Outsourcing Times

Bangalore Struck By Strike

Civil unrest recently shut down Bangalore's tech industry. IBM, Infosys, Wipro, and hundreds more outsourcing and technology companies didn't open their Bangalore facilities Monday due to a labor strike over a court decision on water distribution from a nearby river. Informationweek.com reports:

Bangalore is often compared with the U.S.'s Silicon Valley. The recent spate of civil unrest and business closures, however, are a reminder that the region's tech industry isn't exempt from the turmoil and complex socioeconomic issues facing the rapidly developing country.

Read more: Strike Shuts Down Outsourcing In India

Why You Need To ‘Know’ India

By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer

Since India is still the flavor of the season, let’s look at the reasons why you should be careful while outsourcing to the country. One of the first things you realize is that the demographics and structure of the country are very different from that of other western countries. It is very important for all levels of management to understand the differences in workforce demographics, diversity categories, and legal frameworks relating to diversity, employment discrimination and equal employment opportunity.

For instance, the workforce in India is largely young. Rapid economic expansion over the past decade has led to a rapid influx of professionals into the already burgeoning workforce.

Meanwhile in America and European countries like England, the average age of the workforce is older. This workforce however represents a much larger and varied section of society than the one in India.

Another problem with India is the lack of enough trained, qualified talent to fill up the jobs coming its way. The much touted education system also does nothing to bridge this gap. In such a scenario, employers in India are finding it increasingly difficult to hold and cultivate the skilled employees they need.

Then there is the issue of legal framework. In western countries, anti-discrimination laws, compliance laws, and mechanisms for redress of violations are taken for granted, India is still way behind. Though the country’s legal eagles are trying hard to catch up with the rest of the world, fact is the legal safeguards, redress mechanisms and monitoring mechanism in India still leaves much to be desired.

These instances just touch the tip of the iceberg and yet they are sufficient to illustrate one point. You just cannot apply generic diversity management and global multicultural team principles to every issue. You have to understand and learn to work around the differences in the country you outsource to. Or you may end up facing unintended negative consequences.

Accenture Is Now An Indian Firm

Come August and Accenture Ltd will, for all practical purposes, become an Indian company. That is, the company will have more employees there than in the U.S. The company will increase its workforce in India to 35,000 people by Aug. 31, the end of its fiscal year. The increase in staff in India means Accenture will have more employees there than in the U.S., where it will have just over 30,000, the company's chairman and CEO, William D. Green, recently announced.

Most of the staff in India will work in Accenture's Global Delivery Network, which will have a total of about 65,000 people worldwide by August. The company offers IT and BPO services from India, and it's planning to train its staff there in business consulting and other areas. It has established a business consulting analytics center in Delhi. Computerworld.com reports:

Accenture is expanding in other locations outside of India, including China, where it has deployed four Indian managers at an operation with 3,700 employees. "There will not be another phenomenon like India," said Green, adding that no other country will overtake India in terms of number of employees for at least 10 years,” Green said.

Read more: India will be biggest country for Accenture by August

Is The Indian Tiger On Its Last Roar?

By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer

Yes, India is THE place today. But for how long? Lured by the bench strength of India's technology shops, financial firms such as Goldman Sachs, ING and Fidelity are eyeing new areas of interest in offshoring.

The industry’s value is expected to hit $64 billion by 2012. All this sounds like extremely positive news. But there is one area that India needs to improve without delay – its infrastructure. I know what you are probably thinking. Why do international clients need to know how India’s sweat shops run as long as they deliver results?

Well, the quality of the output depends to a great deal on how the work gets done. Crumbling electrical, water and transportation infrastructures, uneven quality of roads, poor communication links and erratic electricity supplies – is India really prepared to accommodate the next wave of outsourcing? Poor infrastructure may well be a limiting factor for the growth of outsourcing in India.

And then there is the more important issue of personnel checks. Background checks of personnel are almost non-existent. Since the country doesn’t really have a central criminal database, background checks must be done in person – something that may not be possible with every employee.

So the issue of security becomes an all-important one. Yet, it will not be fair to say that India is down in the dumps. Of course it is not because if it were, there wouldn’t be more and more companies queuing up to get their work outsourced to India.

Private organizations in India like NASSCOM are reacting to anc trying to change the way things work. For instance, NASSCOM is spinning off a self-regulatory organization, independent of the trade group, to police firms in the IT and BPO industries.

The Story Of A Tech Upstart

This is the story of Steve Hamm who was sent to India by Business Week, USA to study the story of Wipro, one of the big three that spawned the phenomenon of outsourcing of computer-based services over the past two decades. In his book How Indian Tech Upstart Wipro is Rewriting the Rules of Global Competition, Hamm tells the story of how Wipro rose from its humble origins of a vegetable oil processing and wholesaling company called Western India Vegetable Products.

Azim Premji, the man behind the vision managed to convert Wipro into a software giant with a current turnover of $ 2340 million and a profit of over $400 million. One of the main reasons for Wipro’s success is the importance given to serving the customer at all costs, building relationships and maintaining the highest standards of integrity. Hindu.com reports:

Though software is seemingly a technology business, the fact is that success has far more to do with personal relationships and sustaining customer confidence and comfort levels. In Wipro, this has been repeatedly shown not only by Premji, but also others like Ashok Soota, and Vivek Paul who contributed significantly to the development of the organization. At the root of the successful growth, according to the author, is also a managerial style, to an extraordinary extent based on open debate, participative action and strong work ethic.

Read more: How Indian Tech Upstart Wipro is Rewriting the Rules of Global Competition

HSBC On An Indian Romp

HSBC is expanding its offshore outsourcing operations in India with a new BPO facility in Kolkata (Calcutta) and a software development center in Hyderabad. The bank already has one wholly owned BPO subsidiary - HSBC Electronic Data Centre - in Kolkata, which has 2,000 employees working on back-office operations, and is now planning to set up another center in the same city. Silicon.com reports:

Last year HSBC said it plans to double the size of its offshore operations to 25,000 employees within three years to help reach a target of cutting costs by $1bn by the end of 2007. HSBC CIO Ken Harvey recently revealed that almost half (42 per cent) of the bank's IT development work is now done in low-cost offshore centers.

Read more: HSBC ramps up Indian outsourcing presence

Quality Test For Outsourcing Personnel

--By Priya Jestin, Staff Writer

Finally, you may get to hear some decent service. (Not that it was all that bad but well, it wasn’t too good either.) Recently, the main trade body representing software services companies in India announced that it would hold entry-level tests. These tests will help them gauge the capability of people seeking jobs outsourced by U.S. and other overseas companies.

This new move means two things. First that the Indian outsourcing industry is finally coming of age and secondly, that it has learnt to master the fast pace of growth. This recent move will help the industry tap new talent and cut the time and expense of recruiting new hires. This will help keep the industry churning and the economy growing at its present level. And it will help us consumers as well.

Admit it, outsourcing is here to stay. And we cannot always bang our heads in frustration when we realize that the guy at the other end hasn’t understood us or mistaken our request. We should welcome this new move because the industry finally understands the fact that there is a need to satisfy the consumer.

Candidates who pass this test will be regarded as having the basic skills to work in the outsourcing industry. However, this doesn’t guarantee employment. The test, to begin Nov. 18, is based on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the U.S. Graduate Record Examinations (GRE). The latter measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking and analytical writing skills. The scores will also help recruiting companies screen candidates and determine their training needs.

The main purpose of this initiative is to counter a potential shortage of talent over the next decade. The test will help them tap new talent pools in relatively remote parts of the country as well.

IBM chosen to develop a centralized Indian Web Portal

By Priya Venkatesh, Staff Writer

Do you know the latest initiative taken by India, to keep its huge population connected over the Internet?  With growing competition in outsourcing, do you know that India has taken measures that could supersede the performance of its competitors very soon? Go ahead & read to know the details!

The software giant, IBM has bagged a project to develop a national web portal for India, which is expected to connect every nook and corner of the nation. This portal is expected to give information on innumerous services like permits to start business, tax tips and more! The portal is expected to use the middleware from IBM to get linked to the state and central government sites.

IBM on the other hand expects to yield maximum profits through such projects, which has given rise to reverse subcontracting processes within the nation!

Read one of my previous post on 'IBM Calcutta increases employee strength' to know the extent of establishment of IBM in India.

Profits recorded point to continuing IT boom!

By Priya Venkatesh, Staff Writer

Do you know the details of the continuing IT boom in India?  Are you aware of the profit data that the pioneers in outsourcing have recorded this year? Read on to know the details!

Infosys, one of the pioneering IT giant in India has recorded a profit of 42.4% amounting to a total income of $746 Million. As per the reports from informationweek, 7700 employees have been added to the payrolls of Company this quarter. Wipro, another outsourcing giant has recorded a profit of $589 million which accounts to 46% growth in this quarter that ended on September 30 2006. The results of the last 2 quarters of the outsourcing pioneers clearly indicate an ongoing boom in the field of IT!

Read more on 'Indian IT stocks creep incredible heights amidst tight competition' in one of my previous post to know the consequences of this growth in Indian IT stocks!

Profits recorded point to continuing IT boom!

By Priya Venkatesh, Staff Writer

Do you know the details of the continuing IT boom in India?  Are you aware of the profit data that the pioneers in outsourcing have recorded this year? Read on to know the details!

Infosys, one of the pioneering IT giant in India has recorded a profit of 42.4% amounting to a total income of $746 Million. As per the reports from informationweek, 7700 employees have been added to the payrolls of Company this quarter. Wipro, another outsourcing giant has recorded a profit of $589 million which accounts to 46% growth in this quarter that ended on September 30 2006. The results of the last 2 quarters of the outsourcing pioneers clearly indicate an ongoing boom in the field of IT!

Read more on 'Indian IT stocks creep incredible heights amidst tight competition' in one of my previous post to know the consequences of this growth in Indian IT stocks!