The Hindu Business Line : India still has edge in ITES: Experts

INDIA still has the edge and the first mover advantage in IT-enabled services and BPO, though China is catching up fast, according to several experts.

They expressed the view at the inaugural session of a two-day seminar on services marketing that began here on Friday. It was organised by the Ambedkar Institute of Management.

Prof. V. Nagadevera of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, said the call centre business was moving out of the country to the Philippines and other countries, but the high-end BPO would still remain in the country and it was bound to grow. He said China was fast catching up, but it still had some distance to go. "In the near future at least, for a decade or so, we have nothing to fear from China. However, we cannot afford to be complacent," he said.

He said China had made giant strides in manufacturing, but it would be difficult to make the necessary adjustments to emerge as a service provider. The demographic factors were also not in favour of China, he said. "However, the Chinese are making concerted efforts and we should not be caught napping," he cautioned.

Captain. V. Ankit, General Manager of the Visakha Container Terminal Private Ltd, said the resources in the country should be aligned with global requirements, with emphasis on quality and efficiency. "It is all very well to say that China will become the factory of the world with stress on manufacturing and India the back-office with stress on the ITES and BPO. However, we know how inefficient our offices are. We are nowhere near the global standards," he said.

Mr T. Gopala Rao, former chairman of the Visakhapatnam Port Trust, said the services sector would play an increasing greater role in the future. "However, to keep a sense of perspective, we cannot neglect the manufacturing sector either," he said and pleaded for balanced growth.

In his welcome address, Prof. C. Suryanarayana, Director of the Ambedkar Institute of Management Studies, said the services sector, growing at 7 per cent per annum, was accounting for half of the country's GDP. India was bound to play a key role in the next 50 years in the world as a service provider.

Mr Coleman, the local head of the call centre of HSBC, said employees were of the utmost importance, especially in the service sector, and "they are the brand ambassadors of any organisation." It was imperative, therefore, for any organisation or company to understand the needs of its employees first and satiate them to serve the customers best. To have a satisfied clientele, he said, it was necessary to have a contented workforce.

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India still has edge in ITES: Experts

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