Recent fraud case has alerted Kolkata's BPO hub to its security troubles

Ever since the recent BPO fraud, wherein, a young woman working at a call centre was arrested for splurging Rs. 200, 000 with credit cards of her company's US clients, the IT hub in the Salt Lake area is going full throttle to ensure tight security control by involving the police.

As Oney Seal, the Miami-based CEO of Databazaar.com, says, "It is high time we all came together to ensure an all-encompassing cyber security. We must follow best practices and certain standard certification and auditing by authorities like ISO or BS7799 (British Standard),"

"Law enforcement agencies need to be trained in potential areas of security fraud so that when an incident occurs, the police should have some idea of the problem," said Seal, whose company, a wholesale distributor, exporter and e-tailer of computer and printer supplies, has its sensitive back-end office in the IT hub.

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Outsourcing the Drug Industry

By Pete Engardio and Arlene Weintraub

In her swank headquarters just blocks from some of Mumbai's worst slums, Swati Piramal is midway through an impassioned pitch about revolutionizing the world of drug discovery. Sanskrit passages of the Bhagavad Gita, the ancient Hindu text that guides her business philosophy, adorn the office walls of her company, Piramal Life Sciences. Its logo is gyan mudra, a finger gesture used in yoga meditation resembling the Western sign for "A-O.K."

Journey now to Bangalore. After a crawl through the city's notorious traffic and a bone-rattling ride over a cratered road that washes away with each rainfall, the four-wheel-drive van arrives at the glistening, ocean liner-shaped headquarters of Jubilant Biosys. The laboratories inside are world-class. But when equipment fails, repairs often take a week, scientist Ajith Kamath explains sheepishly. Lunch is Domino's pizza with toppings that include corn, Indian paneer cheese, and hot spices. Turns out Jubilant is co-owner of India's Domino's franchise.

At first glance, companies such as Jubilant and Piramal may seem too undeveloped -- or perhaps just too culturally remote -- to rub shoulders with the world's top pharmaceutical makers. But judging from all the deals taking shape in India, they may have a critical role to play in the industry's future. In recent months, Western executives have been flocking to India's hastily built science parks, looking for allies in the never-ending quest to develop blockbuster treatments. With little fanfare, they've started a process that could lead to wide-scale outsourcing of drug research to Asia.

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BPO exports grow 21.4 per cent

NEW DELHI: India's third party business process outsourcing (BPO) services exports in 2007-08 grew 21.4 per cent to Rs.264.23 billion, up from Rs.217.60 billion in the previous fiscal, according to a new study.

In dollar terms, the growth was even more impressive at 36.6 per cent to $6.6 billion, up from $4.8 billion last fiscal, said the study. It ranked Genpact as the No. 1 export revenue earner with revenues of Rs.26.59 billion, up by 19.8 per cent from Rs.22.20 billion that the company earned last fiscal.

Aditya Birla Minacs, the second ranking revenue earning company last fiscal, maintained its rank this year as well. Its revenues grew 3.1 per cent to Rs.15.63 billion up from Rs.15.16 billion last fiscal.

Apart from these two top rankers, the other companies that managed to maintain their ranks this year were Wipro BPO and HCL BPO. Wipro BPO maintained its 7th rank by growing 22.7 per cent to Rs.11.47 billion up from Rs.9.35 billion last fiscal.

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US Manufacturing Business Outsourcing & 3rd Party Services Expenditures, 2007-2012

DUBLIN, Ireland — Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7abb4d/us_manufacturing_b) has announced the addition of the "US Manufacturing Business Outsourcing & 3rd Party Services Expenditures, 2007-2012" report to their offering.

This Excel-based Data-rich Deliverable (DRD) that is part of the Manufacturing subscription includes market intelligence on IT: Outsourcing expenditures for the Manufacturing vertical. Outsourcing & 3rd Party Services consists of expenditures on services rendered by 3rd parties, including IT outsourcing companies. These services include, but are not limited to, managed and hosted services (from a provider other than a telecom operator), application development and integration and IT support/Help desk. Manufacturing includes establishments engaged in the mechanical or chemical transformation of materials or substances into new products. Size of business includes SOHO (1-4 employees), Small Business (5-99 employees), Mid-Sized Business (100-999 employees), and Enterprise Business (Over 1000 employees). The Expert Guide for this deliverable is Stephanie Atkinson. Forecasts are from 2007 through 2012 and include annual growth rate, as well as percentage of total market.

Table of Contents

Sources: Our segment and market forecasts, which include business expenditures, market demographics, and usage and adoption statistics, are built using multiple sources, including our proprietary research. These sources include, but are not limited to:

- Secondary research

- Government data and statistics (e.g. department of commerce, federal communication commission, bureau of labour statistics and us census bureau)

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BPO Companies Highest Attrition Rate in India, Says Hay Group Report

Incentive Plans in BPO Companies Lag General Market Practices

DELHI, India & MUMBAI, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Attrition rates in India’s lucrative BPO industry are about 7.8 percentage points higher than in other industries, according to a report released today by Hay Group, a global management consulting firm.

The finding comes from a new report, BPO Special Sector Survey 2008, based on Hay Group’s global online compensation and benefits database, PayNet. It showed that in general, staff turnover in India is 15.7%, but at BPO companies, attrition is the country’s highest at 23.5%, followed by Communications (22%) and Retail (18%).

The report explained that one of the factors is that the remuneration structure design is not as attractive when compared to other industries in India:

• Short-term incentives account for only 4% of total remuneration, compared to 10% generally
• Benefits are limited to those that can be enjoyed only post-retirement, like pension fund and gratuity, and not during the employment period.
• While pay is generally designed to give employees more take-home cash, a higher portion is allocated to allowances like housing/rent and not base salary.

“The BPO industry hires a large number of graduates who are bright and ambitious. From our analysis, the overall compensation structure design is not competitive when compared to general market practices.
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BPO Companies Highest Attrition Rate in India, Says Hay Group Report

Attrition rates in India´s lucrative BPO industry are about 7.8 percentage points higher than in other industries, according to a report released today by Hay Group, a global management consulting firm.

The finding comes from a new report, BPO Special Sector Survey 2008, based on Hay Group´s global online compensation and benefits database, PayNet. It showed that in general, staff turnover in India is 15.7%, but at BPO companies, attrition is the country´s highest at 23.5%, followed by Communications (22%) and Retail (18%).

The report explained that one of the factors is that the remuneration structure design is not as attractive when compared to other industries in India:

-- Short-term incentives account for only 4% of total remuneration, compared to 10% generally

-- Benefits are limited to those that can be enjoyed only post-retirement, like pension fund and gratuity, and not during the employment period.

-- While pay is generally designed to give employees more take-home cash, a higher portion is allocated to allowances like housing/rent and not base salary.

"The BPO industry hires a large number of graduates who are bright and ambitious. From our analysis, the overall compensation structure design is not competitive when compared to general market practices. This means that BPO employees do not receive as much cash-in-hand as their peers in other industries. When you add unattractive remuneration to working shifts, lack of career development, and monotonous tasks, it is not surprising that employees leave when offered a small salary increase," states Mr. Oscar De Mello, Country Head of Hay Group´s Reward Information Services in India.

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Search: in Satyam BPO Names New Chief Operating Officer

India-based Satyam Computer Services has appointed Vijay Rangineni as the chief operating officer of its outsourcing arm Satyam BPO as the company strengthens its focus on specialty offerings.

Rangineni has 20 years of experience in the services industry. He was previously chief operating officer of GE Money, India. He is an alumnus of Kellogg's School of Management, Illinois, and holds a Masters' degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Texas.

Rangineni said: "Satyam BPO's strong foothold in the specialty sphere has made the organization a leader. My focus will be on taking this leadership position forward by looking at creating more such leadership opportunities, especially in operational excellence."

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Indian outsourcers haemorrhaging staff

Indian outsourcers are facing record staff turnover according to a new report, with companies struggling to hold onto bonus-hungry workers.

Attrition rates in the country's business process outsourcing (BPO) industry are about eight per cent higher than the national average, according to a report by global consulting firm the Hay Group.

Annual staff turnover at Indian BPOs stands at 24 per cent, ahead of the country's average of 16 per cent.

The report blames lower and less attractive short term bonuses – worth about four per cent of total pay for BPO workers compared to 10 per cent generally.

Oscar De Mello, head of Hay Group's reward information services in India, said in a statement: "The BPO industry hires a large number of graduates who are bright and ambitious. From our analysis, the overall compensation structure design is not competitive when compared to general market practices.

"This means that BPO employees do not receive as much cash-in-hand as their peers in other industries.

"The BPO industry is a critical sector in the Indian economy, worth $11bn and employing more than two million people.

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BT extends BPO deal with Steria for £75.5m

BT has extended its IT service support and development contract with Steria in a six-year £75.5m deal.

The new BPO (business process outsourcing) deal lasts until March 2014, and Steria will continue to support the key applications that underpin BT's UK operations for finance and accounting transaction processing, ledger and payroll services.

Building on a 20 year relationship with Steria, the contract extension, said BT, will enable it to optimise use of Steria's integrated delivery capability to move towards a more cost-effective and efficient service.

Kevin Richards, director of the Enterprise Management Platform at BT Design, said, "Steria has worked with BT for many years and has evolved its services and approaches along with BT's changing business and IT requirements.

"Keeping the business process and IT service closely coupled provides us with a streamlined and efficient service that maintains effectiveness at critical business periods."
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Infosys opens second BPO campus in Jaipur

JAIPUR, INDIA: Infosys BPO Ltd, the subsidiary of Infosys Technologies Ltd, today announced the inauguration of its second BPO campus at Mahindra World City, the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje was the chief guest on the occasion. She was accompanied by Dr. Digambar Singh, Minister of Industries, Government of Rajasthan. Infosys' CEO and MD, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Mohandas Pai, along with CEO and MD of Infosys BPO, Amitabh Chaudhry, were also present.

The new campus at the SEZ at Mahindra World City, Jaipur, spread over 42 acres, is being set up in phases and an estimated amount of Rs. 531 crore would be invested in the project, said a press release.

In the first phase, Infosys has made an investment of Rs. 171 crore, creating a built-up area of 3,69,100 sq. ft with a seating capacity of 3,200.

It works with universities in Rajasthan through 'Project Genesis', a program to enhance skill-sets in students and make them industry-ready.

Since October 2005, it has worked with 229 lecturers in 110 colleges and imparted training to 3,250 students in industry-relevant skills including language, presentation, and analytical skills, the release said.

As a part of company's drive to become carbon neutral, this campus would have 49% of the total area as the green belt.

"Jaipur is becoming an exciting destination for the IT-ITES industry. The Honorable Chief Minister, Smt. Vasundhara Raje has proactively put in place progressive policies and has invested in infrastructure to ensure rapid growth," said Kris Gopalakrishnan.
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BPO sector on track to meet growth target

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is on track to meet its year end growth target as it employed 345,000 workers during the first half of the year.

"The industry employed 345,000 workers for the first six months of the year and we are hoping that we will meet our yearend target of 420,000," Business Process Outsourcing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) president Oscar Sanez said in an interview.

The offshoring and outsourcing (O&O) industry earned $5.8 billion for the first half of this year. "We are on track to meet our full year revenue target of $6.8 billion," Sanez said.

According to Sanez, O&O revenue for the first six months of the year is up 1.8 percent when compared to the same period the previous year.

Sanez said the slowdown in the world economy had no adverse effects on the industry. "The first half results are encouraging. I think we will meet our target stated in the 2010 roadmap."

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MNYL signs outsourcing deal

IBM India has entered into USD450 million IT outsourcing contract with private insurance player Max New York Life MNYL. The technology services behemoth, which has already showcased the advantage of total IT outsourcing with the telecom major Bharti, is expecting this deal to pan out in the similar manner. The deal, spread over ten years, will see IBM India providing complete end to end back end IT infrastructure to MNYL. IBM India global technology services vice president Nipun Mehrotra said, This life insurance is a growing market and the work we have done has the potential to change the sector.it is likely to change in similar lines to what happened in telecom sector.

According to IRDA, the market for insurance both life and non-life in 2006 2007 stood at USD41.74 billion, with the life insurance market growing at 47.38 percent while the non life business rose by 21.51 percent. It is estimated that life insurance market alone is expected to touch USD80 billion in the next couple of years.

Life insurance premium collections including single premium, first year and renewal in 2006 20007 stood at Rs 1.56 lakh crore representing a year on year growth of 47.38 percent. IRDA statistics indicates that the Indian insurance market accounts for a paltry 1.12 percent of the global insurance market estimated to be at USD3,723 billion.

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Indian IT Services market to grow to USD 8.1 bn by 2011

IT majors in India have been dependent on international markets since a very long time. But the newly published report from Springboard Research should compel them to thing otherwise and concentrate on the domestic market as well. According to the report, the Indian IT services market is set to grow from USD 4.1 billion in 2007 to USD 8.1 billion by 2011 at a CAGR of 18.6 percent.

The report highlights that the Indian IT services market is heavily dominated by infrastructure services which is expected to grow to USD 4.27 billion by 2011. Application services is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 19.6 percent and IT consulting is expected to reach USD 400 million by 2011. The report says that enterprise IT outsourcing in India will grow at a CAGR of 24.4 percent.

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Satyam BPO appoints new COO

Rangineni will primarily be responsible for driving business transformation across customer engagements, a critical component to stay ahead in the marketplace.

Prior to joining Satyam BPO, Rangineni was associated with GE Money, India, as Chief Operating Officer.

He has over 20 years of experience in the service industry with leading organizations and has worked with global organizations like American Express and California Micro Devices (CMD).

During his global career, Rangineni focused on critical assignments/turn-around stories ranging from delivery to technology and business process reengineering.

Speaking about his new assignment, Rangineni, said, "Satyam BPO's strong foothold in the specialty sphere has made the organization a leader. My focus will be on taking this leadership position forward by looking at creating more such leadership opportunities, especially in operational excellence. The focus will be on end-customer delight which will pave way for the 'One Customer' experience".
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