Outsourcing Times

$150 M Outsourcing Deals In L&T Infotech’s Kitty

The Financial Express reports:

"L&T Infotech, a 100 per cent subsidiary of the $2 billion Larsen & Toubro Ltd, has bagged outsourcing orders worth $150 million from two Fortune 500 companies...

"Sources told eFE that the company has bagged two orders from two Fortune 500 companies. One of the orders is worth $50 million over a three-year period while the other order is worth $100 million for a five-year period. Both the orders, they added, have the scope to grow to much bigger deals in the future."

Multinationals Still Flock to Malaysia

Foreign investment continues to make up a tremendous part of the Malaysian economy, with more and more of the inflows coming from companies outsourcing manufacturing in attempts to increase profitability.

From the Star:

"Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (Mida) chairman Tan Sri Zainal Abidin Sulong said that between 1999 and March this year, 83.6% of the total approved investments were from foreign investors.

"Zainal also said that to remain competitive, many MNCs were increasingly outsourcing their manufacturing activities to electronics manufacturing services (EMS) companies.

"'The EMS industry in the Asia-Pacific region is forecast to grow at 20% per annum and the presence of many EMS companies here will surely see the growth in the electronics industry.'" Read More

Union-backed outsourcing measures added to Senate Defense bill

GovExec.com reports:

"Legislation to give civil servants new rights to challenge government outsourcing decisions inched closer to law Monday when the Senate attached it to the fiscal 2005 Defense authorization bill.

"The legislation, sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Carl Levin, D-Mich., would let federal workers appeal the outcome of public-private job competitions to the General Accounting Office - -a right currently enjoyed only by contractors.

"In separate action, the Senate added an amendment from Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., to the Defense bill that would make it easier for the Pentagon to shift work from contractors back to government employees."

L&T Infotech Reportedly Signs Outsourcing Deals With Fortune 500 Companies

The subsidiary of Larsen and Toubro has reportedly reached agreements with two Fortune 500 companies that totals more than $150 million.

From Financial Express:

"One of the orders is worth $50 million over a three-year period while the other order is worth $100 million for a five-year period.

"As per the terms of the contract, L&T Infotech will take over the IT systems of the company globally which will include information technology support and implementation of SAP or JD Edwards or other applications as demanded by the companies.

"The first $100-million deal was the outsourcing contract they won last year from the US-based telecom equipment maker Motorola, a global player in wireless, broadband and automotive communications technologies." Read More

Enterprise Outsourcing Holdings Not Buying CS Holdings

allAfrica.com reports:

"Enterprise Outsourcing Holdings (EOH) has told the CS Holdings (CSH) board that it will not proceed with an offer to buy the group...

"In a related announcement on the JSE's SENS news service, CSH said it had received a number of unsolicited approaches with regard to buying its shares or business.

"'After due consideration the board is pleased to announce that they have nominated a preferred bidder and are currently in the process of agreeing the terms of the process for the finalisation of a transaction with such preferred bidder,' it says in its SENS statement."

Threat of Outsourcing Causing Union Growth

As more and more business operations are sent from the U.S. to offshore locations, white collar workers are banding together in attemots to increase their bargaining power and ensure job security.

From the Arizona Republic:

"'I get a call from Intel, I get a call from Microsoft, I get calls from places we never used to get calls,' said Andy Banks, organizing director for the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers in Silver Spring, Md.

"The issue's potency was proved last month when the Communications Workers of America negotiated a contract with SBC Communications Inc. after a four-day strike.

"Numbers of U.S. high-tech and service jobs that have been moved overseas are relatively small, but a report last month said the pace is quickening." Read More

Catholic Church Outsourcing to India

The Catholic Church seems an unlikely candidate to be outsourcing a portion of its operations to India, but a shortage of priests has forced them to look elsewhere for help.

From the Mercury News:

"With Roman Catholic clergy in short supply in the United States, Indian priests are picking up some of their work, saying Mass for special intentions, in a sacred if unusual version of outsourcing.

"The requests are mostly routed to Kerala's churches through the Vatican, the bishops or through religious bodies.

"Bishop Sebastian Adayanthrath, the auxiliary bishop of the Ernakulam-Angamaly diocese in Cochin, a port town in Kerala, said his diocese received an average of 350 Mass intentions a month from overseas." Read More

Outsourcing Health Care to India

The Health Care Services industry has for the most part stayed away from outsourcing their operations to low cost countries, but that trend may be about to change.

From the Kerala News:

"A great opportunity awaits India's flourishing outsourcing industry in the healthcare sector in areas like imaging, disease management and claims processing, says a premier industry body.

"Although outsourcing of services in the healthcare industry has witnessed a rise over the past few years, the sector has remained relatively insulated from the business process outsourcing (BPO) wave when compared to other industrial segments.

"According to the report, BPO is enabling healthcare companies to focus on the 'differentiating aspects' of their business while moving 'non-differentiated but necessary tasks' to outsourcing service providers." Read More

Infosys CEO Foresees Challenges for India's Outsourcing Industry

The CEO of an Indian software producer says that India's thriving outsourcing industry is far from invincible, and that it faces problems in areas of infrastructure and data protection laws.

From the Straits Times:

"Mr Nandan Nilekani, chief executive officer of Infosys Technologies, India's second-biggest software exporter, said business process outsourcing was based on reputation and urged the industry to deliver quality work.

"'Every year, about 70,000 jobs are added and the main challenge is how to attract people,' he told delegates at a conference held by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), India's leading information technology body, in this southern city.

"Analysts say outsourcing attrition rates vary between 20 and 40 per cent in some companies while averaging at least 15 per cent at top firms." Read More

Microsoft & HP Increase Outsourcing to India

Sify reports:

"Microsoft will increase the number of staff at its software development centre in Hyderabad from 200 to around 500 by 2005 while Hewlett-Packard is setting up a back-office accounts processing facility in Bangalore for expanding outsourcing operations in India.

"Microsoft is also increasing the headcount at another centre in Hyderabad that handles application development for the corporations in-house IT requirements and already employs about 125 staff, media reports said.

"...Microsoft has also set up a support centre in Bangalore, which offers voice and e-mail based tech support to Microsoft customers worldwide."