Caliber Point, a subsidiary of Hexaware Technologies, recently launched Republic, a multi-tenant HR services delivery solution on the platform as a service model. The company is one of the first BPO service providers in India and one of the few in the world to provide complete platform-based BPO services, says CEO RU Srinivas<.b>. In an e-mail reply to S Saroj Kumar of FE, he talks about the advantages of going to market with bundled BPO services for ?one -stop -shop? solution. Excerpts.
What is the market size of platform BPO services (that combine both software as well as BPO functions) in the Indian BPO market? What is Caliber?s share?
There is no reliable published data available on the exact size of the market for platform BPO services and market share, since this is still an emerging market. An IDC report says domestic markets in emerging economies are well-positioned to see fast growth.
What are the BPO services bundled into your platform portfolio?
Our solution is equipped to handle end-to-end HR functions of all organisations in India and North America, including employee data management and associated administrative HR activities, payroll & employee benefits, employee and manager self-service and analytics. Functionalities for the current geographies and for UK and Australia are being developed.
We are the only service provider in the market with a demonstrable Oracle-based solution that includes the service and hosting. There are other platform-based solutions that are purely based on software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, or on single tenancy. These offer some of the benefits, but are not multi-tenant platform full end-to-end solutions.
Our MTP solution is focused on these SMEs to help them optimise HR spends on IT & Infrastructure while offering a world-class HR-IT solution.
Oracle?s E-Business Suite (EBS) is capable of handling the largest volume of employees as well and we are getting a lot of interest from some large companies as well.
What is the initial cost incurred in building a platform?
This is an investment we have made based on our expertise & experience, with our assessment of market needs. We are not in a position to share a monetary value of the investment.
What is the success rate of bundled BPO services in the global market?
This is a new trend even globally. It is too early to declare or calculate success. It fulfills a long-standing need for businesses globally, as it puts much greater capability within reach of all businesses. It will help them operate more efficiently and compete better. Platform BPOs around the world are in different stages of executing their go-to-market plans and delivery.
As platform services are expected to bring the down cost for your customers, what is the pricing model?
The pricing model we follow is Per Employee Per Month (PEPM), which helps clients use the efficient pay-as-you-go model without the associated cost of building capacity. The pricing has been developed keeping in mind the price sensitivity of the India market.
Is transaction pricing a win-win model?
Of course. Customers can expect to be delighted to get world class capabilities at this price. The HR outsourcing world is headed towards adopting an all-bundled PEPM pricing for everything . For us, it is an open door to a potential market where we are early movers and we will benefit.