SECTION D

STUDY OF INDIAN MARKET

Business Process Outsourcing- The New Growth Sector

Global outsourcing spending is projected to top $1.2 trillion by the end of 2003.

Globally, outsourcing spending is increasing by 11 percent per year. Two thirds of the outsourcing spend is in large Fortune 500 companies.

Two-thirds of outsourcing spending is in the US. Shrinking margins will force more companies to break with tradition and consider BPO to reduce operating cost.

A lot of demand is expected to be generated by HR processes especially payroll Management

In India , ITES-BPO segment registered a growth of 59% to reach Rs. 113bn (US $2.3 billion)

According to current industry estimates, India commands more than 90% of all offshore outsourcing in IT services

ITeS contributed 25% to the total IT Software and Service exports from India during FY03

Captive ITES-BPO players have almost doubled their share in Indian software exports, growing by a phenomenal 90% in last financial year

ITES-BPO segment is projected to register a growth of 54% to clock revenues of US$ 3.6 billion during FY2003-04

The ITeS industry is expected to grow to Rs. 810bn in 2008.

What to outsource to India? Forward-thinking companies are realizing the importance of the holistic approach to IT strategy, where information is regarded as an essential tool for furthering business. However, these skills may not be available to you inhouse. If you've been tearing your hair wondering how to find someone to write XML for you or update your website or answer customer queries, don't give up. You'll find that India is well-equipped with qualified and experienced people to provide IT services and IT enabled services. You can tap them through Outsource2India's network of strategic partners, technology specialists, and service providers. Scan the following categories to see the outsourcing potential in India. IT Services

Software development services Application development and management

Re-engineering Conversion and migration (across platforms/ languages/ versions) Data warehousing and mining Embedded systems E-commerce applications

Data Entry

Data control audits Regular reporting of work systems Data entry software and validation tables Dispatch of data to the customer Double keyed data (when required by the customer) Proof checks

Programming

C, C++, VisualC++, Java, Javascript, Java Beans, Java Server Pages (JSP), Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), ASP (Active Server Pages) Visual Basic Microsoft Access Novell Networking EDI and Integration Bar Coding and Hand Held Data Collection DOS, Windows 95/98/2000, Windows NT Business and Industrial Systems Support of spreadsheets, word-processing and various 3rd party applications

PC hardware and services

IT-enabled Services Call Centers

Help Desks - Electronic and voice help desk / Event tracking software Bookkeeping or clerical support Data entry, word processing, mass e-mailing inbound and outbound communications e-mail services Teleservicing Telemarketing

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

Enterprise Management Supply Chain Management (SCM) Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Back-Office Operations

Accounting: processing accounts payable, accounts receivable or general ledger Payroll Inventory Hardware maintenance Internal auditing Benefits management Benefits administration Health & Welfare administration

Defined Contribution/ Defined Benefit administration and customer service Health claims administration 401(k) plan record-keeping Human resources Asset management and staffing
-

supplement your existing e-business staff access both management and technical assistance on a long term or monthly basis

Infrastructure

Communications and messaging Upgrading and configuring message management software Launching an XML strategy Integrating e-business messages with CRM, ERP and legacy systems Managing change as your e-business programs and business systems evolve e-business operations management and day-to-day operation of EDI infrastructure creation and management of a new XML strategy e-marketplace development ERP integration communications monitoring trading partner management order processing workflow enhancement, evaluation and benchmarking application hosting

system implementation and integration system maintenance upgrades backups disaster recovery

Communications and Networking

Telecommunications Computer telephony Internet telephony e-solutions

Media and Entertainment

Advertising Film-making Animation Printing and publishing Consulting services Photography

Web Development Services

Portals e-commerce consulting e-business IT consulting Domain registration

Website design and redesign Website promotion Web-enabled applications Website maintenance Web hosting

Operations

e-marketplaces web applications XML and EDI operations implementation assistance security administration monitoring data traffic generating activity reports troubleshooting problems creating any necessary maps system support help desk

Relationship management

Customer Care Services customer acquisition customer activation customer retention cross-selling/up-selling

inside sales surveys and polling

Community Management

Managing your ongoing partner relationships opening e-business channels with new vendors and customers meeting with partners defining e-business requirements establishing the rules of play educating them on benefits, security measures and day-to-day procedures

Medical Transcription

Patient history and physical reports Clinical notes Office notes Operative reports Consultation notes Discharge summaries Letters Psychiatric evaluations Laboratory reports, x-ray reports and pathology

On-site services

On-site assistance System setup and testing, software installation

Preventive maintenance Communications and network testing On-site and depot hardware repair

These are just samples of several outsourcing services that are available in India. Outsource2India is a marketplace that will put you in touch with reliable vendors who will deliver the results you want, within your deadlines and budget. When you run your eye over the list on this page, you'll find lots of things you can outsource, so that you can do what you do well, even better.

Oursourcing in Software The Indian software industry has grown from a mere US $ 150 million in 1991-92 to a staggering US $ 5.7 billion (including over $4 billion worth of software exports) in 1999-2000. No other Indian industry has performed so well against the global competition. Outsourcing software requirements depends mostly on quality of services, and quality has continued to remain a prime edge for Indian software companies. According to the NASSCOM survey, the Indian software industry continued to win recognition for its quality in software development over the last year. Out of the top 400 companies, more than 250 have already acquired ISO 9000 certifications. Out of the 54 companies in the world that acquired SEI CMM Level 5 certification, 27 companies are located in India.

The annual growth rate of Indias software exports has been consistently over 50 percent since 1991. As per the projections made by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) for 20002001 (April 1, 2000 - March 31, 2001), Indias software exports would be around $ 6.3 billion, in addition to $ 2.5 billion in domestic sale. (US $ million) 1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- 199996 Domestic software Market Software Exports Indian Software Industry 1224 1755 2670 3900 5700 8750 490 734 670 1085 920 1750 1250 2650 1700 4000 2450 6300 97 98 99 2000 2000-01*

(* Source: NASSCOM Report) Today, India exports software and services to nearly 95 countries around the world. The share of North America (U.S. & Canada) in Indias software exports is about 61 per cent. In 1999-2000, more than a third of Fortune 500 companies outsourced their software requirements to India. NASSCOMs survey during 1999-2000 indicates a reversal in the mode of services offered by India. In 1991-92, offshore services accounted 5 per cent and on-site services 95 % of the total exports. However, during

1999-2000 offshore services contributed over 40 percent of the total exports. Exports of $50 billion in 2008 Outsourcing in IT-Enabled Services Indias strengths in the software market also lie in its pursuit of new opportunities. In fact, two key segments that are expected to open up over the next few years for India are e-commerce and remote processing. Opportunities in e-commerce software solutions are emerging as a major area of growth in the Indian IT software and services industry. A recent study undertaken by The Boston Consulting Group for NASSCOM clearly stated that India can earn revenues of US$9 billion from e-business solutions by 2005. IT-Enabled Services, or Remote Processing, has emerged as the next major driver of the technology services industry. Call centers and business process outsourcing is emerging as the next wave of growth in India. The McKinsey study indicated that India will earn $18 billion in revenues through these services and create additional employment of one million jobs. Already companies like GE Caps, British Airways, Swissair, American Express and British Telecom are using Indian companies for these services. The IT-Enabled Services segment currently employs around 70,000 people and accounts for 10.6 percent of the total IT software and services industry revenues.

India IT Software and Services Industry US$ billion

Source: NASSCOM

A study conducted by renowned consultancy firm McKinsey and Co., for NASSCOM, has proven why India is becoming the offshore software development out-sourcers destination of choice. According to the NASSCOM-McKinsey study, the Indian software industry is expected to gross US$50 billion in exports in 2008! This is based on an average growth rate of 35 percent per year. The industry is well placed to achieve this target

India is Best positioned for cross border IT services

Source : NASSCOM-McKinsey Study

Indias success in the software arena is attributed to the software industrys knowledge and expertise in cutting edge technologies and skilled manpower base. Both these strengths are likely to contribute towards the industrys future growth. In fact, Indias prowess in emerging technologies is also helping the software and services industry obtain new customers, even in the face of a debilitating U.S. economy slowdown. There is only one way that the Indian software industry is headed and that is up. The coming years will only reiterate this trend. The segments within ITES that will witness tremendous growth include back office operations, remote education, data search, market research and customer interaction services. As per Nasscom-McKinsey report

1999, the ITES industry can attain revenues of US $ 17 billion by 2008 and capture 12% of the market. India currently offers a strong value proposition of all IT enabled services hubs owing to the following reasons:

India's abundant skilled manpower is drawing corporate hubs to back end their operations in India. The country's English speaking manpower rates high in areas such as qualifications, capabilities, quality of work and work ethics. This places India ahead of competitors such as Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Philippines, Mexico, Ireland, Australia and Holland, among others. India's telecom and physical infrastructure is approaching parity with other countries Indian companies have unique capabilities and systems for setting, measuring and monitoring quality targets. Nasscom is working with international certification agencies to set standards. In certain ITES categories, Indian centers have achieved higher productivity levels-for example, the number of transactions per hour for back office processing, than their Western counterparts. Also, India is able to offer a 24x7 service and reduction in turnaround times by leveraging time zone differences. India's unique geographic positioning makes this possible. The regulatory environment, specially relating to ITS and ITES is highly progressive and most of the earlier policy recommendations made to the Government have been accepted and acted upon. Incentives such as income tax holiday until 2010 have been provided for the export of IT enabled services.

The Government of India has announced a special policy for call centers Many state governments in India are offering incentives and infrastructure for setting up IT enabled services.

A comparison amongst some countries in Asia Pacific based on these factors highlights the following: (Ratings are on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being the lowest and 3 the highest.)

Country New Zealand Kuala Lumpur Japan Hong

Workforce 2 1 1

Market Local Access 2 2 2 2 2 2

Infra-

Market structure 1 2 2 2 3 2 2 average;

Cosmopolitan 3 2 1 2 3

Cost base 2 2 3 2

1 Kong India 3 1 denotes

low;

2 denotes

denotes

1 high

Source: Mckinsey & Co

Outsourceing of call center

India commands 90% of IT offshore outsourcing

The call-center services sector in India is the part of the booming outsourcing industry flourishing in India. A report by research firm Gartner suggests that India grabs more than 65% of the global outsourcing market. In another report on current industry estimates, India commands more than 90% of all offshore outsourcing in IT services. Of all, call-center services market attracts most of offshore firms.

The call-center services in India are amongst the most economical as well as reliant for US corporate market. India is the call-centers hub for some of the major companies from US and Europe Last few years have seen India as cheap-hub to outsource business by the giant companies mainly from United States of America as well as some European Nations. Call Centers in India have grown manifolds - partly the result of broad outlook of Indian Government, the Low Cost Structure, and Technically Vibrant Workforce along with numerous other reasons. Outsource Business Process can be defined as handling the management and optimization of ones business to a third party to lower stress and demands of the business management. This Third Party logistics are based on the companys credentials and outlines to abide strategies and procedures.

The Call Center Industry estimated to grow into $301 billion industry by 2010 is a sheer pleasure for the aspiring workforce in India. Indians have tactfully managed to produce quality assurance in the areas of Database Management, customer service help line, helpdesk services, handling credit and billing problems, entertaining complaints from the customers with

personalized solutions along with numerous other chores that arises within business operations. Call Centers in India has also effectively developed a niche in the areas of data verification, data capture, Tele research, service follow-ups and renewing subscriptions, which becomes the core outbound activities of a call center. Unless there is talented enough manpower to handle such queries, no business organization will make a move. Thus India have taken a leap step in Call Center Industry, which in recent have been the home more developed nations like Australia, New Zealand, and European nation. India is all set to register the highest growth rate in call centre services industry in Asia Pacific region. Recently conducted survey on Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES), predicts, there are currently more than 150 call centres operating in the country, inclusive international and domestic. This industry in India went into an overdrive after the release of NASSCOM-McKinsey report which predicted that IT-enabled services would account for a mammoth $17 billion business a year. Why this sudden gold rush in this industry? Despite the imminent shakeout, 'call centres will be larger than the IT industry in the next eight years,' predicts Sandeep Gulati of Renasonic. It is widely believed that this industry is expected to compensate for the loss of revenue for the software industry. With increasing competition, reducing margins and increasing customer expectations, organisations are looking for tools to serve the customers better which resulted in the mushrooming of call centres. The report also predicts that IT-enabled services in India might generate 1.1 million jobs and Rs 810 billion in revenues by the year 2008. Currently, the industry is

growing at the rate of 30 per cent annually and will employ over 2.5 lakh English-speaking Indians in coming seven years. The growth in this sector is phenomenal in India. With US and European companies looking at countries like India and Philippines for outsourcing their non-critical back-office work and transaction processing the critical issue would be how fast existing call centres can build its operations to meet overseas requirements. A study by the International Data Corporation (IDC), predicts that India will clock over 50 per cent of compound annual growth rates until 2005, which will be ahead of China's 40 per cent plus growth rate. Currently, more than 10,000seat in the country handles an average of 45-80 calls per seat per day. The cost of investment per seat varies from Rs 5 to 8 lakh is required for setting up a state-of-the-art call centre with 100 to 300 seats. Revenue per seat ranges from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per month. Most of the companies are poised for a big growth. Some of the major players which have already ventured into the bandwagon are GE, American Express, E-funds, Spectramind, Msource, Air Infotech, 24x7, e-Serve Technologies (HCL), EServe International (Citibank), Exl Services, First Ring, Brigade, Bharti, Daksh.com etc. The list is endless. Hoping to achieve at least a seven-fold increase in its revenue several companies are investing heavily.

Current salaries in the BPO world in India

Customer Care Representatives [CSRs]: Rs 7,500 - Rs 11,500 per month Team Leaders: Rs 16,500 - Rs 24,500 per month Managers: Rs 3 lacs - Rs 5.5 lacs per annum Training Heads: Rs 8 lacs - Rs 12 lacs per annum Training Managers: Rs 5 lacs - Rs 8 lacs per annum Trainers: Rs 2 lacs - Rs 5 lacs per annum

o o o o o

Note: Rs 1 lac = Rs 100,000 Competitor of India Philippines boasts of strong skills in finance and accounting. The other countries India is competing with are Mexico, Canada and Ireland. In terms of cost, Philippines and Malayasia are competitive with India. BPO Competitors of India Country Philippines Canada, Ireland, Australia South Africa China USP voice work; low attrition Understands the US market; high-end skils Time zone similar to Limitation India; small talent pool High costs Understands the US market; More expensive than

Europe; 25% cost saving, Skill shortage good for niche work Low costs Quality of English not

good Russia Czech Republic, Hungary Immediate neighbor of US, Mexico 30% cheaper than US; Spanish skills European language skills Technology skills Poor infrastructure; corruption; language Small talent pool; high costs Good only for low-end jobs

Job growth in the BPO sector when compared to other sectors Industry Telecom IT Enabled Services Software Services New Employees Period 10,000 50,000 30,000 January-December 2002 April 2002 - March 2003 April 2002 - March 2003 April 2002 - March 2003

Retailing/Franchising 35,000

Projections! McKinsey & Co. predicts global market for IT-enabled services to be over $140 billion by 2008. These $142 Billion can be broken up and shown as below: Customer Interaction Services 33.0

Finance & Accounting Services Translation, Transcription & Localization Engineering & Design HR Services Data Search, Integration & Management Remote Education Networking Consulting & Management Website Services Market Research Total

15.0 2.0 1.2 5.0 44.0 18.0 15.0 5.0 3.0 141.2

Source: NASSCOM McKinsey Study India IT Strategies In that the opportunity for India will be $ 17 Billion. Indian ITeS industry employed more than 100,000 people in 20012002. This industry clocked approximately 70% growth last year is expected to grow similarly in 2002-2003. Global Market size estimates of BPO
o o o

$712 billion in 2001 Gartner/Dataquest: $ 544 billion in 2004 Gartner: $173 billion in 2007, of which $24.23 billion would be outsourced to offshore contractors IDC: $300 billion in 2004 IDC: $1.2 trillion in 2006

o o

Indian Market size estimates

Indian Market size estimates of BPO

o

Nasscom has estimated that the Indian ITES industry will gross over $5.7 billion by 2005 (based on a conservative year-on-year growth of 65 percent by Nasscom). Nasscom-McKinsey: In 1999 they estimated by 2008 it will be $17 billion but it has been revised to $21-24 billion by 2008. Indian can capture 25% of global BPO offshore market and 12% of the market for other services such as animation, content development and design services. Gartner: $1 billion (2002), $1.2 billion (2003). $13.8 billion by 2007. Gartner does not incorporate animation, medical or other (legal) transcription services, GIS, market research, data search, research and development, network consultancy and other nonbusiness processes in its estimates on the ITES market size and potential.

Revenue \ Year Offshore BPO Revenue Indian BPO Revenue Total BPO

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

CAGR

1,322

1,825

3,017

6,439

12,563

24,230

78.91

912

1,205

1,961

3,928

7,412

13,811

69.35

110,167 121,687 131,171 143,090 157,033 173,070 9.45

Market CAGR in % 2002- Figures 07 million in $ Source: Gartner Dataquest (May 2003)

Revenue areas for Indian BPO companies India's BPO Market in 2008 Service Line HR Customer Care Payment Services Content Development Administration Finance Figures in $ billion IT Services is the largest contributor to the exports pie. Year 1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 Source: Nasscom ITES 14% 14.5% 19% 24% IT Services 86% 85.5% 81% 76% First (1999) 5.4 4.1 2.9 2.6 1.3 0.7 Estimate Second Estimate (2001) 3.5-4.0 8.0-8.5 3.0-3.5 2.5-3.0 1.5-2.0 2.5-3.0

Few companies are into both IT and BPO. What percentage of the revenue is contributed by BPO? June 2002 16.48% 4.85% 0.027% N.A. 5% Sept 2002 21.71% 5.78% 0.23% N.A. 5% Dec 2002 22.61% 6.81% 0.85% 1.454% 6% March 2003 25.24% 7.785% 1.01% 3.53% 9%

Company Mphasis Wipro Infosy Digital Globalsoft HCL Tech

June 2003 28.9% 8.61% 1.175% 5.9% N.A.

BPO sector performance in 2002-2003 As on March 31, 2003, the sector employed 171,000 professionals. It has $1 billion invetsed in it, creating about 100,000 smart cubicles in 7.5 million saq ft of space. It generated revenues of $2.3 billion in 2002-03.

Benefits for OUTSOURCE TO INDIA India has the largest English speaking population in the world after the United States. Principal language for the business transaction is English. India has the fastest growing pool of expertise. High availability of English speaking & educated customer care professionals. India has a huge number of computer literates. Indians are highly reliable and can deliver world-class quality and ensure rapid delivery of service. They are increasingly adapting to international quality standards. The country is moving towards next generation telecommunication technologies.

The Government of India has recognized the potential of IT-enabled services and has taken positive steps by providing numerous incentives. Indian companies can provide call center services to clients based in the U.S. or the U.K. at less than half of what it costs in U.S., U.K. or Australia. Per employee cost in USA is approximately $40,000 while in India it is only $5,000.

Comparison of India Vs US BPO operating costs US$ Cost per FTE (Full Employee) Personnel G&A Expense Time United States 42,927 8,571 India 6,179 1,000 India as % of US costs 14% 12%

Telecom Property Rentals Depreciation TOTAL EXPENSES Strategic Review 2003)

1,500 2,600 3,000 58,598

2,328 847 1,500

155% 33% 50%

11,854 20% (From the Nasscom

Source: Industry Sources, Merill Lynch 2003

Call Centers: Catalysts for Corporate Change Outsourcing non-core and IT services has become the business strategy for growth in the new millennium. Managers need no longer justify outsourcing: rather, they have to justify work done internally that could be done better outside the organization.

In an economic downturn, inexpensive, capable labor becomes even more important. India has both and offers call center site selectors the added bonus of a workforce dedicated to making a career within the call center industry. "India offers a workforce of highly-dedicated, well-educated, Englishspeaking professionals, and the infrastructure needed to deliver world-class customer care," says Ron Schultz, president of Convergys Customer Management Group, a Cincinnati, Oh. -based outsourcing group. Convergys opened its first customer contact center in India. The 1,900-seat facility is located in Gurgaon, a suburb of New Delhi. The new Convergys facility is strategically located neat other multi-national facilities, including operations run by Coca-Cola, Nestle, Motorola, and GE. Besides its workforce

attributes, India gives foreign investors the additional advantage of an affordable location. "You save considerably setting up an operation in India," says Keith Fiveson, managing director of IT Enabled Services Alliance, a New Yorkbased consulting firm that helps foreign investors set up sites in India. "Generally, you can save anywhere from 30 to 50 percent on administrative costs setting up an operation in India." India intends to be a major player in the call center arena, as indicated by the current construction of a telecommunications network. Restrictions have been removed for foreign direct investment into business-to-business ecommerce and telecom and teleservices. "Up until a year ago, in order to do any business in India, you could not have a 100-percent stake in your investment," notes Fiveson. "You had to have a 49 percent stake with an Indian firm." Many foreign firms are also partnering with Indian companies to set up centers, among them firms such as The Godrej Group and The Hiranandani Group. The latter firm, a construction giant, launched call centers at Powai in Mumbai for automobile export firms. "With the awareness increasing for greater customer service, the demand for call centers is bound to grow," notes Priya Hiranandani, a director with his namesake group. Fiveson also notes the Indian government is offering incentives for call center jobs, approximately $1,000 per job per year. While that doesn't sound like an enormous amount of money, it amounts to a substantial sum in a

country where most call center employees only make $3,000 per year. Fiveson notes that the supply of highly educated workers and a low demand creates these low wages, but he hastens to add that this is not subsistence pay.

Supply-and-Demand Economics
"It is not because they are treating people badly. It is due to supply and demand economics,". "You're talking about a country where you can feed a family of four for about $5 to $10 dollars a day." The Indian government has also established tax-free zones. These areas allow foreign firms setting up new locations to bring into the country without penalty goods such as computers and furniture. Local Indian governments are also helping establish technology parks near areas such as Goa, with telecom infrastructure in place. Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay and within the Indian province of Maharashtra, has been the site of numerous major back office investments. U.S. companies such as GE Capital, Dell Computers, Oracle and Citicorp have located in the area. Some of these firms have retained outsource partners, while others are maintained by the companies themselves.

"We want American companies to know they are welcome additions to our broad-based economy," says Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister of the province. "Maharashtra is determined to create a knowledge-based economy." India also offers firms a huge pool of well-educated workers without preconceived notions about working in a call center. Companies have discovered Indian employees do not associate working within the call center industry with a negative stigma and are committed to building a career within the business. The salary costs for skilled workers are among the lowest in the world, and it is not uncommon to find supervisors with advanced degrees. "This is still one of the largest English-speaking populations in the world," notes Fiveson. "The quality and ethic of the workforce is much higher and you have a six day work week here." Call center service providers are also offering American English courses to their employees, to allow them to be more familiar with American terminology. Service providers are also aware of quality issues and many offer certification programs to their employees. "You will see in India more certification than nearly anywhere else in the world and more adherence to call center practice standards," adds Fiveson.

Many firms have begun to expand into some of India's second tier cities such as Aurangabad and Pune. "This second tier of Indian cities is the future," says Dennis Smith, president of PacTac advisors, a call center consulting group located in New York. "These operations do not need to be in major cities, any more than they are in the major cities in America." World Bank, headquartered in Washington D.C., announced it will establish a call center in Chennai. The new facility represents World Bank's effort to put its operations where its money is so to speak, as World Bank has been investing in infrastructure and development assistance within India. The 27,000-sq.-ft. (2,508-sq.-m.) site will house 200 employees. The new facility will handle desk support of the bank's budget policies and processes. New Jersey-based TCG Software is in discussion with various U.S. companies to set up centers in Hyderabad and Delhi. The firm currently operates four centers in Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The new facilities will be expansions at some of these sites. Company officials expect to double their current staff of 400 workers.

Top 9 ITES Cities of India New Delhi, August 6, 2002: oNASSCOM, the apex industry body of Software and Service Companies in India, today, revealed the findings of an extensive study conducted in association with Netscribes to assess the competitiveness of nine Indian cities as destinations for IT Enabled Service companies. The three-month long study evaluated the top nine cities including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kochi, Mumbai (including Navi Mumbai), Pune and NCR (Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon). The cities were assessed on factors such as manpower availability, real estate, telecom infrastructure, policy initiatives, power infrastructure, city perception and entrepreneurial history. Speaking on the study, Mr. Kiran Karnik, President, NASSCOM, said, "About 90% of all ITES companies in India are concentrated in nine major cities while others have not been able to attract more than two companies each. Our RANKING OF INDIAN ITES

CITIES study reveals that despite a large number ofCITY

RANK 1 ITES companies being based in Mumbai,HYDERABAD KOCHI 2 NCR and Bangalore, these cities are facingCHENNAI 3 4 increasing competition from other cities.KOLKATA AHMEDABAD 5 Cities such as Hyderabad, and Kochi areBANGALORE 6 7 emerging as attractive ITES destinationsMUMBAI NCR 8 primarily due to rapid improvements inPUNE 9 infrastructure (power, international bandwidth and urban transportation) and lower manpower costs due to lower cost of living and lack of alternative employment opportunities in these cities."

According to NASSCOM, the ITES industry in India is experiencing the third wave of growth; both in terms of geographical areas of operation and services offered

In the first phase, the industry was dominated by captive centers of large multinationals such as GE, American Express, and Swiss Air who set up operations in leading metros of the country such as Delhi and Mumbai In the second phase, the growth of the industry attracted numerous entrepreneurs (in many cases, employees of multinationals who quit their jobs to set up their own ITES ventures) again in and around Delhi (NCR) and Mumbai (including Navi Mumbai) The third phase of growth has been more geographically dispersed with new locations emerging such as Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, and more recently, Kochi.

The growth has been driven by three factors:

The desire by state governments to attract entrepreneurship, which resulted in the former offering attractive policy environments and incentives The rapid improvement in key infrastructure such as power, telecom bandwidth, and real estate in newer locations The need for ITES companies to lower operating costs (especially employee costs, and transportation)

According to the report's findings, Hyderabad has emerged as the most competitive city for ITES. Chennai, Kochi and Kolkata too rank highly in their infrastructure offerings, policy incentives, and low cost manpower availability though not at the same level as Hyderabad. On the other hand, Ahmedabad, which ranks highly on availability of low cost manpower, loses out on competitiveness as a result of weaker policy incentives and infrastructure availability. Bangalore, Mumbai, NCR and Pune ranked low in infrastructure availability, policy support and availability of low-cost manpower. "Given the potential of the industry to create jobs and generate foreign exchange, NASSCOM will actively work with the various state governments and ITES companies in order to create a conducive policy environment and a world class infrastructure to develop the ITES industry in different states", stated Mr Kiran Karnik, President, NASSCOM.

Highlights Telecom Pune, Ahmedabad and Bangalore have direct Power international bandwidth. The variance in the ranking

Concerns All cities expect Kolkata have tele-density in excess of 14%. Pune, Bangalore, NCR

comes due to the tariffs existing and Kochi experience pre across various cities. Kochi has a scheduled power cuts. low tariff of Rs 3/unit and it goes as high as Rs 4.97/unit in Real Estate Mumbai Increasing real estate cost have There is a large variance pushed NCR and Mumbai down in the rates within larger the 'affordability' list. cities, for example real estate cost in Mumbai ranges from Rs 287 to Rs 50 per square feet per month. However the variance is lower in cities like Ahmedabad and Pune and thus they are ranked higher in real Manpower estate. Manpower cost varies depending Manpower cost is as high on the city's cost of living. The as Rs 51.59/hr in Mumbai city's attractiveness also depends as compared to Rs on the number of trained Perception manpower. Perception plays an important 17.04/hr in Kochi. Kolkata, Ahmedabad and

role while deciding the location Kochi lag behind in the of a new units. Bangalore ranked IT initiatives undertaken high because of the state's IT policy. by the government. Recent riots at Ahmedabad has harmed its perception even more

In order to assess the competitiveness of different locations, the relative importance of parameters such as telecom and physical infrastructure, IT orientation and policy support provided, each city was ranked on a scale of 1 to 10, in order of increasing importance. Weights were then assigned to each of the factors. Multiplying the rank for each factor with its particular weight and then dividing the sum total of all the factors for each city by the total weight derived the score for each city. The study also highlights the importance of qualitative parameters such as entrepreneurial culture and perception of policy environment. It is important to note that these are indicative scores and the attractiveness, or otherwise, of a city could also be a function of a company's business mix and strategy. To illustrate, a company in the inbound call business would have to invest significantly in training its employees in accent neutralization, thereby offsetting the lower employee costs in a particular city.

ANNEXURE: Findings of the NASSCOM ITES Super Nine Study: Though the 'Super Nine' cities have already herded a number of ITES firms, there are many areas that need to be addressed to make them globally competitive. Ahmedabad According to the profile of the ITES companies operating in the city, Ahmedabad is strong in website services and Web applications, call / contact centers and back-office operations. However, in other services such as database management / development, data processing / management and network management/remote maintenance, the city is relatively weak, though it has the telecom infrastructure to support these services. This shows These requirements vary from city to city.

that the manpower available in the city is best suited for call / contact centers and back-office operations. In order to attract the entire range of ITES companies, the city needs to address

The recent communal riots have raised security concern for businesses. The government needs to address the issue proactively if it has to attract ITES companies Though the city's power infrastructure is reasonably good, the same can't be said about the public transport system Though power is not a major problem in the city, the cost of power is one of the highest in the country. This reduces the competitiveness of products and services coming out of the city The city has a fairly good educational infrastructure, however many students migrate to Mumbai each year in search of better prospects. This drain needs to be stanched to retain local talent

Bangalore Though Bangalore has got a range of ITES companies, it seems to be stronger in the call / contact center, transcription, and back-office operations services. However, perhaps because of its IT-orientation, the city has also been able to attract a reasonable number of companies into database management / development, data processing / management and engineering, design, and GIS services. Given this, the city should still be able to attract other forms of ITES companies. However some of the issues that need to be looked into are:

The city's infrastructure, especially power and telecom, are not keeping pace with the IT expansion. While the government promises

uninterrupted power supply, the reality is far removed, and many ITES firms have to maintain their own back-up systems. This cranks up costs

The city's public transport infrastructure is very weak and this has resulted in many people buying their own vehicle There is a lack of a neutral accent among the local populace which necessitates training for call center services While real estate is not a problem, property costs in Bangalore are higher than those in Chennai

Chennai Chennai, despite a relatively sturdy infrastructure, hasn't been able to attract as many ITES firms as Bangalore. However, from the profile of the companies operating in the city, it seems that the city is strong in call / contact center, content management / development & animation, data processing / management / digitization, and website services / Web applications. The city has the potential to attract all types of ITES firms, provided it addresses the following issues.

Chennai loses out to the likes of Delhi and Bangalore in the 'perception game'. The city is perceived to be conservative and lacking in infrastructure. It would help if the government found a way to highlight the success stories of companies based in Chennai. The lack of a neutral English accent among the local populace is a problem that needs to be addressed. However the city is well placed for services like back office accounting and transcription

Hyderabad Though the city scores high on infrastructure and policy, it has been able to attract only certain kinds of ITES companies. The current ITES population in the city is favourable towards engineering, design, GIS, and data processing / management / digitization and seems to lag in the contact center and transcription businesses. The following are the issues that should sit atop the state government's priority list:

The Andhra government is aggressively marketing Hyderabad as a choice destination for ITES companies. Thus, it has to take much greater care of the city's infrastructure The city's public transport infrastructure can definitely stand improvement. The state's ITES policy is perhaps one of the best in the country and puts a lot of emphasis on quality manpower. The government must now deliver on those intentions and support institutes that train manpower suitable for ITES Accent is a major problem that needs to be addressed through training support

Kochi Kochi is an upcoming city in Kerala and is aggressively being promoted by the state government as an IT destination. Though it doesn't have any ITES companies of significance yet, it holds a lot of potential to attract many. The city needs to address the following infrastructure issues:

Though it has the lowest power tariff among the Super Nine, it still experiences some power cuts Like most cities in India, Kochi lacks a decent public transport infrastructure. Compared to its larger brethren, Kochi has only a few colleges. As ITES companies would mainly hire graduates, the state needs to ensure abundant supply of trained manpower Kochi loses out in the perception game. The government needs to ensure that the city moves up this scale to start attracting new businesses

Kolkata The profile of the ITES companies in Kolkata suggests that it is relatively strong in data processing / management / digitization and back-office operations. However, in other areas, the city hasn't been able to attract many companies. The government needs to address several issues, especially on policy, to attract companies from other kinds of services. Some of these are:

The main issue that needs to be tackled to place Kolkata firmly on the ITES map is perception Although the state government is aggressively promoting Kolkata as a destination for ITES firms, it needs to do more. Offering more incentives - possibly following the Andhra model - and showcasing the success stories coming out of the city could be the first step toward achieving this The state also needs to increase its tele-density, and bring it at par with other leading cities

The city's public transport system needs to improve dramatically, as does the quality of the road network

Mumbai Next only to NCR as the preferred choice of destination for ITES firms, Mumbai is strong in call / contact centers, back-office operations, and data processing / management. However, it seems to be quite weak in transcription services and network management / maintenance. The city holds the potential to attract all kinds of ITES companies, but at the same time, it needs to take some steps to maintain and improve its competitiveness. These are:

Mumbai is plagued by high real estate rates. Even a depressed real estate market has failed to bring down the prices on par with the other metros Though Mumbai has adequate trained manpower, the cost is among the highest in the country Though Mumbai has the best public transport infrastructure in the country, the same can't be said about its road network. The city's congested roads need to be de-clogged

NCR (Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon) By far the leader in ITES in the country, NCR, unlike Bangalore, hasn't been able to attract every type of ITES company. For instance, from the profile of the companies operating in the region, it seems to be particularly strong in call / contact center, back-office operations, website services / Web applications, and data processing / management / digitization, with call

/contact centers leading the way. This region too has the potential to attract every kind of ITES firm, given some of the following initiatives:

A lot remains to be achieved on the physical infrastructure front. Delhi's power supply needs immediate attention, as it necessitates backup power systems at companies, thus increasing costs The public transport infrastructure in NCR is quite inadequate. This adds to the companies' operational costs and thus is not a cost effective destination Like in many other parts of the country, the lack of a neutral accent may be a problem for some ITES firms, especially those in the call center business

Pune Though Pune hasn't managed to attract many ITES companies, those that are there seem to be evenly distributed between the call/ contact center, data processing/ management/ digitization, data processing/ management/ digitization, and back-office businesses. But the other services are conspicuous by their absence. Infrastructure tops the list of concerns. A reliable and continuous power supply needs to be provided. Currently, ITES companies need to have their own backup power systems to supplement the utility's supply. Some of the other concerns are:

A public transport system forces firms to spend on transportation. Additionally the road network needs to be expanded on a fast track

Despite the government's sops for ITES units on the FSI norms, real estate rates in Pune are not that low

Call Centers in India In order to meet the growing international demand for cost-effective, customer-oriented call centers, many organizations worldwide are outsourcing these services from locations like India. India has intrinsic strengths which can make it a major success as an outsource destination:

A booming IT industry, with IT strengths recognized all over the world The largest English-speaking population after the USA A vast workforce of educated, English-speaking, tech-savvy personnel: A boon in a high-growth industry faced with a shortage of skilled workers Cost-effective manpower: In a call center operation, manpower typically accounts for 55 to 60 percent of the total cost. In India, the manpower cost is approximately one-tenth of what it is overseas. Per agent cost in USA is approximately $40,000 while in India it is only $5,000. Technical support: India graduates about 100,000 engineers each year. These can be used in call centers for troubleshooting/tech support as the salaries are dramatically lower than in Europe or the US. The Government of India has recognized the potential of IT-enabled services and has taken positive steps by providing numerous incentives.

The presence of most international technology vendors and solutions would enable creation of most advanced set-ups in this technologyintensive segment.

One company in India proposes to harness the high-quality technical support available here by hiring 300 Ph.D.'s to provide very high-end consulting through videoconferencing/telephone. Given these advantages, India could build a $17 billion industry by 2008 according to the NASSCOM McKinsey Report.

Call centers in India are on upsurge as US and European market is constantly seeking economical services in their drive to reduce cost of operating their business. This has opened fortunes for service vendors who have tapped the burgeoning contact center from west especially USA. Outsourcing to India registered almost 60% jump in the last fiscal. Since professionals in India are good at English and are backed by the concrete Info Tech infrastructure in the country choosing profession as a call center executive is luring new breed of fresh graduates.

Call Centers in India have shown advantage over their counterparts from US due to some peculiar reasons. Professionals in Indian Call Centers constitutes of youngsters when compared to European and US experts. Eager to learn they are more energetic and dedicated than the professionals from those countries. This gives a distinctive advantage to them for providing better advantage while working at Call Centers. How large is the call center industry in India?

There are 25 CTI(Computer Telephony Integration)-enabled call centers and 300-500 non-CTI call centers in India. British Airways' subsidiary employs about 750 people and is expected to hire 800 more, while GE has 1000 personnel at its Gugaon facility.

GE in India: an outsourcing success story par excellence A large part of GE's business in India is in remote processing centers. Success stories like GE's provide tremendous encouragement to both the Indian entrepreneur as well as potential business partners from overseas. GE positions its call centers as "productivity enhancers". According to GE, companies could be spending two-thirds or more of their time on things that have to get done but have little to do with what makes their business successful. GE Business Productivity Solutions offer companies services and software that help them grow revenue faster than expenditures by reducing resources and time devoted to "back office" processes. GE Capital International is employing over 1,000 people in its Center of Excellence at Gurgaon near New Delhi in India. The Call Center facility at Hyderabad is expected to be ready for use by March. These Centers provide IT-enabled business process outsourcing services to GE and non-GE customers around the world. GE's business objective is to consolidate back office processing into India for client organizations and to deliver quality services at competitive cost. Business Solutions GE Capital India Business Solutions focuses on three areas:

1. Global business platforms 2. IT-enabled services 3. Product-specific solutions

The Global Business platform business would target areas such as Mortgage, Insurance and Accounting to provide End-to-End processing services. GE's state-of-the art Decision Science Center in Bangalore will develop predictive tools and models for all aspects of customermanagement. IT-Enabled Services Include:

Helpdesk Services and remote troubleshooting of IT-related queries from clients in the US Transaction Processing Accounting Services Call Centers Remote Network Management Service Bureau and Entrepreneur Systems End-to-end Processing Services with linkage to the parent company. The entire processing would be carried out in the facility in India, with a cost quality and service advantage to the parent organization.

Product Specific Solutions Include:

Risk Modeling Data Mining Actuarial Services

Underwriting Variation Analysis Analytics

Number of employees in Indian call centres Company EXL Spectramind Daksh WNS vCustomer Tracmail HCL e-serve Epicentre ICICI OneSource GTL Number of Employees 4,500 2,600 2,000 1,600 1,500 1,365 870 700 650 650

Source: Nasscom ITES directory September 2002

Captive Centres GE Capital e-serve International Efunds HSBC Healthscribe India American Express Sitel India Global e:Business Operations (HP)

Number of Employees 12,000 3,149 1,646 1,128 1,126 979 584 475

Axa Global

350

Source: Nasscom ITES directory September 2002

Rankings of call centres based on revenues Ranking of Call Center & BPO players 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Wipro Spectramind WNS Group Daksh e-services ExlService (I) Pvt Ltd HCL Technologies BPO Services Convergys GTL Ltd MsourcE India Hinduja TMT ICICI OneSource Sutherland Technologies Epicenter Technologies Zenta Technologies 24/7 Customer Datamatics Technologies

Source: Nasscom

Number of employees Vs revenues sector wise in India

Growth trend of the outsourcing industry Service Area Customer care Finance HR Payment service Administration Content development Total Source: Nasscom 2002-03 Employment Revenue (in $m) 65,000 24,000 2,100 11,000 25,000 44,000 1,71,100 810 510 45 210 310 465 2,350

Number of call center seats in other countries Number of Seats In Call Centers Country Australia India China Philippiness New Zealand Thailand Singapore Hong Kong Total 2003 1,35,000 96,000 38,000 20,000 12,000 11,000 10,000 10,000 3,32,000 2004 1,46,000 1,58,000 54,000 40,000 13,500 13,000 10,100 10,700 4,45,300

Southern states performed in 2002-03 State Andhra Pradesh Revenues Rs crore Comments

1,411 Andhra Pradesh already gets a hefty 40% of its IT revenues from ITES. The number of approved ITES companies

Karnataka

Rs crore

988

increased from 28 to 41 in fiscal 2002-03. Revenues earned by them also grew to Rs 988 crore, which is 8% of the overall exports of Rs 12,350 crore earned by the state.

Tamil Nadu

Rs crore

523

ITES earnings have jumped 8.3% to Rs 523 crore last fiscal from Rs 340 crore the year 2001-02. The number of ITES companies in Kerala

Kerala

Not available

which is pushing very hard to be among the preferred ITES destinations is said to be below 10

PEST Analysis
POLITICAL ISSUE

Government Incentives for Call Centers The government of India has recently released first set of Terms/Conditions for Call Center operators in India. The new policy initiatives are broad based and are aimed at liberalizing the Call Centers operations in India. These initiatives were announced through the Press Note dated 16 July'1999 issued by Department of Telecommunications. Amongst its salient features are:

The Call Centers are being permitted on non-exclusive basis against the requests received from IT Service Providers. These Call Centers can be international Call Centers or domestic Call Centers. However, no interconnectivity of the international and domestic Call Centers is permitted. But interconnection of two domestic Call Centers of the same company is permissible, subject to prior written approval from DoT. The International Call Centers will be permitted on IPLC`s (International Private Leased circuits) only and will cater to calls from foreign end PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). However, no PSTN connectivity will be permitted at the Indian end. On Indian end, even linking to any private or public network is not permitted even if it is of the same organization. The domestic Call Centers can have PSTN connectivity at one end or both end or at multi-points in a more complex configuration, with only incoming and with outgoing disabled at all places where PSTN termination is provided. No other interconnectivity, except as permitted as above, with any public or private network, shall be permitted to the Call Center setup

Guidelines from Department of Telecommunications In India, Call Centre operators have to get a no objection certificate from Deputy Director General (Customer Relations) at Department of Communications, Government of India, New Delhi. This NOC is granted with the aim of granting a special permission to use voice circuits over international gateways with the dedicated and stated purpose of serving overseas customers, and accompanied by an undertaking that it will not be connected to a PSTN within India. The Government of India has released a set of Terms / Conditions for Call Centre operators in India. The new policy initiatives are aimed at liberalising Call Centre operations in India. Some of the salient points of the policy are as under: The Call Centres are being permitted on nonexclusive basis against the requests received from IT Service providers. These call centres can either be international or domestic in nature.

However, no interconnectivity of the international and domestic call centres is permitted. But, interconnection of two domestic call centres of the same company is permissible, subject to prior approval of the DoT.

The International Call Centres will be permitted on IPLCs (International Private Leased Circuits) only and will cater to calls from foreign end PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Netweork). However, no PSTN connectivity will be permitted at the Indian end.

At Indian end, even linking to any private or public network is not permitted for IPLC, even if it is of the same organisation.

The domestic call centre can have PSTN connectivity at one end or both ends or at multipoints in a more complex configuration, with only incoming and with outgoing disabled at all places, wherever PSTN termination is provided.

No other interconnectivity, except as permitted above, with any public or private network, shall be permitted to the call centre set up.

Nasscom welcomes the above initiative announced by DoT. This is expected to give boost to proliferation of call centres in India. However, there is a strong need to permit PSTN connectivity at the Indian end, to international call centres as well as for software companies in India (who provide software support from India). This is important not only for large establishments of international call centres ( a great source of export revenue and employment) but also to encourage software companies to enable their employees to perform as teleworkers. Nasscom is presently working with concerned authorities to resolve this issue. It is also desired that domestic and international Call Centres be permitted interconnectivity. Actually, there should be no distinction between them.

ECONOMICAL ISSUES Indian IT industry is on track to achieve its long term aspirations of US$ 50 billion in export revenues by 2008 and remain the pre-eminent destination

for exports. The industry has grown at a CAGR of 46 percent since 1999, which is higher than the growth rate required to reach the target set in the first NASSCOM-McKinsey Study. IT Services Today, India is undoubtedly the pre-eminent destination for offshore IT services. However, China has the fundamentals to emerge as a credible offshore IT services destination in the medium term.

The Indian IT services industry landscape is being fundamentally reshaped by changes in customer and competitor behaviour, and the emergence of new opportunities along service lines, verticals and geographies. Sustaining future growth will call for new capabilities, an expanded business footprint, and radical changes to existing business models. India needs to take several initiatives to sustain its lead in exports of IT services and also explore opportunities to engage with China.

IT Enabled Services Based on location and people attractiveness, ten countries were identified as strong contenders for the global ITES market in 1999-- India, Ireland, UK, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, the Netherlands and Mexico. Among these, only two countries, India and Ireland, have created a substantive presence till date. Today, India and Ireland surpass other competitors in terms of employment, number of companies sourcing ITES as well as spectrum of verticals and services lines. India, in particular, is witnessing rapid growth due to its cost advantages, the early success achieved by the reference lighthouse customers and government initiatives implemented to improve location attractiveness. The ITES industry has grown at more than 70 percent over the last two years and currently employs over 1,00,000 people. India is fast emerging as the "new" leader, especially in traditional services such as call

centers, back office processing, etc. India is also the first country to see significant third party activity. Philippines and China could pose the strongest competition to India and challenge India's supremacy in the medium to long term. Only China and the Philippines, other than India, have a sizeable, low cost talent pool, which could meet global ITES manpower needs. Governments in both countries are taking significant steps to improve their attractiveness for the ITES industry. Other countries like Malaysia, the Caribbean, South Africa, Hong Kong, etc. have seen some ITES activity. However, the small size of their talent pools and lack of reference customers severely constrains their ability to emerge as hubs. The Indian ITES industry is set to move well beyond contact center, lowskilled work driven by the early success of the first movers. Capturing the opportunity will require players to crystallize their business models and develop tailored value propositions.

The Government will need to focus on three areas to help the industry realize the potential--removing regulatory hurdles especially in emerging service lines such as IT-enabled services; unlocking growth in the domestic market; and proactively addressing potential infrastructure and talent bottlenecks to ensure that India stays ahead of competition. NASSCOM will need to take on the mandate of developing and positioning India as a "global services sourcing hub." Specifically it should focus on three main tasks--developing India's presence and strengths in emerging service lines such as IT-enabled services, systems integration, infrastructure management, and R&D services; helping companies break new ground in long under penetrated geographies; and, strengthening the India Inc. brand. US to face a labor shortage of 5.6 million workers by 2010. Global Sourcing in the form of offshoring and immigration is imperative to fill this labor gap and protectionism can cost the US economy up to $2 trillion

New Delhi, October 9, 2003: NASSCOM (The National Association of Software and Services Companies), Indias apex body of software and services sector today released its report titled, The Impact of Global Sourcing on the US Economy, 2003 2010. The report highlights how the US economy will see significant benefits from global sourcing. Mr. Kiran Karnik, President NASSCOM said, The report was commissioned by NASSCOM to help understand the impact of information technology and increased globalization on the US economy. A comprehensive analysis of economic parameters such as GDP, productivity and income levels was carried out to arrive at the projections. The report outlines the cost-savings and increased flexibility that global sourcing will provide to US companies, thereby keeping them competitive in the global marketplace. Forecasts for the US indicate an annual GDP growth of 3.20%, which will lead to an increased demand for labor. However, the US will face a domestic labor shortfall of 5.6 million by 2010 due to an aging population, which can potentially cost the US economy $ 2 trillion if appropriate measures are not taken well in time. Evalueserve Inc., a full-service business research firm, interviewed worldwide economists and offshoring experts to produce the 80-page report. Additional information was gathered from statistics and forecasts available with the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Frankly, the results are compelling," says Marc Vollenweider, CEO, Evalueserve. "The study clearly shows the necessity of offshore activity to

support the growth of the US Economy. The report also found that offshoring keeps US businesses competitive, creates new markets for US goods and services, and fills the shortfall in services labor that the US is expected to face in the next seven years."

Over the next decade, the US economy will mirror the growth of the 1990s leading to an increased demand for labor. There will be a domestic labor shortfall of approx. 5.6 million workers by 2010 due to slow population growth and an aging population If the labor shortfall is not met, the US economy will lose out on growth opportunities resulting in an estimated cumulative loss of $2 trillion by 2010. Global sourcing in the form of immigration, temporary workers and offshoring can overcome this shortfall For every $100 of call-center work offshored by US firms, $143 is invested back into the US economy in the form of repatriated profits, increased sales of telecom equipment and cost-savings Similarly, the amount invested back into the US economy (for every $100 of work) is $133 for IT services, and $142 for high-end knowledge services like equity research, underwriting, tax preparation and risk management

Offshoring of IT services has enabled US workers move to specialized and creative roles while moving process oriented programming to offshore locations. The proportion of specialists in the US IT workforce increased from 38% in 1983 to 74% in 2002 Utilization of offshore facilities results in the growth of the local economies and an increase in the disposable income leading to the expansion of the global market for US goods and services. For example, in India the proportion of the consuming class in the overall population expanded from 14% to 30% in the 1990s and is set to reach 40% in 2006-07. The Indian retail sector is expected to grow from $180 billion in 2003 to $300 billion by 2010 There will be a short-term impact on the US labor force. About 1.3 million jobs will move offshore between 2003-2010, impacting about 1 million US workers. Of these, about 0.7 million (0.4% of the labor force) will be unemployed for a short duration. Over 8 million jobs are reallocated every quarter in the US economy and hence, the reallocation process will not be a strain for those who are temporarily unemployed About 0.3 million workers (0.2% of the workforce) will be unemployed for more than 3 months due to offshoring. This segment will require re-training and redeployment.

SOCIAL ISSUE Job Though Call Centers prefer graduates, most of them do show leniency to undergraduates if they have excellent command over English. One has to be prepared to work in shifts, mostly in the nights to keep up with the working hours of the client. One has to have a great appetite for customer satisfaction as tremendous attention is focused on customers in this industry. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) covers the client's entire business: customer acquirement, customer support, direct marketing and collections. Pluses As a fresher one could start his/her career in an International Call Center as a Call Center Executive and earn highly attractive pay packages ranging from Rs. 6,500 to Rs. 10,000 per month other than bonuses for outstanding performances. Starting as a Call Center Executive, the next rung in the hierarchy ladder is the position of the Team Leader. The Team Leader will handle a group and will be responsible for the team's performance. A Team Leader earns anything between Rs.15,000 to Rs.25,000 and reports to the Asst. ManagerCall Center. The Asst. Manager handles a group of Team Leaders and takes home a salary of Rs.30,000 to Rs.40,000 a month. The Asst. Manager in turn reports to the Call Center Manager. The Call Center Manager will be responsible for all the operations in the Call Center and the pay cheque will be anything between Rs.50,000 to Rs.60,000 per month.

There is also the facility of pickup and drop from your doorstep at the expense of the company. With an estimated industrial growth rate of 100 300 percent there is tremendous opportunity for one to climb the career ladder in this field. As more and more fresh talent foray into Call Centers, the inflow pushes the existing workforce up the order. Minuses The element of monotony involved in the work, initial stagnation and restricted job options are often highlighted as the negative aspects of call center jobs. Constantly working in the nights could also take a toll on ones health often resulting from inadequate sleep and untimely eating habits. Positives outnumber negatives While looking at the positives and negatives, one could observe that the positive aspects of call center jobs outnumber the negatives. In these days of recession, layoffs and downsizing, how can one just say 'no' to a career in an industry, which is ready to welcome enterprising freshers wholeheartedly? Yes, monotony could be an issue, but on close observation one would realize that every job involves monotony and it is the way one approaches the job that makes it lively. The integral nature of any job cannot be changed much and one would have to work around it. In an attempt to help people enjoy work, call centers today take extra efforts to make the workplace lively and interesting with parties, get-togethers, competitions and so on. Extra care is also extended to those working in night

shifts to make sure that they do not fall victims to diseases emanating from lack of proper sleep and untimely eating habits Although India's call center industry is thriving, its employees are not impressed. The nascent business is witnessing high rates of employee attrition, making industry leaders sit up and take note. The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) recently formed a special task force to address that issue, along with how to ensure availability of skilled talent in the long term. "The current average rate of attrition faced by the industry is between 30 percent to 35 percent," Ashu Calapa, vice president of Icici OneSource, said recently at an industry meeting in Bangalore. "If you compare attrition rates for a voice and non-voice process, then attrition rates are significantly lower in a non-voice process." Indian call centers currently employ about 160,000 professionals, who assume pseudo names and answer calls from U.S. customers. They have to learn foreign accents, work at night to cater to U.S. time zones, and adjust to an altered social and family life. These factors, unique to the call center work environment, were cited in a recent study as reasons for the high churn of employees and their perception toward their work. These employees also face the risk associated with working in a new industry.

"All this, in totality, seems to be impacting professionals in the way in which they lead lives and the long-term prospects of continuing careers in call centers," said Manesh Mathew, director of PeopleEquity Consulting, a human resources firm based in Bangalore. "The inherent nature of the job is such that it is monotonous and lacks challenge." India's call center industry, often locally referred to as information technology-enabled services and business process outsourcing, accounts for a quarter of all software and service exports from the country, according to NASSCOM. The market grew 59 percent to $2.3 billion between 2002 and 2003. Total employment in the industry is expected to reach 600,000 by 2007, according to IDC India. PeopleEquity and NFO India, a part of the U.S.-based consultancy NFO WorldGroup, conducted a study on call center employees, interviewing 1,000 workers at 19 leading call centers including GE, Citibank, Transworks and Convergys. These units are mostly located in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Gurgaon near New Delhi. The survey results indicated that although employees are aware of the unique demands of the job, they are not prepared to handle the "work-life balance." They believe their employers are not doing enough to reduce stress at work. Furthermore, employees don't look at their jobs as a long-term career option and have low expectations of professional growth within the industry, the study showed. Most of the workers are well qualified or even overqualified. For instance, the survey found that 9 percent of employees hold M.B.A.

degrees. Units in Chennai employ the highest number of engineers and workers with a master's in computer applications. The study noted that although employees don't complain about their salaries, they have a lurking feeling that they are not "being paid as per industry standards." Suren Singh Rasaily, a senior vice president at NIIT, said at a NASSCOM meeting last month: "We are encouraging companies to adopt responsible behavior in order to ensure that the industry does not become a victim of its own actions." Health hazards for call center professionals There is a whole bandwagon of multinational corps establishing in India especially for Call-Center operations. From GE Capitals arrival in 1997 till date, numerous corporate firms have started their Call-centers in India. These include Microsoft, DELL, Oracle to name just a few. While there is a whole conglomerate of MNC evolving in India the professionals working in such call-centers are coping with hazardous health problems to comply with US working hours. The growth rate of for call-center in India can be directly proportional to the loosing health of call-center professionals. This sounds very absurd but the US working hours clashes with Indian sleeping time. Approximately 11 hours time difference means to accommodate US operations such as personal calling, the professionals have to work at night. This is creating severe health problems as severe as miscarriage, menstrual problems etc. Besides headache, orthopedic trouble, digestive disorders are very common

among such people. Call-centers in India are making some great sacrifices to post an impressive economical growth.

TECHNOLOGICAL ISSUE

Unparalleled Challenges in the New Call Center Industry

Today call centers employ 1.6% of the European work force and 3% of the work force in North America, making the industry a larger employer than the automobile industry on two continents. Five trillion dollars has been invested in call centers worldwide. The industry accounts for nearly a trillion dollars in sales annually. Between 1994 and 1999 the percentage of Fortune 500 companies with call centers more than doubled, from just over 40% to 83%. There are currently over 150,000 call centers worldwide, located on every continent but Antarctica, and the number is growing by 17% per annum. Between now and 2004 the call center industry will be required to meet distinct challenges. The first will be to transform the call center into a multimedia center. The phenomenal rate of public take-up of the World Wide Web, Computer Telephony Integration (CTI ) and the convergence of the Publicly Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the Internet are presenting call centers with challenges and opportunities unlike any the industry has faced in the past.

There is enormous pressure on call centers to deliver increasingly complex services. This new marcus evans market analysis Business Report analyzes how network convergence will enable telcos to house all call processing features in the network and sell these services as value-added service to call centers. The Report provides a comprehensive and detailed overview of the Call Center industry today and into the new millennium. Extensive industry, consumer and strategic five-year forecasts are provided to facilitate market decisions for the future. Migration to Web-Enabled Call Centers Call centers who fail to plan for full integration of the Web, including video and VoIP, into call center operations are in danger of having the quickness of public take-up outpace their ability to cope. Call centers have a vested interest in moving their customer contact center from the PSTN to the Web. The compound annual growth rate for the web/call center application market for 1999-2004 is forecasted to be 110.4%. Spending by businesses and consumers via the Internet hit US$124 billion in 1998 and will increase to more than US$700 billion by 2004. Compare the cost of a typical telephone call at US$2-$5 each with the cost of a typical web transaction at US$.25-$.50 each. One live call equals approximately 10 web transactions. This Report examines web take-up in the wake of broadband deployment and the resulting convergence of the Internet with television which will

create a ripe market for value-added services that handle the queuing and routing of IP traffic in the network for the call center industry. Convergence By 2004 the entire global PSTN, right down to the phone line into peoples homes, will function in an environment where bandwidth is no more an issue than electricity is today. The advent of inexpensive, widely available broadband access to the Internet is underway. Over the forecast period cable, ISDN and ADSL technologies will become common in all major urban centers in the industrialized world and a large portion of smaller cities. A number of Telcos are positioning themselves for participation in this new convergent market through the acquisition of cable companies and television production companies. This Report reviews how call centers, due to their dependence on the integration of telephones and computers, are a prime focus of both network and IT convergence. The migration of call processing capabilities into the core of the telecom network is being aggressively pursued by every networking and telecommunications company we have reviewed. Data Protection It will potentially become much more difficult to engage in cross selling. Data protection and privacy regulations being implemented in the European Union will have a major impact on call centers, particularly outbound sales operations, because they will restrict the ability of call center operators to use information collected for one purpose and using it for another.

These regulations will put severe restraints on transferring such information to third-party countries, including the United States, particularly when they do not have the same level of data privacy laws, although different countries would apply them with different levels of severity. This Report probes whether these restraints will affect the evolving North American call center business model when it is applied in the European market Important New Insights: This Report uncovers the key issues that are most prevalent in new global wireless markets and provides an intelligent analyses of the solutions both proposed and implemented. For example,

Companies must enter new markets at an early stage to maximize their profits in new markets with limited competition and high wireless subscriber growth.

A modest wireline infrastructure and substantial consumer base does not necessarily translate into great consumer demand for wireless services if the country is mired in systemic corruption, sporadic network construction, and widespread poverty.

Strong economic growth is not the only determinative factor for successful market entry and growth opportunities. The readiness of a population to accept existing and newer technologies must also be considered.

Wireless companies wanting to enter newly emerging markets must be sensitive to domestic conditions that are vital for surviving in a market where social norms are critical to business success. The national business climate in each region is influenced by political, social and economic norms that are unique to the region.

New entrants must either take advantage of limited licensing opportunities or acquire an interest in an existing network. Late entry into an already existing market limits the opportunities to acquire market share.

This business intelligence Report provides invaluable insights into how to exploit the opportunities and counter the threats likely to be created in this lucrative marketplace over the next five years.

Key Findings:

Consumer demand in emerging markets outstrips the ability of antiquated wireline infrastructures to meet these demands. This accelerates governments' commitment to increase the availability of national telecommunications systems through wireless solutions.

The early entrants into the Colombian, Peruvian, and Chilean markets have all developed strong market positions and benefited from increasing subscriber bases. The Spanish company, Telefonica de Espana, entered the Chilean market in 1989, guaranteeing them a dominant market position in a market that now has an estimated 1 million cellular subscribers.

The financial crisis that effected the Asian region has not slowed the growth of wireless in Pakistan or Vietnam. Vietnam continues to extend opportunities to companies interested in establishing ventures with national telecommunications companies.

Pakistan offers opportunities in the equipment market as the industry continues to expand. Despite limited licensing opportunities, alliances with existing companies or the acquisition of shares of existing companies are excellent methods for market entry.

Companies such as Telecom Finland, Ericsson, Siemens, Detecon, and Alcatel have all acquired an interest in one of Turkey's two cellular service providers, taking advantage of continued and rapid growth.

Israel has recently introduced a third cellular network. Israel remains an important market for future wireless products, network equipment, and the location of manufacturing and research and development operations.

Substantial opportunities exist in South Africa. Most notably, a third, and possibly a fourth cellular license will be awarded in 1999. Acquisition of this license or partial ownership of the company that acquires this license is the best method for entry into the growing South African wireless market.

Eastern Europe offers some of the best opportunities for wireless companies. In the Czech Republic, a new DCS1800 license will be

awarded to a company not currently operating in the country. This presents the best method for entry into this growing market. Small wireless companies should examine the forming of bidding groups for the acquisition of new licenses. By forming a bidding group risk is spread throughout all bidders and technical expertise can be drawn from bidding partners. This method has become quite popular by companies wishing to form alliances. Call Centre Technology Suppliers Some of the suppliers of Call Centre technology are as follows. This is just an indicative list:

Hardware: Aspect, Clarify, Brightware, Cisco (webline)Convergys, Corepoint, Dialogic, e-Gain, eShare, Genesysd, Kana (including Silknet), Lucent, Nortel, Quintus, Rockwell, ServiceSoft, Siemens etc. Software: AnswerSoft, Brooktrout, Edify, eFusion, Genesys Labs, Geotel, IBM/Lotus, Intecom, KnowledgeX, Microsoft, Multilink, Nabnasset, Netcentric, Netphone, NetSpeak, Oracle, Paresc, Scopus, Sitel Corporation, SpanLink, Sun, Teloquent, Vantive, Venturian, Voicetek, Webline etc.

Systems Selection . In the race to gain a competitive edge in this market, it is easy to be seduced by an advancing technology. In doing so, many companies lose sight of the ultimate business goal: to become more competitive, productive and efficient in providing the most effective customer service. It is important to look carefully at the call centres real

technology needs, vendor selection, and the possibility of increasing the efficiency of a technology project by rethinking the organisation beforehand. The technological systems choices while setting up call centres include: a. Entry options ranging from traditional voice, e-mail, internet forms, web triggered calls, fax and video b. Desktop tools including knowledge based systems (AI), electronic documentation, new contact management applications and CTI and screen based telephony; c. Resource locations ranging from home agents to centralised or decentralised centres; d. Service options ranging from self-help or assisted services via Internet, voice response units, fax back systems, and electronic technical support forums. Introducing the right technology will benefit every component of a call centre including training, staffing, scripting, customer relations, tracking and reporting etc.

SWOT analysis on Indian ITES sector

Strengths
o o

Highly skilled, English-speaking workforce. Cheaper workforce than their Western counterparts. According to Nasscom, The wage difference is as high as 70-80 percent when compared to their Western counterparts. Lower attrition rates than in the West. Dedicated workforce aiming at making a long-term career in the field. Round-the-clock advantage for Western companies due to the huge time difference. Lower response time with efficient and effective service.

o o

Weaknesses
o

Recent months have seen a rise in the level of attrition rates among ITES workers who are quitting their jobs to pursue higher studies. Of late workers have shown a tendency not to pursue ITES as a full-time career. The cost of telecom and network infrastructure is much higher in India than in the US.

Opportunities
o

To work closely with associations like Nasscom to portray India as the most favoured ITES destination in the world.

Indian ITES companies should work closely with Western governments and assuage their concerns and issues. India can be branded as a quality ITES destination rather than a low-cost destination.

The ITES market opportunities meanwhile will fall into three main categories: Established opportunities These include areas in which there is already considerable momentum towards obtaining services from other countries, either through investment in a subsidiary (FDI) or third party provision.

Rapidly evolving opportunities These are areas in which there is considerable outsourcing of services and some early momentum to locate services in another country. Latent opportunities In these areas, case studies show high potential for locating services in other countries but there is no real momentum Threats
o

The anti-outsourcing legislation in the US state of New Jersey. Three more states in the United States are planning legislation against outsourcing Connecticut, Missouri and Wisconsin.

Workers in British Telecom have protested against outsourcing of work to Indian BPO companies. Other ITES destinations such as China, Philippines and South Africa could have an edge on the cost factor.

For today's high-tech call center, people, technology and process are truly integrated. The loss of any of the key elements - whether accidental or deliberate - can put call centers at risk. Risks to People Successful call centers base their success on how well their staffs perform. If call center staff members are unable or unwilling to perform their assigned tasks, the call center is at risk. Risks to Technology Call center systems such as ACDs and IVR are at risk from fires, floods, loss of power, system failure, component failure, loss of data (with no backups), vandalism, and human error. Voice network services are at risk from cable cuts, power failures, security breaches, and service interruptions. Data communications equipment at risk includes routers, hubs, switches, and power supplies. Data network services, such as switched or private circuits, or Internet-based services, face the same risks as voice networks. Business applications require hardware, such as mainframes, mid-range systems, and servers, plus business applications, utilities, and web-based programs. Threats to hardware are the same as for telecom equipment, while human error, viruses, security breaches and theft of information threaten software.

Risks to Process Without documented procedures on how to operate, call centers cannot function smoothly. The overall business process, e.g., Customer Relationship Management, is comprised of numerous sub-processes and functions, each of which link together in various combinations. If we examine call center operations, we can see that loss of any of the key elements - whether accidental or deliberate - can put call centers at risk.

Guidelines for setting up a Call Center International -- which handles customers of clients who are based outside India.

Interconnectivity with other network/DTS Links at India is not permitted. The PSTN connectivity is permissible only at the Foreign end and not at the Indian end. Separate Earth-Station is not permitted since VSNL is providing International Private Leased Circuit [IPLC] link. FIPB Clearance, Foreign equity, NRI involvement, e-commerce activity & legal Connectivity, with Foreign end collaborator are to be provided with an application.

Schematic network diagram with full equipment details and specifications, IPLC details, For Indian/Foreign end locations should be shown & cleared in all respects. For call centers involved in e-commerce activity, the foreign equity capital is 49% and for others there is no restrictions (i.e. Foreign equity can be 100%). IPLC`s multiplexers with compression techniques, predictive dialers, EPABX, operators (agents) positions, etc. are permitted. For all purposes, call centers in India are treated as an extension of PSTN from foreign end.

Domestic -- which basically deal with Indian clients

Domestic call centers are permitted to be setup on a separate infrastructure. However, the requests for operating call centers on the existing private networks will be permitted on a case-by-case basis. Domestic call centers are permitted to have inbound PSTN traffic but outgoing traffic is banned. Interconnectivity of two domestic call centers of the same organization is permissible subject to further approval from DTS. Interconnectivity of international with domestic call centers is not permitted. The party shall declare the indicator numbers of DEL, are terminated on leased line for the call center. For setting up of call centers, the intending private/government organization will have to register its requirements with the consumer service branch of DTS, Telecom Commission headquarters, Sanchar Bhawan, New Delhi, enclosing the detailed schematic showing the

complete end termination details and addresses, along with the connectivity to any private or public network at each of the proposed locations. Document required for submitting the application: The application can be submitted on the letter-head of the applicant company. Following documents are required along with the application:International Call Center 1. Demand Draft of Rs 1000/- drawn in the name of "Pay & Accounts Officer (HQ), DoT", toward the processing fees. 2. Address of the locations of the Indian end and foreign end where the IPLC would terminate. 3. Bandwidth of the IPLC. 4. Number of seats in the Call center. 5. Memorandum of Article of Association of the Company 6. Schematic diagram of the Call center layout with equipment details 7. Name of the foreign clients ( in case the company has not tied up with any foreign client this can be given before the start of the service)

Domestic Call Center 1. Demand Draft of Rs 1000/- drawn in the name of "Pay & Accounts Officer (HQ), DoT", toward the processing fees. 2. Address of all locations connected with leased lines or where incoming only PSTN lines are terminating. 3. Bandwidth of the leased lines. 4. Number of seats in the Call center. 5. Memorandum of Article of Association of the Company 6. Schematic diagram of the Call center layout with equipment details 7. Name of the clients ( in case the company has not tied up with any client this can be given before the start of the service)

Indian Domestic call center pegged @ Rs1,000 cr The domestic call center outsourcing business is estimated to be in the range of Rs 1,000 crore by 2005. Sandip Sen the founder and CEO Customer First Services said, This does not take into consideration any sudden burst in sectors like retail or HR and administration outsourcing." The outsourcing market for voice based customer support for the estimated 30 million subscribers is pegged at Rs 200 crore by 2005. Add other sectors like BFSI, FMCG, consumer electronics, automobiles, information technology, manufacturing, etc would easily elevate the business of the domestic call center outsourcing to more than Rs 1,000 crore. Apart from telecom and banking sector, the travel industry is emerging as the biggest contributor for the domestic call center industry. With the airlines beginning to outsource call center work, word is out that the railway is also considering outsourcing their telephone and online reservation. With India being looked as a desirable destination for technical support by most of the IT companies, it is only apt that the country is home for technical support of the domestic demand as well. Customer First supports Epson, BPL and Wipro Infotech and is poised to grab more from the IT industry. PageLink, Spanco, Orion are some of the call centers vying for the domestic pie along with Customer First. Besides, HLL, Reliance and Tata Teleservices employ captive call centers to cater to their requirements.

Customer First is the largest domestic player with a revenue of Rs 7.1 crore for 2002-03. It plans to add 450 new professionals to its 700-strong workforce by the end of this fiscal

Transition Process

Transition model is structured to minimize business service level inefficiencies during the transition of a process from the client location to our location in India. Each phase is approved by the client before moving onto the next phase.

Solution Identification

Process Transition Process Monitoring

This is the stage where the feasibility of outsourcing This is the implementation phase and Structured monitoring of operations forms a the process is studied and presented to the client. It is is broken down into five stages as critical part of ensuring that the process moves broken down into the following stages: follows: smoothly into service delivery. This is facilitated by:

Understanding Business Competencies

Detailed Assessment of Opportunity Process Mapping Verification of regulatory Issues Risk Analysis High Level project Plan

Transition Planning Assessment current process of the

Process updates through Dashboards Process Tracking plan agreed with the client

Detailing the Adapted process Execution of the Proof of Concept Stage

Regular Reviews with the client to ensure conformance to agreed metrics

Quantifying the Opportunity

Process

Transfer

to

Service Delivery

Performing work volume analysis Assessing Seasonality , cyclical trends Finalizing detailed Cost Benefit Analysis

Evaluating the Opportunity

Leveraging best practices from Previous transitions Optimizing solution from both business and IT perspectives

Present the Solution

The call center industry is booming - growing at 20% - 30% per year! As companies increasingly recognize that call centers are a strategic asset, staffing agent positions with qualified employees becomes a major challenge. And in an industry that bewails turnover of 50% -100% per year, call center managers are looking for innovative ways to retain valued employees. Remote Agent programs have proven to be very successful at retaining talented agents in hundreds of leading corporations. Companies such as American Express, Hewlett Packard, Circuit City, Travel One, Deloitte & Touche, Netscape, Compaq, World Travel Partners, Aegon Insurance, SunTrust Banks and many others are benefiting from equipping their remote agents with MCK EXTenders. MCK EXTenders enable employees to work from their homes or satellite call centers with seamless access to the call center's PBX and ACD system. An agent working remotely has all of the tools - both voice and data connectivity -- to the call center's operations. Calls are routed to remote agents and managers can monitor the agent exactly as if the agent were in the call center.

Typical Call Center Configuration

source : www.global-trek.com

PBX Gateway 1 Description:

PBX Gateway in 8 or 12 ports

This PBX Gateway can be configured to run on IP transport or traditional circuit-switched and frame relay networks. Remote employees are able to use the same full-featured digital sets and access corporate PBX functions, like voicemail, call accounting systems, unified messaging Supports and MCK ACD Extender 6000 sytems. and 4000.

PBX Gateway 2 Description:

PBX Gateway with 24 ports

This PBX Gateway can be configured to run on IP transport or traditional circuit-switched and frame relay networks. Remote employees are able to use the same full-featured digital sets and access corporate PBX functions, such as voicemail, call accounting systems, unified messaging Supports and all ACD MCK sytems. Extenders.

MCK 6000 Extender Description:

Multiple Users Extender

The MCK EXTender 6000 for Branch Offices is a multi-user customer premise equipment capable of extending voice services and applications to branch offices or call centers over circuit- and packet-based networks. The MCK EXTender 6000 is easy to install and maintain, with centralized and remote management tools for flexible administration. The MCK EXTender 6000 for Branch offices/Call Centers enables you to provide full

corporate PBX capabilities over an existing data network, making voice and data convergence a reality.

MCK 1000 Analog Description:

Single-User Extender

Workers can now fully access corporate tools from any location. Information workers have come to expect full data access. Now you can expand that access to include full voice and data support in one box. Remote workers use the same deskset they use in the office, with transparent access to all the PBX/KTS funcitions.

The MCK EXtender 1000+ provides off-site employees full access to their PBX/KTS over analog dial-up or leased line connection. Simply connect to MCK EXtender 1000's to each other for single-user scenario or connect multiple EXtender 1000's to the PBX Extenders located at the corporate site. Supports ACD software packages and call accounting, allowing statistics to be monitored on remote workers, simplifying phone expenses.

MCK 3000 ISDN Description:

Single-User Extender

Workers can now fully access corporate tools from any location. Information workers have come to expect full data access- and now you can expand that access to include full voice and data support in one box.

The MCK EXtender 3000 comes in two models; Model T and Model E. Model T uses the second B channel to emulate a terminal adapter allowing users to connect via a PPP dial-up connection. Model E uses the second B channel for data transmission through a 10Base-T Ethernet connection. Supports ACD software packages and call accounting, allowing statistics to be monitored on remote workers, simplifying phone expenses.

MCK 4000 IP Description:

Single-User Extender

Teleworking has become a strategic advantage for many companies, allowing them to recruit and retain skilled employees, save money on real estate and increase employee productivity. But to be truly productive, remote workers need access to the same set of tools at their home that they have in their office; high speed data connectivity and a feature-rich telephone system.

The MCK Extender 4000 utilizes a teleworker's existing IP network connection through a router or DSL modem, other remote access device or a company's private network to the corporate voice and data systems.

MCK Extender 7000 Description:

Multi-User Extender for branch offices and call centers.

With the MCK Extender 7000, you have instant acces to the corporate PBX/KTS system. Although the system may be located across the state, country or world, you make and receive call as if both the PBX/KTS and the local telephone company (aka Local Exchange Carrier or LEC) were at arms length.

The MCK Extender 7000 also enables any phone connected to the central PBX/KTS to use the branch office's local lines resulting in significant telecommunication cost saving for the organization. This solution is ideal for companies with geographically dispersed branch offices with 13 workers or more, situated outside of the PBX/KTS local calling area and that typically have a moderate to high level of comunciation both locally and with the corporate

PBX/KTS. .

Call Center In India Call Center Industry in India

Wednesday, August 27, 2003

In India call-center job carries great profile India has been surfaced as the hottest destination to place call center and related jobs, such as technical support and claims processing over a period of time. With costs running less than 50% of what they do in the United States and Europe, India has sprouted a call-center work force of about 150,000 people. But there is a mass difference in the profile of call-center professional in India as compared to those working in US. Indian call-center industry employee will be college gradated backed up by a reputed

computer certificate. The accent of English will be the best (as an Indian). Call-centers in India are able to pay good amount of salaries to them making it a lucrative deal to work as a call-center executive. - posted by Yogendra Joshi @ 5:26 PM Tuesday, August 26, 2003 3.3-million white-collar jobs moves overseas in 15 years The offshore phenomenon is catching on the fever as more and more corporate biggies are actually looking to go offshore for business development techniques. The call center industry in India has a great to role to play in it. Research firm Gartner suggests it costs half as much to operate a call center in India than in US. By 2018, Forrester predicts, U.S. employers will move about 3.3-million white-collar jobs and $136-billion in wages abroad. And while India is offering lowpriced call center facilities the mass exodus cannot be written off. Call-centers in India despite of the outrageous comments and demonstrations have grown immensely during last few years. The growth for the call-centers in India is close to 35% annually and that will remain in tandem for coming few years. As the US and European corporate clients are virtually knocking to move offshore India is at a gain. The call-center industry in India constitutes major US and European companies as DELL, Oracle, British Airways, Prudential etc. to name a few. - posted by Yogendra Joshi @ 1:14 PM Tuesday, August 19, 2003

Ocean Connect ropes Scottish instructor for better services Until yesterday I only knew that India offers talented, academically vibrant teachers to UK. UK imports a huge pool of capable teachers from India. But guess what the news here! A team of teachers (though retired) from Scotland has been flown to India. The purpose? The group of teachers will hone the skills of the professionals working in the call-centers in India (read Ocean Connect). The teachers will be conducting the tests and professionals educations in order to handle UK customer calls. The major job will be to develop accent as well making them aware of the cultural set up of England. With the rise in the Call-centers in India service provider companies are making extra efforts for sustenance and corporate emergence.

Since the accent in the call-centers requires dramatic changes for offshore clients there was a sense of urgency amongst call-center to deliver something for upliftment. Moreover there are several other problems on air for Call Centers in India. The major concern is the attrition rate by which the employees quit their jobs. Majority of the call-center pros are found unable to cope the stress build up odd working hours and difficulty in meeting the corporate demand. - posted by Yogendra Joshi @ 1:12 PM Ocean Connect ropes Scottish instructor for better services Till yesterday I only knew that India offers talented, academically vibrant teachers to UK. UK imports a huge pool of capable teachers from India. But guess what the news here! A team of teachers (though

retired) from Scotland has been flown to India. The purpose? The group of teachers will hone the skills of the professionals working in the call-centers in India (read Ocean Connect). The teachers will be conducting the tests and professionals educations in order to handle UK customer calls. The major job will be to develop accent as well making them aware of the cultural set up of England. With the rise in the Call-centers in India service provider companies are making extra efforts for sustenance and corporate emergence.

Since the accent in the call-centers requires dramatic changes for offshore clients there was a sense of urgency amongst call-center to deliver something for upliftment. Moreover there are several other problems on air for . The major concern is the attrition rate by which the employees quit their jobs. Majority of the call-center pros are found unable to cope the stress build up odd working hours and difficulty in meeting the corporate demand.

Monday, August 18, 2003 US & UK amounts to major call center trade in India There is an outraging debate over last few months - whether outsourcing business services be going offshore (freely) or a ban be imposed on it. The debate has been the center of argument amongst employees in Europe & US, which are majorly outsourcing their backoffice operations to India and such countries. While the issue remains under propelling argument - the call-center industry in India is rapidly growing without hiccups. The quality ensured call-center

facility in India offers astonishing cost reduction when compared to with US or European standards. Savings of as much as 70% can be accrued by instigating call-center in India.

In the past United States and Britain have been the largest investors in India in terms of outsourcing. With lions share with US, Britain still makes substantial investment in the call-center industry in India. Amongst the major British companies establishing call-center in India are British Telecom & Aviva Bank. British Airways had already setup a call-center in India way back. Microsoft, Oracle, DELL, American Express represents US participation for the extraordinary growth of call-centers in India. - posted by Yogendra Joshi @ 1:02 PM Sunday, August 17, 2003 Indian Call Centers have majority of US clients US trade pundits are discovering the huge pool of skilled talent available in India a cheap way of cutting costs through outsourcing research and other procedures. This is directly proportionate to the rise of the call-centers in India. With the rapid expansion of business seekers coming to India for cost-effective (quality driven at the same moment) services, the call center industry is gearing up for phenomenal growth within coming years. India already captures almost 66% of the offshore Business Process Outsourcing services business that majorly constitutes of call-centers of major US firms.

Several major companies of the global repute are conducting their callcenter operations in India. General Electric employees around 11,000 calling agents and has recently declared to offer call-center and related services to third parties. Besides GE companies such as American Express, DELL, Oracle, Microsoft, HDFC and several others have their call-center facilities in India.

Thursday, August 14, 2003 Calls preferred than mail: Pitney Bowes The growth of Call-centers in India is parallel to the choice making of the modes of communication. Connecticut based Pitney Bowes a company into marketing research and activities indicates that phone calling is preferred manner of communication rather than e-mail. In a survey it was found that 82% of the people would prefer calling a company for queries rather than e-mailing which is most likely to generate personal touch. This induces the growth of contact centers and eventually the growth of call-center industry in India.

People also prefer personal calling given that they receive calls (viz. marketing information) in a condition that they choose the time, place and format of the information.

Call-centers in India is the eventual result of such marketing traits. There is a predictable growth call-centers in near future and India is likely to host major call-center operations for corporate firms of US and Europe. More so the Indian government is pushing along the trend

of offshore BPO business in India. There are talks that India will generate call-centers for European countries speaking European languages. This is likely to expand the base of the call-center industry in India where United States is the major business provider at the moment.

APPENDIX

About NASSCOM
The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) is the apex body and umbrella organisation of IT and IT Enabled Services organisations in India. It was formed in 1988 with the primary objective of being a catalyst for the growth of the software-driven IT industry in India. NASSCOM is a not-for- profit organisation and is registered under the Societies Act, 1896. It currently has over 850 member companies who collectively contribute to more than 95 percent of the revenues of the IT Services and IT Enabled Services industry in India.

NASSCOM's aim and objectives include facilitating trade and business in IT

services, IT Enabled Services and the e-commerce industry; encouraging the advancement of research; and facilitating the education, employment and growth of the Indian economy.

NASSCOM works with the Government of India and various state governments to formulate policies and procedures in the IT services and IT Enabled Services industry.

NASSCOM organises conferences, seminars, workshops and exhibitions in India and abroad. These events focus on areas such as Internet, e-commerce, e-governance, IT Enabled services, ERP, networking and banking. It also organises specialised export promotion events in various countries of the world where overseas companies are encouraged to interact with Indian companies. NASSCOM's aspiration is, by 2008, to have among its members IT services and IT Enabled services companies that are world class; have attained global dominance in their core business of software development; are clearly in the ascendancy in cross-border of IT and IT Enabled services; and have acquired an unassailable position for themselves in software products and ebusinesses. Its members include software, Internet and E-commerce companies spanning private, public sectors that include homegrown companies and multinationals. NASSCOM is internationally represented at WITSA (World Information Technology Services Alliance) and ASOCIO (Asian Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation). For further information, please visit us at www.nasscom.org

World

Information

Technology

and

Services

Alliance

(WITSA)
The World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) is a consortium of 39 information technology (IT) industry associations from economies around the world (list attached). As the globalvoice of the IT industry, WITSA is dedicated to: advocating policies that advance the industry's growth and development; facilitating international trade and investment in IT products and services; strengthening WITSA's national industry associations through the sharing of knowledge, experience, and critical information; providing members with a vast network of contacts in nearly every geographic region of the world; and hosting the World Congress on IT, the only industry sponsored global IT event. Founded in 1978 and originally known as the World Computing Services Industry Association, WITSA has increasingly assumed an active advocacy role in international public policy issues affecting the creation of a robust globle information infrastructure, including: increasing competition through open markets and regulatory reform; protecting intellectual property;

reducing tariff and non-tariff trade barriers to IT goods and Services; and safeguarding the viability and continued growth of the Internet and electronic commerce.

More information on WITSA is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.witsa.org. The World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) Argentina Cmara de Empresas de Software y Servicios Informticos (CESSI) http://www.cessi.com.ar Australia Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) http://www.aiia.com.au/ Bangladesh Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS) http://www.samity.org Brazil Sociedade de Usurios de Informtica e Telecomunicaes - Sao Paulo (Sucesu-SP) http://www.sucesusp.com.br Canada Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) http://www.itac.ca/

China, Taipei Information Service Industry Association of China, Taipei (CISA) http://www.cisanet.org.tw/english/index.html / http://www.worldcongress2000.org Colombia Colombian Software Federation (Federacin Colombiana de Software FEDECOLSOFT) http://www.fedecolsoft.org.co Czech Republic Association for Consulting to Business (Asociace Pro Poradenstv v Podnikn APP) Ecuador Association Ecuatoriana de Tecnologia de Informacion y Servicios (AETIS) Egypt The Co-operative Society for Computers of Egypt (CSCE) Finland Information Technology Services Association (Tietotekniikan Palveluliitto - TIPAL) http://www.tipal.fi/index.html France Syntec Informatique http://www.syntec-informatique.fr/syntec/ow/home.cgi Germany Bundesverband Informationstechnologien (BVITeV)

http://www.bvit.de/home-eng.htm Greece Federation of Hellenic Information Technology Enterprises (SEPE) http://www.sepe.gr/sepe1en.htm Hong Kong Hong Kong Information Technology Federation (HKITF) http://www.hkitf.org.hk/ India National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) http://www.nasscom.org/index.html Israel Israeli Association of Software Houses (IASH) http://www.iash.org.il/ Italy Associazione Nazionale Aziende Servizi Informatica e Telematica http://www.anasin.it/ Japan Japan Information Service Industry Association (JISA) http://www.jisa.or.jp/ Lithuania The Association of Lithuania's Information, technology, telecommunications and office equipment (INFOBALT) / www.infobalt.lt

Malaysia

Association of the Computer Industry (PIKOM) http://www.pikom.org.my Mexico Asociacin Mexicana de la Industria de Tecnologas de Informacin (AMITI) http://www.amiti.org.mx/ Mongolia Mongolian National Information Technology Association Morocco LAssociation des Professionnels de LInformatique de la Bureautique et de la Telematique (APEBI) / http://www.atlasnet.net.ma/forum-apebi/present.htm Netherlands Federation of Dutch Branch Associations in Information Technology (Federatie Nederlandse IT - FENIT) / http://www.fenit.nl/ New Zealand Information Technology Association of New Zealand (ITANZ) http://www.itanz.org.nz/ Northern Ireland Software Industry Federation in Northern Ireland (SIF) http://www.sif.co.uk Poland Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications (Polska Izba Informatyki i Telekomunikacji - PIIiT) / http://www.piit.org.pl/index_e.htm Portugal

Associao Portugesa das Empresas de Tecnologias de Informao e Comunicaes (APESI) Republic of Korea Federation of Korean Information Industries (FKII) http://www.fkii.or.kr/english/index.html Romania IT&C Association of Romania (ATIC) http://www.softnet.ro/atic/ Singapore Singapore Information Technology Federation (SITF) www.sitf.org.sg South Africa IT Association of South Africa (ITA) http://www.ita.org.za Spain Asociacin Espaola de Empresas de Tecnologas de la Informacin (SEDISI) http://www.sedisi.es Sweden Swedish IT-companies' Organisation AB (Svenska IT-Fretagens Organisation AB) http://www.sito.se/ Thailand The Association of Thai Computer Industry (ATCI) http://www.bdg.co.th/atci/atcihome.htm

United Kingdom Computing Services & Software Association (CSSA) http://www.cssa.co.uk/cssa/ United States Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) http://www.itaa.org/index.htm Zimbabwe Computer Suppliers' Association of Zimbabwe (COMSA)