The Hindu Business Line : `Indian BPOs largely fragmented'

According to Mr Arjun Sethi from A.T. Kearney, the Indian BPO sector had over 400 players. However, the top 10 players accounted for 20 per cent of revenues.

Speaking at a conclave on outsourcing organised by CII here today, Mr Sethi said Indian outsourcing outfits were still predominantly time and material players as opposed to industry majors who were in a position to negotiate fixed prices and long-term projects. Further, the Indian BPO sector had to contend with regulatory inadequacies.

Besides, in sharp contrast to the worldwide phenomena where the consortium approach was gaining prominence, Indian companies preferred to go-it-alone.

Mr Pramod Bhasin, President of GE Capital India, said it was essential to deliver cost advantages keeping in mind the savings and time factor in order to improve cost arbitrage, process improvement and process excellence. Listing the myths surrounding BPO in the country, the Vice-President, Research, Gartner India, Mr Partha Iyengar, said companies tended to take the build or buy approach, either insourcing or outsourcing operations, rather than adopting multi-sourcing models such as cooperation as in a joint venture, building core competencies, buying or outsourcing, or competing externally or internally.

Mr Ananda Mukerji, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, ICICI OneSource, underlined higher investment in domain knowledge, development of financial engineering skills, enhancement and diversification of talent pool.

The Vice-President (Technology & Transformation), AT Kearney, Ms Andrea Bierce, said India could potentially capture $700 million to $1.5 billion of the offshoreable spend in the next 5-10 years.