UK based Vertex BPO has now turned its head to the $1.2 billion domestic market looking for new opportunities. The company had entered into a 65:35 joint venture with Mumbai-based Shell Transource in September 2010 to enter the domestic market. But it has now completed the acquisition of Shell. At present, Vertex employs 5,000 employees in India and plans to reach 20,000 headcount by 2013 through tapping opportunities in smaller cities and the rural areas. Paul Sweeny,CEO, Vertex Group who joined the organisation almost 2 years back, after serving for 16 years in IBM, spoke to Diksha Dutta about the company?s geography focus, opportunities in India and consolidation trends in the BPO industry. Excerpts:

Vertex has been concentrating on the UK market for a while now. But now the focus is on India. How will we see your geographical focus changing in the coming times?

We are a global business which operates in North America, Canada, UK, India and Australia. We will continue to seek out geographies where we see growth opportunities and or where our clients require us to operate. Clearly our presence in India signals our confidence in this attractive market.

What are the opportunities that you see in the domestic market and what is the strategy behind entering this market?

We are excited about the Indian domestic market which we see is developing quickly as the economy shows strong performance. There is a great opportunity in India around offering higher quality customer services. Companies are now realising that it?s not only about reducing cost to serve but also about delivering an improved customer experience to retain and grow their customer base.

At Vertex India, we have the competitive advantage of global expertise with the potential to scale up locally. Through our extensive unique franchisee network we have reach and presence in Tier-II and Tier-III cities and rural India to draw on the untapped opportunities in this space. To support its expansion plans, Vertex India plans to become 20,000 employees strong by 2013. I am pleased to say we are making progress having opened over 400 additional seats in Noida just last week. This takes our capacity there now to over 1,300.

What new trends and opportunities do you see in the emerging verticals?

In terms of global verticals we?ve seen growth in utilities and public sector, financial services. For instance, in India, we believe that there will be an increase in spending by government at all levels, resulting in an increased adoption of outsourcing services.

The utilities space is likely to hold significant promise for outsourcing growth in India through 2011. One of the principal drivers for utilities to move to third-party contact centre vendors is the need to move to CRM systems.

The Indian domestic outsourcing market is fast maturing and with the growing needs of the consumers, the need for quality outsourcing is becoming a necessity. Telecom, retail, financial services, utilities and the public sector are the emerging verticals.

The BPO industry is in a consolidation phase. How will it affect a company like Vertex?

The Indian BPO market will consolidate further as it matures. This is driven by the growing needs of clients and a recognition that scale can deliver real benefit. The franchisee network we have in India gives us the muti-lingual delivery capability, national footprint and ability reach out to Tier-II and III cities and rural India. We believe it is a natural part of the markets evolution and will only help organisations such as Vertex to expand as per the local requirements.

What is the predictive and challenges that you see in the BPO industry?

There is a move towards more valuable relationships between BPO provider and client whereby lowest cost is not always the preferred solution. Clients are becoming more interested in the quality of their customers’ experience than in merely looking at price. They are also now more interested in the value that BPOs bring in particular around enhancing and protecting their brand.