Nasscom Says Visa Hike is “Terribly Short Sighted”
September 2nd, 2010
Nivsarkar: “Latin America can bring in language capabilities and time zone and proximity benefits and we are firmly convinced the way forward will be to have a globally distributed model – pulling on the strengths of every location worldwide.”
The fallout from the visa hike issue is still being felt across the global outsourcing industry. One of the obvious questions is whether large India firms will aggressively reshape their operating models to accommodate the new visa costs – or – is it just a mild bump in the road to continued expansion in the Americas?
Giving us an exclusive perspective on the issue is Ameet Nivsarkar , NASSCOM Vice-President for Global Trade, who is in charge of international and policy relationships for the India ITO/BPO advocacy group.
What long term impact do you think the visa fee hikes will bring to the way in which India outsourcing firms conduct business in the United States?
The fee per say is not going to be a large cause of concern. Our bigger concern is the direction all of this is taking. This is not the first attempt the US. Congress has taken to discriminate against India firms.
This is the first time we are seeing legislation go into law. Obviously India firms are concerned, and this certainly will add to the bottom line.
Genpact Moves to Double U.S. Workforce in Next Few Years
August 19th, 2010Offshore BPO major Genpact is planning a major ramp-up of its ‘onsite’ presence by doubling the US workforce to 2,000 professionals in the next 2-3 years. It currently has about 1,000 professionals in the US, across functions such as revenue cycle management, mortgage processing and loan modification.
“This whole area of business process management and driving improvement in business processes will demand more onsite presence, more domain-specific capabilities and very high-skilled re-engineering capabilities. I think we need to be closer to our customers when we do this kind of work. So we are very comfortable from a business model and demand perspective, with regard to our hiring plans in the US,” the Genpact President and CEO, Mr Pramod Bhasin, told Business Line.
Of the 1,000 professionals that the company currently employs in America, between 60-70 per …
Mexico Outsourcing Will Soar Under Schumer Law
August 12th, 2010
Senator Schumer probably doesn't realize the huge incentive he is helping create to boost outsourcing to Mexico.
In its Haste to Gouge India, Congress Neglects to Consider the TN Visa
By Kirk Laughlin
In what could be one of the most extraordinary examples of the self-defeating consequences of slapdash, politically inspired protectionism, the new Congressional border bill which partly takes aim at Indian outsourcers is likely to trigger a nearshoring bonanza – with Mexico poised to become a major beneficiary. But wait, isn’t Chuck Schumer (D-NY) who is a key sponsor of the bill, going to protect U.S. jobs? Actually no and we’ll explain why.
Exclusive: Why Peru Fits into the Global Strategy of TCS
August 11th, 2010
Manzano: "We have much more information about Latin America than our competitors do"
By Tarun George
Newest in the line of “India Inc.” conquests in Latin America, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced recently the opening of a new delivery center in Lima, Peru. With centers already in Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia, TCS has the largest LatAm presence of any of its Indian counterparts, and has expanded aggressively there ever since Gabriel Rozman initiated the company’s expansion six years ago.
We sat down with Henry Manzano, CEO of TCS Latin America, to find out more about his growth strategy and what TCS sees in the region that its competitors do not.
Brazil Emerges as a Key Hub for HCL Technologies
August 11th, 2010NOIDA, India, July 29, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — HCL Technologies Ltd. (HCL), a leading global IT services provider, today announced results for the year and quarter ended June 30 2010. For the full year, HCL’s global revenues increased by 24.1% to $2.7 Billion. During the quarter, HCL posted strong growth with global revenues increasing by 21.5% YoY to $738 Million.
HCL’s US business posted a revenue increase of 24.4% YoY in FY10 and 11.3 % QoQ in the last quarter. The results demonstrate increasing market recognition of the value HCL delivers to its customers in the U.S. and validates HCL’s Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy in the geography, which encompasses an integrated horizontal, sector and geographic focus.
Commenting on the results, Dr. Shami Khorana, President, HCL Americas said, “With more than 18 offices in 15 states, the Americas have contributed $ 1.6 Billion which is about 60 percent of HCL Technologies’ total worldwide …
Aditya Birla Minacs, the business process outsourcing (BPO) arm of the $28 billion Aditya Birla Group, today said it was keen on establishing a facility in Latin America with an eye on servicing its clients in the United States, which contributes about 65 per cent of the company’s total revenues.
“We have already shortlisted three locations in the region, and our 26-member team is undertaking locational studies. It (the facility) will primarily cater to our US clients and most of it will be voice (solutions),” Aditya Birla Minacs President – Asia Pacific Milind Godbole said.
Godbole explained that the firm was looking for countries which had a strong cultural connect with the United States, so that voice solutions could be better altered to suit client requirements. However, he was reluctant to divulge details of the countries or investment.
Indian …
Rural Onshore Outsourcers See Big Upside
August 1st, 2010SOURCE: EconomicTimes
Monty Hamilton, chief executive officer of Atlanta-based Rural Outsourcing Inc, is a darling of the American media these days. His company is setting up units in smaller towns in the US, hiring low-cost labour (from those laid off during the recession) and vying for contracts or outsourcing jobs from bigger companies, much the same way call centres and BPOs in Bangalore and Gurgaon have been doing all these years.
Hamilton calls his model “the future of outsourcing in America” and argues that currency exchange rate fluctuations and other factors such as inflation (as in India) make outsourcing business to companies in India risky, as he advises American firms to vote in favour of onshoring instead of offshoring.
Onshoring or domestic outsourcing—some even call it rural outsourcing—is the new buzzword in US business circles. Already, companies such as Microsoft, Mattel and RJ Reynolds have started giving business to onshoring firms, …
Latin America Rates Ahead of India in English Proficiency
July 28th, 2010Bangalore: India has been ranked third in a recent test of English speaking proficiency across BPO nations. India being one of the world’s leading outsourcing hub, was ranked below Philippines and Latin America and East Europe, reports Anjali Prayag from Business Line.
Philippines tops the board with a score of 61.84, Latin America and East Europe stand next 58 and India in the third place with a score of 55.62. Sushil Eapen, Managing Director of Pearson Clinical and Talent Assessment said “it’s only Korea and China that we beat in the test.”
Pearson Talent Assessment has developed the battery of Versant English proficiency tests that is one of the most widely used tests for testing spoken English competency. Speaking on the Versant scores of the Indian BPO employee, Eapen said, “We are able to compare the proficiency across countries because our tests are used worldwide and we have access to results globally.”
“Filipinos …
Nearshore vs. India: Which Location Really Costs Less?
July 22nd, 2010A Point By Point TCO Breakdown with Two Top Outsourcing Experts
By Tarun George
When buy-side companies talk costs, we often hear how the Nearshore is more expensive than India. There’s probably no arguing that from a labor standpoint, but what about overall economic value, accounting for the variables of sourcing work from far away? If we compare the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of India and Latin American countries, will they be materially different? Or is India always going to be the cheaper option?
Are India Software Services Companies Too Expensive?
July 20th, 2010Shares in export-driven Indian software services companies are trading near their peaks on expectations for rising outsourcing demand as companies and governments around the world look to cut costs.
Risks to the sector come from rising wages, uncertainties linked to the debt problems in Europe and wide currency swings.
Last week, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (TCS.BO), the country’s top outsourcer, posted a 21 percent rise in quarterly profit and said it was seeing strong demand.
The result was in sharp contrast to Infosys Technologies (INFY.BO), seen as a trendsetter for India’s $60 billion IT-services industry, that reported a rare drop in quarterly profit.
DEMAND OPTIMISM
Analysts are betting troubled and recovering economies will be under pressure to get many services such as accounting, healthcare and billing done elsewhere to cut costs at home.
“As companies get careful on their costs, demand for outsourcing is only going to get better,” said Shashi Bhusan, …
