The Hindu Business Line : Vipul-Laing O'Rourke venture eyes remote facilities management

After business process outsourcing and legal process outsourcing, facilities process outsourcing (FPO) could well be the next buzzword for companies in India.

The UK construction major Laing O'Rourke (LOR) has joined hands with Indian company Vipul and is now gearing up to offer IT-enabled facilities management services to markets such as the UK, the US and Australia.

"We have set up a joint venture in India with Vipul to provide services that include remote management of heating, lighting and other systems in buildings in the UK. The joint venture was set up sometime ago and we have been trying the services internally, that is, for LOR's own offices in the UK. We have tested these services successfully, and we plan to go full throttle to tap external clients," Mr Mark Oliver, Director, Laing O'Rourke, said here.

For instance, the facilities management centre based in India - with the help of sensors placed in clients' building - could identify the light bulbs that are nearing their lifecycle and send instructions to building manager for replacement of such bulbs. The venture currently has 30 professionals based in India, a number that the company plans to quadruple this year.

According to Mr Dhiraj Singh, country head of LOR India and Director of LOR International, the 50:50 venture (Vipul-LOR) has been engaged in developing the technology, process and software and conducting trials over the last few months.

"We are now set to tap clients in the markets of the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, and even West Asia," he said adding that the venture would target all kinds of buildings, including commercial.

Commenting on the size of the market for remote facilities management, Mr Singh said: "The size of the market for our services is pegged at $5-6 billion globally. All the data that we build up would help in other facilities as well."

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