Business Process Outsourcing companies (BPOs) are now focussing on providing process efficiency to domestic clients under the initiative ?India for India?, a term coined by Genpact, relatively nascent but a promising one.
In the last six to 12 months companies like Infosys, Genpact and others have focused on domestic clients for new businesses and aim to extend India operations. For the big players, the idea was simple and could be brought quickly in the market.
It was found that domestic companies in some cases are even ?bigger than global clients? and need services in the area of process management and technology which is the expertise of BPO?s. ?Who would have guessed there would be 300 million and growing cellphone users in India ?
Companies started out with the process capability to support x numbers and we are seamlessly able to handle 5x or 10x for the company. Where as the cost arbitrage of up to 40% in some cases is what attracted global clients especially the US and Europe , but for local clients the question remains, how do we jump start and get to the next level of process expertise?, says Genpact?s head and senior vice-president Harpeet Duggal.
An insurance company associated with Genpact highlighting the need to cater domestic clients say, ?Although there is a slowdown, our company is still experiencing a 27% quarter on quarter growth and we need a process to manage our policies efficiently?.
Experts feel BPO?s will be able to respond such dilemmas of the domestic clients in a much more efficient manner.
From an employee standpoint they feel serving local clients offer an equally compelling opportunity as serving overseas clients. ?Local client needs will be day-time driven and this would open up this sector to a lot more who are unable to take up shift duties. Language dependency is not as big an issue as it would be for overseas clients and from a Genpact perspective employees will have the career opportunity to migrate from local to global clients,? adds Duggal
BPO?s in India have additional vantage point in terms of infrastructure and talent. While other BPO?s also articulate a similar value proposition.
?Infosys? sales pitch to clients is that through the intervention of continuous productivity improvement, automation and technology we can transform the way the function is being carried out,? says Ritesh Idnani, global vice-president of sales and marketing and responsible for the BPO business within Infosys.
The outsourcing model today has expanded its operations and not only restricted to a particular segment. It is about clinical trials, legal process outsourcing, knowledge process outsourcing etc which has further augmented the need for expertise for both global and local clients.
?Generation 1 of outsourcing had telecos and insurance companies asking for bodies to help them manage their growth. Generation 2 of outsourcing sees clients needing help with consolidation and competing with global vendors,? said Duggal.
With global players setting up industries in India the need to outsource is further gaining momentum in sectors like manufacturing, telecommunications, insurance financial services, etc.
?BPO?s can help in critical functions and allow clients to focus on their core competence?, says Duggal. Service providers need to work much harder to win business with buyers having wider range of choice.
Duggal adds, ?There is no turning back in our plan to go after local clients. Our CEO has redeployed some big hitters to focus on this market and the fact that Accenture, IBM and others are also going after this business validates the market and in a sense makes it no different from bidding for international business?.
?India Business Unit? the approximately 12-month-old initiative at Infosys to attract domestic clients from an IT perspective is being leveraged by the company?s BPO arm as well. BPO?s in India seem to have come full circle, they are trying to provide the same ?process expertise? to domestic Indian clients as they originally set out and continue do for their global clients.