s largest IT Park, in Chennai was favourable to its outsourcing climate.
Hyderabad, with relatively low property rentals and favourable government policies, recently attracted investments from BPO majors such as HCL BPO, EXL Services and Genpact and was ranked second in the list. However, recent terrorist attacks in the state have alarmed investors, the report pointed out. Pune gained prominence among outsourcing hubs owing to lower operating costs and attrition rates compared to other metros.
Among the 50 global hubs, Chandigarh, which was described as “one of the best planned cities in India” was ranked at nine and Coimbatore at 21. Cebu City in the Philippines, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, Sri Lanka’s Colombo and the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Beijing were also among the ten top outsourcing locations.
Kolkata and Bangalore were emerging as workplaces for application development and maintenance and business analytics, respectively. Tholons CEO & chairman Avinash Vashistha said tier-II centres are gaining prominence as investors become wary of investing in a single city as operations grow. Locations were being gauged for the available skill-sets, and investment decisions were business-driven, he said.
EMERGING CENTRES by rank
1. Chennai (India)
2. Hyderabad
3. Pune (India)
4. Cebu City (Philippines)
5. Kolkata (India)
6. Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
7. Colombo (Sri Lanka)
8. Shanghai (China)
9. Chandigarh (India)
10. Beijing (China)
ET, quoting sources say that Genpact, WNS Holdings and CVC are the final three players who are interested in this transaction. The report adds that while Genpact is the frontrunner, CVC may also have an advantage being part of the Citigroup family.
The current valuation of the deal is expected to be in the region of $ 600 million. The BPO arm is expected to report revenues of $ 200 million this year.
Another potential bidder, Firstsource Solutions is learnt to have moved out of the race, having already acquired the US-based MedAssist for $ 300 million recently.
Friday, September 14, 2007
According to a recent study by McKinsey, a consultancy, South Africa is well placed to benefit from the trend of firms shifting business processes, such as customer care and payroll administration, to cheaper places. This, says McKinsey, could create 100,000 jobs in South Africa as well as attracting a modest but useful $90m-175m in foreign investment by 2008. …
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
According to a study conducted by AMI Partners (a US-based market research company), IT spending by Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is expected to reach USD 900 million in 2007, reflecting an increase of 19 percent over 2006. IT spending by Indian companies includes both product support and professional services.
Among the key findings, the long-term managed services in the Indian market are strengthening, while the traditional services, such as applications development and integration are losing their foothold. The managed IT services in the country comprises end-to-end outsourcing and discrete managed services. Currently, the maximum amount of investment by Indian SMEs is made in discrete managed services.
According to Nirupam Chaudhuri, the Research Manager at AMI Partners, the managed IT service market in India is growing at a faster rate than the average market growth. He further added that a good relationship between both the sides is essential with a single point of contact for dealing with various issues regarding IT infrastructure and facilities.
Till now, a majority of Indian SMEs have spent heavily on annual maintenance contracts (AMC) for hardware and software applications. These annual service contracts are likely to mature into distinct outsourcing deals, where the service provider will deliver risk sharing, round-the-clock support, and facilities management services.
The competition among vendors delivering desktop management and routine network management services is enormous in India as the number of contracts in this domain is increasing. In addition, the contracts regarding FCAPS (fault, configuration, accounting, performance, and security)-based network management are increasing.
SolutionInc Technologies (SolutionInc), a Halifax-based Internet connectivity, billing, and management software and services provider, has entered into a letter of intent to acquire the Halifax-based Line 4 Communications from Armshore Investments (a merchant and investment bank based in Halifax, Canada). In addition, SolutionInc signed a letter of intent to acquire a 51 percent interest in Pelatis BPO Solutions (a BPO service provider) from Pelatis BPO. Through the deal, the company’s headcount will increase from 40 to 200. The financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
The transaction with Pelatis BPO, a BPO service provider with operations in Canada and the Philippines, will facilitate SolutionInc to deliver more services through its own firm, and hence lessening third-party outsourcing costs and increasing profits. In addition, the company has the option to acquire the remaining 49 percent of Pelatis BPO Solutions within the next 2 years.
The acquisition of Line 4 Communications will strengthen SolutionInc’s portfolio to include IP telephony systems as well as enhancing the potential recurring revenue streams.
Brocade, a US-based provider of networked storage solutions that help enterprises connect, share, and manage their information, has signed a partnership agreement with Ness Technologies, an Israeli IT services and solutions company, to set up an advanced R&D center at Pune, India. The center has been set up with a focus to provide support for Brocade’s File Area Network (FAN) business. It possesses state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, such as advanced connectivity infrastructure and energy saving hardware. In addition, the R&D center meets high security standards.
This partnership will provide Brocade with access to Ness’ resources to support its FAN technology development, maintenance, and test activities.
Ness’ Indian operations are spread across Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, and Chennai. The company’s Indian operations offer outsourcing and offshore services to clients in IT, financial services, BFSI, life sciences, telecom, and utilities verticals across North America and Europe.
The researchers found that companies in advanced regions such as Silicon Valley in the US, Cambridge in the UK, Ottawa in Canada and Helsinki in Finland, are increasingly establishing partnerships and networks with companies and universities in fast-developing Asian regions.
They found that of the US $50 billion invested by multinational companies in R&D projects around the world between 2002 and 2005, Asian economies received 58 percent of this investment, with Europe receiving 22 percent and North America 14 percent. The research has been published in a report titled ‘Competing for Knowledge´.
The majority of the investment in Asia is concentrated in a very small number of locations such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Mumbai in India and Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai in China.
While Asia was the dominant destination of R&D investment, North America was the primary source, accounting for 50 percent R&D investment, followed by Europe with 28 percent This resulted in North America having net R&D investment deficit of US$18 billion and Europe a deficit of US$3 billion.
According to report authors Robert Huggins, of the University of Sheffield´s Management School, and Hiro Izushi, of Aston Business School, the key impact of this global redistribution of knowledge is that many regions in North America and Europe were losing out and the competitiveness gap between these locations and the elite regions was becoming even wider.
The research also showed that companies in advanced economies were finding it increasingly difficult to create innovations resulting in market-leading goods and services.
For example, between 1996 and 2006 productivity growth resulting from innovation in the United States amounted to only 1.5 percent per annum, considerably lower than that achieved in the 1950s or 1960s.
Huggins said: “As the knowledge required to produce innovations becomes more specialised and located in new locations around the world, companies are having to ensure that they are closely linked and aligned with these new sources wherever they may be.
“Since China is now the second highest research spender it is increasingly likely that it will feature more prominently as one of these new sources.”
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
