The Hindu Business Line : Indian offshoring in publishing vertical to touch $1.1 b by 2010

"Outsourcing in the publishing segment has been prevalent for over two decades now. Macmillan began its off-shoring unit in India way back in 1977."

Pune , Sept. 16

INDIAN offshoring in the publishing vertical is expected to touch $1.1 billion by 2010, according to ValueNotes Database Pvt Ltd here.

The firm, an established provider of business intelligence and research, has published a research report titled `Offshoring in the Publishing Vertical' which says current publishing outsourcing revenues in the country are estimated at approximately $200 million.

According to ValueNotes, the global opportunity for publishing outsourcing is estimated at $8.1 billion, which would be valued at an estimated $4.86 billion if off-shored. Its research note states: "Even as newly formed BPOs, and larger `pioneers' scramble to add services that bill higher rates and provide them with the elusive differentiation, one segment has quietly been doing this for many years. Outsourcing in the publishing segment has been prevalent for over two decades now. Macmillan began its off-shoring unit in India way back in 1977."

Scientific publishing: Globally, the STM (scientific technical and medical) segment dominates publishing outsourcing given the high production costs versus lower volume of sales. The UK and the US are the prominent countries in STM publishing. While STM publishers have been outsourcing their requirements for a long time, offshoring is gaining momentum now. Almost all leading STM publishers, including Elsevier, Taylor and Francis, Kluwer and Springer outsource their requirements to India.

According to the ValueNotes research report, the major drivers of outsourcing to India include the domestic English publishing industry with a more than 100 years history, the trained workforce proficient in English language and publishing, the success stories of early pioneers such as Macmillan and significant cost arbitrage.

"The vendor landscape in India presents a rather fragmented picture with over 50 players, offering a range of publishing outsourcing services. While smaller players predominantly offer data conversion/digitisation services, larger players offer the entire range including design, content development, data conversion and even turnkey project management services to their clients."

Ms Aradhana Kolhatkar, analyst at ValueNotes, says, "The publishing outsourcing industry in India is poised for significant growth. Greater consolidation is expected in the industry as larger players seek to grow in scale and smaller players look to sell out. The acquisition of Maximize Learning by TechBooks could just be the beginning of a chain of such events in the industry."

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