The offshoring of work by foreign corporations has helped build India’s showpiece $76-billion IT industry.

Now many small businesses and families in the US and Europe are doing a mini version of offshoring by engaging ‘virtual assistants’ from Indian firms for their personal tasks, creating lucrative business opportunities. In the process, they are calling upon these loyal aides to play matchmaker, agony aunt and consciencekeeper.

Unlike traditional outsourcing which is a business service, remote assistance is a consumer-focused service that even provides emotional support to many.

One such provider is Bangalore-headquartered GetFriday, whose name is drawn from the term Man Friday, or personal assistant. Among the requests it received recently was one from an Australian client who wanted help before she had a chat with her boss.

The woman wanted to switch to a work-from-home schedule and needed assistance and tips on how to handle objections by the boss, mock sessions that simulated the event, and loads of emotional support. The switch did not happen because some key employees were about to leave and the work-from-home option wasn’t feasible at that point.

“Nonetheless, the client was happy,” said Sunder Prakasham, CEO of TTK Services, which runs GetFriday. Virtual assistance is fast catching up in US and Europe, opening opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs and start-ups such as Brickwork India and GetFriday.

Evalueserve, a research firm, predicts that person-to-person offshoring, both consumer services and services for small businesses, will grow to over $2 billion (Rs10,000 crore) by 2015 from the current $887 million.

At Brickwork, one of the more unusual requests it got was from Gail Dick, the owner of Millermeade Farms in the US and a passionate breeder of hedgehogs. When Dick wanted her website to be an encyclopedia of information on hedgehogs, she outsourced the work for around $12-30 an hour to a virtual assistant at the Bangalore-based knowledge process outsourcing start-up founded by former Karnataka IT secretary Vivek Kulkarni and his wife Sangeeta.

The virtual assistant helped her to format and reference the huge number of articles she had gathered over the years. The articles were based on hedgehog behaviour, including eating, bathing and sleeping habits, the diseases they suffer and patterns of hibernation they follow.

“Great! I feel like having a party as we are moving ahead on a project that has been in a stand-still for several years,” said Dick. The project was stalled for several years as Dick could find neither the time nor the experts who could do this job for her in the US. She would also have had to pay nearly double the amount for a similar service in the US.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/offshoring-us-europe-opening-opportunities-for-indian-entrepreneurs-and-start-ups/articleshow/11100593.cms

Indian IT services exporters are on track to increase Europe’s share in their revenue and see only a short-term impact of the paralyzing debt crisis, top executives said at the Reuters India Investment Summit.

The debt crisis is sweeping closer to the heart of euro zone, with fears that the contagion may now spread from Greece and Italy to Spain and France.

India’s showpiece IT sector feeds off increased outsourcing by companies trying to cut costs. As the crisis in Europe — the sector’s second-largest market — deepens, clients will likely outsource more, executives said.

“We are seeing clients — who in the past have been hesitant to outsource ongoing application management work — are now looking at outsourcing those type of services,” Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH.O) Chief Financial Officer Gordon Coburn said on Tuesday.

A slowing U.S. market, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the Indian IT industry’s exports, has forced companies such as Infosys (INFY.NS), TCS (TCS.NS) and Cognizant to expand their business in Europe and Asia.

“The short-term challenges will impact business, but in the long term, we see opportunities even in Europe,” S.D. Shibulal, Chief Executive Officer of Infosys, said on Wednesday.

Infosys plans to double its revenue share from Europe to 40 percent by the end of its 2014 financial year, while Cognizant expects “significant revenue” coming from the region in the next 4-5 years.

Infosys and Cognizant are also looking to scale up in continental Europe through acquisitions.

“We are now making heavy investments in building up our capabilities in France and Germany,” Coburn said on Tuesday.

It’s not just the IT sector that is expecting gains from the crisis. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, head of India’s largest listed biotechnology company Biocon Ltd (BION.NS), said diminishing returns on R&D spending is forcing European and U.S. companies to outsource their research work to India and China.

SHORT-TERM CONCERNS

Both the companies are, however, cautious about the short-term impact from the Europe crisis.

“Europe in 2012 is tough to determine,” Cognizant’s Coburn said.

Analysts echoed the sentiment.

“Nobody is quite sure what the impact of the sovereign debt crisis will be on demand for capital goods,” analyst Mark Wilson at Collins Stewart Europe said.

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/23/us-india-summit-indianitservices-idUSTRE7AM10520111123

White & Case is set to overhaul its outsourcing arrangements, with the US firm planning to launch a second business process outsourcing (BPO) base in Eastern Europe in 2012.

The US firm, which has operated a BPO base in Manila in the Philippines since 2007 for administration, technology, business & marketing and accounting support, is currently considering whether to launch a similar operation in the Czech Republic or Poland.

The Eastern European launch is pencilled in for next year, with the firm looking to hire up to 40 staff initially. This number could double within a three-year period.
White & Case is also considering launching legal process outsourcing divisions over the coming year in both Manila and its planned Eastern European base, with third partner providers also expected to be used on a project by project basis.

The US firm decided that it needed a second BPO base in order to better meet needs of its continental European offices for additional language skills.

A spokesperson commented: “Our Manila BPO base has worked very well for our US, Latin American and UK operations. However, for our continental European offices, we are looking into whether an alternative BPO base in Eastern Europe makes sense, not least for language skills reasons.”

He added: “We are considering whether to launch legal process outsourcing divisions whether in Manila and Eastern Europe or elsewhere. Engaging a third party outsourcer on certain projects is also not out of the question. It is all early days and no conclusions have been reached.”

Source:http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/2126525/white-outsourcing-centre-eastern-europe

India’s No.2 software services exporter, Infosys , aims to double the revenue share from Europe to 40 percent of its total sales by the end of its 2014 financial year, as cost-strapped global companies step up outsourcing.

The company, a pioneer in India’s IT services sector, has grown rapidly by employing thousands of engineers in low-cost Indian centres and catering to overseas firms, mainly based in the United States.

“Our target is by 2014, our business will be 40 percent from Americas, 40 percent from Europe and 20 percent from Asia,” Ashok Vemuri, Head of Americas and member of the company’s board told Reuters in an interview at Infosys’ office in Singapore.

Vemuri, who heads Infosys’ financial services and insurance business said the company sees Asia, which contributes around 12 percent of its revenue, as a region where the next big wave in technology spending will take place.

Infosys earned 65.3 percent of its revenue in the second quarter from the United States versus 65.8 percent from a year ago, while Europe accounted for 20.5 percent of its revenue, down from 21.8 percent a year ago.

The firm, which counts Goldman Sachs and BT among its clients, reported a 9.7-percent rise in quarterly profit last week, and cut its full-year sales outlook by less-than-expected, easing market worries of a sharp slowdown.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/infosys-aims-to-expand-revenue-share-from-europe/articleshow/10414835.cms

Ten IT shares fell 0.46% to 6.15% at 10:37 IST on BSE, extending recent steep losses triggered by concerns that a likely economic slowdown in the US and Europe will hit technology spending by overseas clients.

India’s second largest software company by sales Infosys was down 6.15% to Rs. 2216.95. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs. 2,172.65 today, 19 August 2011.

India’s third largest software company by sales Wipro was down 1.62% to Rs. 322.70. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs. 310.20 today.

HCL Technologies was down 2.97% to Rs. 385. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs. 365.75.

MphasiS was down 2.45% to Rs. 348. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs. 337.50. iGate Patni was down 3.10% to Rs. 257.90. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs. 253.50. Oracle Financial Services Software was down 1.98% to Rs. 1795.10. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs. 1,765.05.

Among other IT shares, Mahindra Satyam (down 4.31% to Rs. 65.50), TCS (down 3.88% to Rs. 924.75), Rolta India (down 3.82% to Rs. 98.30) and Tech Mahindra (down 0.46% to Rs. 659.15), declined.

The BSE IT index was down 4.64% at 4,726.66. It underperformed the Sensex, which was down 1.29% at 16,257.83.

The BSE IT index has tumbled 19.69% in 13 trading sessions from a recent high of 5,885.80 on 1 August 2011. The BSE IT index underperformed the market over the past one month until 18 August 2011, tumbling 14.68% compared with the Sensex’s 11.01% fall. The index had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, tumbling 17.62% as against 8.94% decline in the Sensex.

Infosys’ Chief Operating officer S.D. Shibulal on Thursday, 18 August 2011, said Infosys is facing a challenging environment as the main outsourcing markets, the US and Europe, remain weighed by debt crisis and slowing economic growth. The US and Europe are the two biggest markets for Indian IT firms. Standard & Poor’s downgraded US sovereign debt rating to AA+ from AAA with negative outlook on 5 August 2011. In Europe, industrial production in the Euro zone dipped in June 2011.

HCL Technologies said early this month that the historic downgrade of US debt may lead to a slowdown in decision-making on technology spending by clients in the world’s largest outsourcing market.

Source:http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/IT-stocks-tumble-on-US-Europe-woes/3898477891

Eight software stocks fell 1.16% to 7.67% on BSE on concerns that a likely economic slowdown in the US and Europe will hit technology spending by overseas clients.

India’s third largest software services exporter Wipro lost 5.01% to Rs. 327. The stock had hit 52-week low of Rs. 326.90 in intraday trade today, 18 August 2011.

India’s second largest software services exporter Infosys declined 3.64% to Rs. 2,360. The stock had hit 52-week low of Rs. 2,343.70 in intraday trade on Friday, 12 August 2011. India’s largest software services exporter TCS fell 4.13% to Rs. 963.10.

HCL Technologies slipped 3.93% to Rs. 406.10. Tech Mahindra (down 7.67%), MphasiS (down 3.92%), Mahindra Satyam (down 1.90%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (down 1.16%), dropped.

The BSE IT index was down 3.72% to 4,970.34. It underperformed the Sensex, which was down 1.33% to 16,617.28.

The BSE IT index had underperformed the market over the past one month until 17 August 2011, falling 11.85% compared with the Sensex’s 9.27% fall.

The index had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 14% as against 7.15% decline in the Sensex.

The US and Europe are the two biggest markets for Indian IT firms. Standard & Poor’s downgraded US sovereign debt rating to AA+ from AAA with negative outlook on 5 August 2011. In Europe, industrial production in the Euro zone dipped in June 2011.

HCL Technologies said early this month that the historic downgrade of US debt may lead to a slowdown in decision-making on technology spending by clients in the world’s largest outsourcing market.

Source:http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/IT-stocks-tumble-on-US-Europe-woes/3895678171

EPAM Systems, Inc., a leading software engineering and IT Services provider with development centers across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), announced today that it was one of only two vendors named as “IT Services Leaders — Eastern Europe”, in addition to being named as one of the world’s ten “Top Product Engineering Vendors” in the 2011 Global Services 100 rating, reaffirming EPAM’s CEE leadership status in the software engineering services space. Marking its sixth consecutive appearance on the GS100 list, EPAM has also been named to the “Top Global Mid-Tier ITO Vendors” list.

The 2011 Global Services 100 is an annual global outsourcing industry ranking produced by Global Services, the outsourcing media house, in association with NeoGroup (formerly neoIT). Companies who participated in this survey were required to share detailed business information through an online survey for judging. The top 100 list and names in the categories were derived using a research methodology based on over 200 data points and several qualitative parameters, including clear Management Excellence, proven Customer Maturity, demonstrated advanced Global Delivery Maturity, and the ability to execute on a Broad Portfolio of Services.

“The global services industry has gone clearly beyond the paradigm of ‘more work at lesser cost’. Companies are routinely seeking business outcomes, and in some cases, new forms of business value. Service providers who can deliver on these fronts make it to the GS100 and its categories,” said Ed Nair, Editor, Global Services.

“The firms that are recognized in the GS100 list show a higher level of focus on client needs, employee development and process improvement. They continue to be providers of choice in the market,” said Atul Vashistha, Founder and Chairman, NeoGroup.

“We thank Global Services and NeoGroup for recognizing EPAM among the top IT companies worldwide for six years in a row now”, said Arkadiy Dobkin, EPAM CEO and President. “We believe that the breadth and quality of our software engineering skills and IT services offerings, combined with our domain expertise across multiple industries, differentiates EPAM as a leader — not just amongst Eastern Europe’s services providers — but also on a global level. It is really exciting for us to see this being confirmed once again by the Global Services 100 study.”

Source:http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=111301

The world’s largest steel maker ArcelorMittal is working on a plan to consolidate its IT infrastructure in Europe, a move that could throw up opportunities for home-bred software services firms.

The management is exploring partnerships with Indian companies Wipro and HCL Technologies and multinationals HP, IBM, CSC and Capgemini, according to European news reports quoting CFE-CGC, one of the major trade union groups in France.

However, ArcelorMittal spokesperson, Ms Lynn Robbroeckx, did not comment on whether Wipro and HCL Tech were in the reckoning.

In response to a Business Line questionnaire, Ms Robbroeckx said: “ArcelorMittal launched in May 2010 a study to adapt and optimise its information technology services in Europe. The analysis includes possible partnerships with key IT service providers to enhance service quality, deliver new solutions and reduce ongoing IT costs. This scenario could include a transfer of activity and staff.”

According to the CFE-CGC, the company has already informed the European Works Council that its IT outsourcing plans will result in the transfer of some 600 jobs, including 162 in France.

Said Ms Robbroeckx: “In this case, as a responsible employer, ArcelorMittal aims to minimise any social impact. Social dialogue with employee representatives is crucial here for decisions to be taken at a later stage.” The final recommendations to the Luxembourg-headquartered firm’s internal study will be received during the fourth quarter of the current fiscal, following which a decision on the outsourcing front would be taken.

ArcelorMittal, promoted by Indian-origin billionaire Mr Lakshmi Mittal, is keen to outsource the management of its entire European infrastructure, which includes the operations and maintenance of data centres, servers, PCs, networking, security. Industry insiders point out that the deal could be divided between two players and is estimated be worth a ‘couple of hundred million dollars’.

Players with significant offshoring capabilities could emerge as front-runners for this engagement because of the ArcelorMittal management’s thrust on reducing costs. Most of the European steel manufacturers are finding it difficult to keep pace with rising raw-material cost and declining metal prices on the back of waning demand.

“ArcelorMittal has had to contend with a lot of legacy IT infrastructure since it has grown through the inorganic (or acquisition) route in Europe. To start with, it makes sense for the company to outsource back-end work as against critical business processes,” said Mr Sudin Apte, Principal Analyst and CEO of advisory firm Offshore Insights. Indian IT companies will face stiff competition from global IT multinationals such as HP, IBM, CSC and Capgemini for this engagement largely because the home bred firms seldom take on their clients’ infrastructure and people on to their books.

Says Mr Alok Shende, Principal Analyst at Ascentius Consulting, “I see Indian IT companies as ‘challengers’ and not as ‘leaders’ for these kinds of engagements. In Europe there have been very few deals where in both the people and infrastructure of the clients have been taken onboard by Indian vendors.”

ArcelorMittal has been leveraging India and Poland for managing its back office functions for some time now. In August, Wipro had received a five-year outsourcing contract from the company to consolidate and migrate the latter’s messaging systems to a new platform.

It has also worked with Mahindra Satyam and Bangalore-based MindTree Consulting.

Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/12/13/stories/2010121351880100.htm

Business process outsourcing (BPO) firm Aditya Birla Minacs, wants to expand to Europe through acquisitions, a senior company official said. The company has been keenly looking for acquisitions to expand into healthcare and public sector verticals.

“At the moment, our priority is to build capabilities in core business process in the healthcare and public sector verticals. If we get a firm with a European base it would be an added advantage,” said Deepak Patel, CEO, Aditya Birla Minacs. “However, getting into Europe is not a priority at the moment. We may look at it as another acquisition.”

Minacs has been trying to buy a BPO firm for quite some time now with a US focus in the healthcare and public sector verticals. Even though number of companies in the domestic market are up for sale, Minacs hasn’t yet decided on one. “Finding a company in India is not so difficult but the valuations are quite high. Especially, the pure-play healthcare firms are pricey,” Patel added. Firstsource, 3i-infotech and Patni Computer Systems are some of the Indian firms open to stake sale, according to various media reports.

Minacs, which is backed by Aditya Birla Nuvo, does not have issues regarding funding, said Patel. The company has a $170-million debt with debt to equity ratio of 2.1:1, according to Patel. “Funding is not an issue but it has to be a material transaction.” The company has earlier said it wants to grow inorganically to a $1-billion firm in the next three years before it goes for an Indian IPO.

It is also looking at expanding its base in the US market and will be opening up a new centre in Michigan with a 600 seat capacity. “We have got a client for the capacity. However, we would start up adding few hundred people initially,” Patel said. Minacs also has a seat capacity of 6,500 in North America, however, 45% of it is unoccupied. “The leasing cost is an additional burden for us which we got inherited through the acquisition. So we are trying to add more people and some of these leases are getting expired, which is expected to reduce our cost levels in the coming quarters,” he added.

Minacs, which had a revenue of Rs 1,520 crore (approximately $350 million) in 2009-10, continues to see strong pipeline of deals, worth about $1 billion, to be executed over the next two-three years. In 2009-10 Minacs closed deals worth $640 million of total contract value.

Source:http://www.financialexpress.com/news/birlas-minacs-plans-europe-expansion-through-acquisitions/698725/0

Increased protectionism issues, proposed offshoring bans, visa fee hikes and a saturated market—this is the present scenario in the United States. The region might boast of a significant 60% business for Indian players, but these BPO vendors are getting smarter and do not want to keep all their eggs in one basket. Attractive margins, vastly untapped regions, coupled with an urge by European companies to cut costs through outsourcing is compelling BPO providers like EXL Service, Infosys BPO, Genpact, Intelenet Global Services,WNS Global Services to increase their share in this market.

Today, Indian vendors have captured 37% share in the $10-12 billion European BPO market. In spite the European crisis last year, these providers maintained 30% revenues from the market (including UK, the second largest market) and did not decrease their concentration in Europe. The $12.4-billion ITeS industry might rejoice at the US Senate’s recent decision to block the passage of an anti-offshoring bill, but deep within they want to mitigate risk. They are further concentrating on enhancing delivery capability and increasing headcount by opening new centres in Europe.

Take for instance EXL Service, the country’s third largest pure play BPO which gets 75% revenue from the US, but is focusing to expand its footprint in the European market. Europe gives the company 25% of its revenue and a major 22% comes from the UK. Rohit Kapoor, CEO at EXL Service says, “I vision a split of 70% from the US and the rest 30% from Europe within a year. Right now, we have very little business from continental Europe. The segments we will focus on are insurance, utilities and banking process and we will continue to hire people in continental Europe.”

Large insurance carriers, including British Gas, being EXL’s primary clients, European crisis is not a major concern for the company. In the long term, EXL Service has targeted its revenues to reach 10% from Europe, except for the UK, in the next two years as against 3% at present.

Infosys BPO MD and CEO Dandapani Swaminanatan believes that Europe is a very important and key area for the BPO. “Our investment should get doubled in Poland in next 18 months from $10 million presently.

Also, we should hire another 550 people in 12 months in Poland, which are presently 950 there.” On the Ohio issue and the US visa fee hikes, he notes that a short term impact in one region will have a balance from another region as counterbalance and thus Infosys BPO is also looking at potential geographies like Europe. “We are looking at expanding not only in Poland and Czech Republic, but in and around Europe. Today, there is a lot of interest from the European companies.” Presently, Infosys as a whole has 20% share from the European market, which is expected to increase significantly in long term.

Genpact, the country’s largest BPO with 2,500 employees in Europe gets 10-12% revenues from European market. Ahmed Mazhari, vice-president for business development at Genpact Europe says, “Germany and France are untapped markets and there is huge business opportunity here.” But Ahmad feels that Genpact eyes Europe very strongly as a delivery capability centre which would also serve a lot of American companies that have a significant base in the European continent. In March, Genpact announced it would expand its presence in Romania by acquiring a new facility in the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca. The company expects to create several hundred new jobs in Romania, being one of the most active local employers in 2010.

The competitive edge

Interestingly, there are a few examples of players like WNS Global Services and Intelenet Global Services, which have been strong in the European market for a while now and might give an competitive edge to the service providers now expanding in the region.

A classic example is WNS Global Services, which gets 60% of its revenue from the European market and has increased its headcount in the European market to 800 recently. “Our centre in Romania offers services in excess of 25 languages to our European clients. The headcount in Europe region has increased by almost three times in the FY 09-10 since FY 07-08,” says Keshav Murugesh, CEO, WNS. On the entry of new vendors into the region, he believes that it is good to have competition as it expands the market. “We are focused on building the pipeline in every verticals like insurance, banking and financial services and primarily the government sector, which is an exciting area for Indian BPOs.”

Ross Tisnovsky, vice-president, research, Everest Group, a global management consulting notes that Europe is a tougher market for Indian companies as it will automatically require more onshore presence as compared to the US. Having onshore resources means having onshore employees and it is hard to compete. Murugesh elaborates: “In the medium and long term, the public sector will drive more onsite presence in centres such as Manchester, London and Romania. We are looking at how do we expand the Romania centre. We are winning a lot of deals in Europe which need a lot of on site and nearshore offerings.”

Even Intelenet Global Services gets 50% revenue from UK and Europe combined; UK is the largest market for it. To expand its presence in Europe, the company announced a new centre in Febraury, located in the Southern part of Poland this year. This will enhance the company’s near shore capabilities in Europe. Intelenet plans to grow the facility to 500 seats in around a year, which is presently 200. Sandeep Aggarwal, executive vice-president, (sales, solutions and transition), Intelenet Global Services, believes that geographical spread, language capability and disaster recovery are the main reasons why BPO vendors are looking at expansion in the European market. Pankaj Sharma, from CFTI( Centre of transforming India) agrees and highlights, “ US being a mature market, Indian providers are not able to provide integrated and end-to-end services to US buyers. In some cases, the European regions might provide 10 to 15% higher margins to us as European companies are willing to pay more.”

It is obvious that over-dependence on the US is high-risk for the Indian BPO industry. “This risk can be mitigated by targeting other markets. Europe, the most prominent market apart from US, with 63% of all developed countries in the continent, the market still in its nascent phase and increasing trend of offshoring—there is immense opportunity for vendors to tap this market,” concludes Saugata Sengupta , senior analyst at Tholons Investment Advisory.

Source:http://www.financialexpress.com/news/all-roads-lead-to-europe/691976/0

The Indian information technology sector is likely to witness heavy consolidation in the coming months as mid-size companies struggle to sustain growth amid a rising anti-outsourcing tirade in the United States.

“We expect many mergers and takeovers in the IT sector. It will be among Indian companies and also overseas deals. This is very important for mid-size companies,” P.N. Sudarshan, senior director at global consulting firm Deloitte Touche, told media in an interview.

He said the focus of Indian outsourcing companies in the coming months will be on Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

“The map is much wider now. There are good opportunities in European countries like Germany and France and also in Asia-Pacific. Outsourcing companies will have to diversify revenue base to sustain growth,” Sudarshan said.

The $50-billion Indian IT industry gets over 60 percent of its revenue from the US. Nearly 20 percent of the revenue come from Europe and rest of the world accounts for 20 percent.

Eric Isabey, chairman of Pierre Audoin Consultants, who is advising the Indian IT firms on European ventures, told IANS recently that software giants like Infosys, Mahindra Satyam, MindTree and HCL Technologies were looking for local partners in Germany and France to expand their business in the European countries.

“We see a lot of value creation in cross-border deals. It will help Indian companies in getting a strong foothold in Europe,” said Sudarshan, adding such deals were very important for mid-size companies.

According to a Deloitte survey, smaller IT companies have not been able to catch up with their larger counterparts in the last three years.

Deloitte is conducting the sixth India edition of Technology Fast 50 survey, which ranks 50 fastest growing companies in technology and related sector by comparing their three-year revenue growth.

Sudarshan said Deloitte would publish the survey result in the second week of November. “Nomination is closed and we are now analysing the data. The findings will be available in November.”

On changing dynamics of the Indian technology sector, Sudarshan said software companies have increased their dominance in the last few years. The share of software in the sector has increased to 80 percent while that of telecommunications and networking declined to six percent, according to the 2009 survey of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/Indian-IT-firms-will-consolidate-focus-on-Europe-Asia-Pacific/articleshow/6618844.cms

The Magic Quadrants evaluation witnessed participation from vendors operating across Eastern and Western Europe
HCL Technologies, a leading Global IT services provider, announced that it has been positioned in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Desktop Outsourcing, Europe and Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Helpdesk Outsourcing for Europe. The Magic Quadrants evaluation witnessed participation from vendors operating across Eastern and Western Europe.

Speaking on the achievement, Anant Gupta, President, HCL Technologies Infrastructure Services Division (HCL ISD) said, “It is a great achievement for HCL Technologies to be included in Gar tner’s’Magic Quadrant for Desktop and Helpdesk outsourcing for the European market. Few years back, we set out on a strategy to increase’services flexibility for our end user computing customers through increasing local presence, having a strong partner eco-system, investing in new oferings and customer advisory programs.

Today, we’ve reached respectable milestones as per plan and the same is reflected in the Magic Quadrant by Gartner. Europe, being a diferent market with varied cultures and customer demands, we feel this evaluation reflects our strengths and favorable positioning vis-a-vis regional and global players.” HCL provides Desktop outsourcing s ervices through it s Global Deliv ery Mode comprising of an optimum m ix of network of internal and onsite resources including a robust ecosystem of partners across Europe.

Source:http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/HCL-Tech-positions-in-Magic-Quadrants-for-HelpDesk-and-Desktop-Outsourcing-in-Europe/4935533064

While China is well on the way to establishing itself as an outsourcing hotspot, the country isn’t set up for European and Northern American offshoring business just yet, according to new research.

A report by outsourcing consultants Everest rated China — along with India and the Philippines — as a mature offshoring destination, with more than a quarter of businesses surveyed by the company saying they plan to expand their presence in the area over the next two years.

According to Everest, however, most outsourcing work carried out in China is used to support companies’ operations in Japan, South Korea and south-east Asia.

“China is a mature offshore services destination, but only for regional support,” the report noted. “China still lacks several capabilities that global companies seek for supporting North America and Europe.”

Source:http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/jobs/2010/08/18/china-lacks-offshoring-capabilities-for-europe-40089850/

TechTeam Global, Inc. , a worldwide provider of information technology outsourcing and business process outsourcing services, announced today that it has been positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the Visionaries Quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Help Desk Outsourcing, Europe report.

“We are honored to be recognized by Gartner in this report and consider our positioning to be a testament to the substantial value that we provide for our IT outsourcing customers,” said Gary J. Cotshott, president and chief executive officer of TechTeam Global, Inc.

“With our sharp focus on help desk outsourcing and distributed infrastructure services, we bring deep expertise, execution excellence and ongoing innovation to our clients. We are proud of our ability to partner with our clients to deliver cost savings, increased flexibility and high quality service across the globe,” Cotshott said.

Source:http://pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=455378&Itemid=33

Indian information technology (IT) service providers Cognizant, TCS and Infosys have topped the latest ranking of service providers in Europe, in a survey done by EquaTerra, an IT advisory service provider.

In the Performance and Satisfaction (SPPS) study by EquaTerra for 2009-10, Cognizant has captured the first position, with a 79 per cent score. TCS and Infosys have taken the third and fourth position, with 75 per cent and 74 per cent scores, respectively. The second place was taken by US company Compuctacenter, with 78 per cent.

The study evaluates client satisfaction by surveying over 2,000 client relationships from 750 top IT spending organisations across Europe, covering 12 countries. The ranking covers 25 IT service providers in all. Cognizant topped the rankings in seven of the eight parameters the study focused on. These include Relationship Management (actively managing the relationship at the operational and strategic levels), Innovation (actively identifying innovation opportunities), Transition (completing the transition successfully on time and budget and with the required functionality), Quality (meeting the service levels as set out in the Service Level Agreement), Price (charging for services in line with current market price) and Risk (shouldering reasonable commercial risk and making necessary investments to reduce it).

Jef Loos, director, EquaTerra, said this ranking, based on two-thirds of all IT deals in Europe, gives a near-accurate evaluation of client satisfaction. “We choose the clients and do cross-reference where the same client is serviced by more than one IT service provider,” Loos said.

He further said, “Cognizant had not one dissatisfied client, which makes the company the best performer among the top 25 IT outsourcing service providers that we evaluated.”

Apart from Cognizant, TCS and Infosys, the other major IT companies to appear in the top 25 list are Wipro (15), Mahindra Satyam (17) and HCL (18).

Francisco D’Souza, President and CEO, Cognizant, said,”Over the years, we have made significant investments in bringing our industry-leading, client-focused processes to Europe. Our high-touch relationship model, deep domain expertise and consulting skills, our unique reinvestment philosophy, and our ability to build strong multicultural teams around the globe have helped our customers navigate structural changes in the economy and their businesses, enabling them to stay efficient, effective and innovative.”

Source:http://sify.com/finance/indian-it-firms-top-europe-survey-news-technology-kiecatgaagh.html

Now that Cebu is fast capitalizing on being among the world’s destinations for global outsourcing and off-shoring (O&O) business, industry stakeholders here are encouraged to continue to taking advantage of the vast European market.

While the list for services that can be outsourced from Europe is “endless,” Cebu and the rest of the Philippines is still unable to fully maximize said market, which is currently being enjoyed by India, according to European Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Philippines (ECCP) Executive Vice President Henry Schumacher.

“India is doing well in marketing itself as a growth location for European investors. But the Philippines has a huge potential to even grab a bigger share,” he said.

Schumacher urged, “Since Europe is also aggressively looking at opportunities from emerging countries in the East, now is the time for the entire Philippines to explore Europe since it is also the largest business process outsourcing market.”

Among the industries in Europe that can be outsourced to the Philippines are graphic and web design, information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services, global outsourcing like procurement, human resource (HR) administration, and back-office services like accounting and financial services.

Schumacher said that while several European companies have already come to invest in the Philippines, the latter’s lack of knowledge in understanding the European culture requires need for waging a more aggressive campaign when penetrating the foreign market.

“The European culture is not hard to grasp and the ECCP is willing to assist stakeholders here in that aspect,” he said. “If you have a business like a call center which caters to the European market then we can do initial training for employees.”

In order to jumpstart the country’s aim to explore untapped opportunities in Europe, Schumacher advised more visibility in the market including the need for a European “champion,” or someone with influence speaking for the Philippines and the business environment in the country.

Branding, he stressed, is also necessary when capitalizing on the “highly elusive” European market.

“The brand should professionalize Filipinos. We believe that everybody in the world has in one way or another been touched by a Filipino. The Filipinos’ individuality is important to market the Philippines to Europe, we just have to focus on the Filipinos’ capabilities,” said Schumacher.

He bared that the ECCP is currently conducting talks with the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP) to pioneer a committee called “Team Europe” to spearhead an aggressive marketing campaign for the country’s O&O industry. The team will also involve other institutions like the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT), CITEM and a number of individual companies.

Source:http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/268986/rp-urged-tap-europe-outsourcing-market

India’s outsourcing sector is bracing for fresh uncertainty and lowered earnings expectations after an unexpected drop in quarterly profit at Infosys, the country’s second-largest IT group.

Infosys, a pacesetter in India’s flagship outsourcing industry and the first to issue quarterly results, on Tuesday reported a 2.4 per cent fall in net profit in the first quarter of this fiscal year compared with a year ago. Revenue from Europe, which comprised about 20 per cent of Infosys’s business, declined 12 per cent.

Europe is very important for us,” said S.D. Shibulal, Infosys chief operating officer. “We expect that Europe will be eventually about one-third of business in the long run. At the same time, we expect some challenges in the medium term.”

A silver lining came from the US, where business improved more than 15 per cent, helping offset the European impact. In spite of the caution in Europe, US clients were spending again, Infosys said.

For the fiscal year, Infosys forecast dollar revenue to increase 19-21 per cent, up from the 16-18 per cent growth projected in April.

Concerns over the weak European economy have spurred fears of a slowdown in the outsourcing industry as ripples from the debt crisis have forced some European companies, particularly in the financial services and consumer goods sectors, to put the brakes on IT spending, according to industry watchers.

“European firms will continue to face budget cuts in 2010 and possibly even beyond,” said Sudin Apte, an IT analyst at Forrester Research. “This volatile economic situation and the associated budget uncertainty will result in possible delays to some offshore projects, or worse, the cancellation of some new initiatives.”

The euro’s slide against the Indian rupee of 12 per cent so far this year is also expected to crimp revenue at Indian IT companies, whose contracts with continental European clients are primarily in euros.

“The volatile currency environment is a concern for the industry,” said V. Balakrishnan, chief financial officer at Infosys.

In addition, staffing challenges and rising wage costs are taking a toll. Infosys and big domestic rivals – Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro, India’s third-biggest IT group – have raised salaries by 10-20 per cent since the beginning of the year to retain talent as they rebound from the global financial crisis.

Forrester Research expects worldwide IT spending to increase by 9.3 per cent this year from an estimated $1,400bn in 2009, projecting that spending in the US will outpace growth in gross domestic product as companies continue to recover from last year’s recession.

“While the global economic environment remains uncertain, we continue to see greater demand for services from our clients,” said S. Gopalakrishnan, Infosys chief executive. “The challenge for the industry is to enhance the investment to grow the business, given the uncertainty in the environment.”

Industry leader Tata Consultancy Services reports on Friday. Analysts are expected to lower their forecasts in the wake of Infosys’ disappointing results.

Source:http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/45900320-8e56-11df-964e-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss

Top-tier IT exporters are likely to continue their growth momentum in the June quarter despite weak European economies.

Also, the latest visa restrictions imposed by the UK and a sharp depreciation in the pound and the euro against the dollar are less likely to have any major impact on the performance of IT players in the near term.

However, the announcement of a major cut in the IT budget by petroleum giant BP may have a marginal impact on revenues. The June 2010 quarter has been relatively stable for top IT companies in terms of order intake from US clients and the average dollar-rupee relationship during the quarter.

Top players have so far bagged 3-5-year deals worth $1 billion during the quarter. Another indicator of a demand revival is the impressive performance of Accenture in the May 2010 quarter. The US-listed IT solutions provider reported a 6-8% growth in most of its verticals, which was the highest in six quarters.

In its latest sector report, Macquarie Research points out that Accenture has shown a 4% rise in its outsourcing order book sequentially during the May quarter.

Further, the high single-digit growth in its financial services vertical indicates that the recovery is on track. This augurs well for Indian IT players which earn nearly half of their revenue from this segment.

An appreciation in the rupee hurts the realisation per unit of the foreign currency. In the June quarter, the average rupee rate against the dollar remained more or less stable from the previous quarter. On the other hand, the rupee has sequentially appreciated by 5% against the pound and nearly 10% against the euro on an average during the June quarter.

This means, the forex volatility in the June quarter may have a limited impact on IT players, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL Technologies, which earn greater than 60% revenue in dollars.

In contrast, Tech Mahindra, Mastek, and other players, which have a higher exposure to the pound, are likely to report lower profits.

Analysts at BofA Merill Lynch expect a 4-6% volume growth for the top players in the June quarter. They also anticipate around a 5% jump in the annual earnings-per-share guidance of Infosys for FY11.

For the next three quarters of the current fiscal, IT players, including TCS, Infosys, and Wipro, may see a marginal impact of BP’s decision to reduce its IT spends for the year from over $2 billion to $300 million.

BP is struggling to cut costs in order to reduce the impact of the penalty it incurs, following its oil spill in the Mexican Gulf. Hence, its decision to cut budget doesn’t mirror the overall budgeting scenario.

Some analysts also believe that the UK’s decision to cut tier-II visa permits is not likely to hurt Indian IT exporters. According to analysts at Religare Institutional Research, this is because IT visas don’t fall under the concerned category.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/stocks-in-news/IT-sector-Companies-can-grow-despite-Europe-slump-forex-volatility-/articleshow/6112291.cms

India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies is concerned about the economic situation in Europe, but hasn’t yet seen companies curtail their already limited discretionary spending, the president of the software industry body said Wednesday.

“We don’t know where it (the Europe crisis) is heading…we are waiting and watching,” Som Mittal told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference. “It might have an impact if the Europe crisis spirals.”

Europe accounts for about 30% of the Indian software industry’s revenue, with the U.K. contributing 18% and the rest of continental Europe 12%, Mittal said.

Countries such as Greece, Hungary, Portugal and Spain contribute a very small percentage to the country’s software exports revenue, he added.

Mittal expects export revenue for the country’s business process outsourcing industry in the current fiscal year through March 2011 to grow 15%-16% higher than the $12.4 billion in revenue the industry clocked in the last fiscal year.

Source:http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201006090157dowjonesdjonline000254&title=india-software-body-executiveconcerned-over-europe-crisis

-Infosys BPO Ltd. has maintained its fiscal year revenue forecast, despite a likely delay in decision making by European clients due to the crisis in the region, as the company is seeing better business volumes from the U.S. and Asia-Pacific.

Infosys Technologies Ltd.’s (500209.BY) business process outsourcing unit has maintained its revenue growth estimate of 15%-20% …

Source:http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100610-702534.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLEHeadlinesAsia