More technology companies from Gujarat are now seeking global visibility by increasing participation in international exhibitions.

Of the 23 Indian companies participating in CeBIT (Centrum fur Buroautomation, Informationstechnologie und Telekommunikation i.e. Centre for Office Automation, Information Technology and Telecommunication) to be organised in Germany, eight are from Gujarat.

Local players believe ecosystem for IT industry is coming up in the state and that is encouraging the companies to directly hunt globally for partners and clients.

“This is a good score,” said deputy director of Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), which subsidises the expenses of the companies.

Considered as the barometer in state of the art information technology CeBIT will be held during March 6-10 at Hanover. Ahmedabad-based OpenXcell Technolabs, Cygnet Infotech, Radix Web, Elsner Technologies, SP Technolab, Matrix Comsec (Vadodara) are amongst the list of IT companies expanding their horizon in international market by exhibiting their capabilities in mobile application, game development, web application development, internet marketing, telecom and security solutions.

OpenXcell MD Jayneel Patel believes that CeBIT is an opportunity for smaller companies to get in direct touch with present and potential clients. “Unlike US, companies in Europe like to know their business partners very well before entering into contract. CeBIT is a good place to network with them,” he said.

Over 3,00,000 visitors and 4,200 companies from over 70 countries are likely to participate in CeBIT. Gujarat has over 1,000 small and medium IT companies, mainly relying on outsourcing and scouting for orders using internet. At CeBIT they will showcase their strengths to the visitors in a direct interaction. “Many of the companies in Gujarat are in business for over a decade and have experience and confidence to participate in global events to realise their global dreams,” Minesh Patel, MD of SP Technolabs.

Vadodara-based Matrix Comsec, producer of hardware and software for telecommunications and security solutions is participating in CeBIT for the ninth time. Company officials say the exposure has enabled them to gain business. “Earlier only one or two companies participated in CeBIT. The number of companies is growing steadily,” the Sajeev Nair, head of products (telecom) at Matrix told ET.

Jaimin Shah, former president of Gujarat Electronics and Software Industries Association (GESIA) feels that although the participation is on rise, it is much less compared to the potential Gujarat has for IT industry. “Ecosystem of IT industry is slowly getting build in Gujarat. We have the best infrastructure in terms of availability of power and affordability of real estate. Now talent is also available. More companies should participate in such shows,” he said.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/more-gujarat-it-companies-seek-global-visibility-by-participating-in-cebit/articleshow/11805787.cms

SEI announced today that it has been selected by Asset Value Investors (AVI) to provide full fund administration and trustee and custodial services for the investment manager’s new Irish Qualified Investment Funds (QIFs). AVI, a London-based global manager, launched the QIFs to offer its investors a regulated product while still being able to maintain the flexibility of its investment strategies.

Among the key reasons AVI selected SEI was the company’s Manager Dashboard technology, which provides both aggregated and detailed views of data across multiple product lines via a secure website. The Manager Dashboard also provides AVI with analytical tools to enhance its decision-making process. Additionally, SEI’s Investor Dashboard technology makes it easier for AVI to provide flexible, transparent, and institutional-quality investor reporting through a secure website. SEI’s expertise in servicing QIFs, along with the company’s global presence and brand, were also attractive to AVI.

SEI’s comprehensive outsourcing solution encompasses fund administration, accounting, investor servicing, and Irish trustee and custody services. The scalability and adaptability of SEI’s solutions allow for the long-term, consistent support of AVI’s requirements as the manager diversifies its product line-up and investor base.

Philip Masterson, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Development, Europe, within SEI’s Investment Manager Services division, commented:

“AVI is a well-established organisation that has been successfully managing funds for over 25 years. Its business has thrived because it has been able to anticipate and adapt to market needs. In this ‘Era of the Investor,’ investors are demanding greater transparency and better reporting, and we have designed our solutions to meet those needs. We’re pleased to be able to support AVI’s future growth and provide a strong foundation on which to diversify the firm’s portfolios.”

Kimmberly Lau, Business Development Director of Asset Value Investors, added:

“SEI’s global presence, technology, and scalability were critical for us as we sought an independent administrator. We wanted a strategic partner with the expertise, technology, and foresight to help us create a better experience for our investors while also helping us gain efficiencies. We’re pleased that SEI will be filling that role.”

Source:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sei-selected-by-asset-value-investors-to-provide-fund-outsourcing-services-2012-02-06?reflink=MW_news_stmp

January is an exciting month and being the 1st month of the year, people ponder what would likely be the business scenario for the year. I always look forward on what the experts and research groups may forecast for this year particularly in the outsourcing industry.

In the article I wrote at the beginning of 2011 -January 27, 2011 to be exact in this same paper – I mentioned that 2011 will usher in growth in new set of industries such as healthcare and financial services. And rightly so, the year 2011 results show the popularity of the banking, financial services, insurance (BFSI) business process outsourcing and BFSI applications outsourcing (AO). In fact for 2012, Everest Research Group forecasts growth of about 15% in BFSI globally depending on global economy and majority of this will be driven by the capital markets BPO which is seen to account for the 20% growth. This growth will most likely be led by emerging economies in Asia Pacific and Latin America. Just as in 2011, BFSI will continue to dominate the market with North America being the dominant buyer in terms of geography – Europe and Asia Pacific following behind with growth seen to be faster than the industry average.

The other areas of the market predictions of Everest Group include Finance and Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) and HR Outsourcing (HRO) to mention a few and the paper also include a forecast of the whole Global Outsourcing. I will focus more on FAO and HRO since these are the more popular ones in our country today.

For 2012, FAO is seen to bring in 15% growth in the market in Annualized Contract Value (ACV) year on year (YoY) though the cycle to reach a done deal will still remain long. Reason for outsourcing will not just be cost arbitrage but also process transformation. As forecasted in 2011, this year will still be more a phased approach rather than a “big-bang” approach. The over-all ACV is predicted by Everest to cross the 700 mark and will be in the range of US$4.5-5billion. The growth will also spur on the increase role of technology and more inclined for platform and what we call in our Company – SaaS (Software as a Service) proposal catering to SMEs.

Knowledge outsourcing (analytics, internal audit, risk assessment, IT audit, etc.) will continue to increase as its favorable results show in 2011. In the Philippines, knowledge outsourcing has become popular too, as more and more companies turn to outsourcing to leverage on the provider’s expertise. There will also be an emergence of FAO delivery locations outside of India with the increase in services offshore.

In HRO, high growth is expected to continue in standalone single process outsourcing, such as multi-country payroll, benefits and recruitment outsourcing. Multi-country payroll outsourcing will increase among multi-national companies.

Uncertainty in the global macroeconomic and political environment will slow down outsourcing activity in the early part of 2012. Recovery is seen toward the end of the year when business confidence returns. Our country (Philippines) will continue to ride in the bandwagon of outsourcing growth in the above industry segments together with India as established markets, although this growth will not happen in the early part of the year but towards the end of the year with both countries to experience again the labor market pressure (which is really a good problem for the two countries) due to the demand at this period.

In the Philippines, tier 2 cities for outsourcing will continue to grow in outsourcing business and this same thing will also happen to tier 2 cities in India. Tier 1 cities however will dominate Central Eastern Europe and Central and South America.

Outsourcing is a major dollar earner if not the number 1 dollar earner for the Philippines. We have to improve our labor market since from the forecast this year and in the recent years, labor market pressure is a significant constraint in both countries (India and the Philippines). To remain an established market and continue to be the dominant player in the outsourcing industry we should be able to anticipate this concern and find ways to be ready to tackle the demands.

(The writer is the Chairperson of FINEX Publications Committee, VP-Chief Business Development Officer of KPS Outsourcing, Inc and Partner- Inventor, Miranda & Associates. The views expressed herein are her personal views and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of these institutions.)

Source:http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/349802/global-outsourcing-outlook-in-2012

Dimension Data, the global specialist IT solutions and services provider, has been positioned by BMI-TechKnowledge (BMI-T) as the largest provider of IT services to the South African market.

“In its latest IT services market sizing and forecast (2010-2015)report published in December 2011, BMI-T recognised that Dimension Data was still the largest provider of IT services in SA in 2010, accounting for 15.4% of the total IT services market, up from 14.8% in 2009,” the company said on Tuesday.

Business Connexion’s share of the IT services market declined to 9.1%, excluding the UCS deal (from 10.8% in 2009), while T-Systems accounted for 7.1% of the market, the company added.

According to BMI-T, the South African IT services market was valued at R33.8 billion in 2010, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 8.5%. The market was expected to grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 9.5% over the five-year forecast period, reaching a total of R53.3 billion by 2015.

“The reason we have grown is because of the quality of our people and their desire to deliver exceptional services to our clients,” Brent Flint, services executive for Dimension Data Middle East and Africa said.

The outsourcing market segment accounted for the largest percentage of the total IT services market. This could be attributed to the increase in the demand for managed services as well as for hosted application management and hosting infrastructure services.

With the move towards managed services, clients now have the choice of outsourcing only selected areas of their IT environment, with the flexibility of simultaneously signing smaller outsourcing services contracts with different service providers, for different IT areas.

“While some players in the South African IT services and outsourcing market struggled to compete, with some placing big bets on signing government contracts, Dimension Data displayed the best non-acquisitive growth out of all the regional players in this space,” Clinton Jacobs, BMI-T senior analyst and report author noted.

In addition, he pointed out that networked managed services proved to be a stand out area for Dimension Data, with strong growth in the IT outsourcing sector and Systems Integration project work. At 15%, Dimension Data had the largest share of the systems integration activity area, accounting for approximately R958 million of total revenue.

Dimension Data was able to draw on the synergies between itself, Internet Solutions and Plessey to enable cross-collaboration across many solutions and services, all to the ultimate benefit of its clients.

BMI-T reported that the maintenance, support and upgrade service segment was expected to account for the largest portion of the total IT services market, while hosting was expected to reflect the fastest growth rate over the five-year forecast period, with a CAGR of 18.1%.

Managed services were also expected to reflect a significant growth over the forecast period, with a CAGR of 14.6%.

“As more companies realise the importance of focusing on their core business processes and the internal skills needed to support them, this will help them evaluate what should be run internally and what should be outsourced or run as a managed service. Dimension Data accounted for 23% of managed services revenue in SA, with an estimated amount of R1.5 billion for 2010,” Jacobs said.

Another segment that reflected a good year-on-year increase was hosting, which grew by 19.5%, reaching a total of R2.5 billion in 2010. Dimension Data accounted for 41% of the total hosting revenues, with an estimated amount of R1 billion for 2010. The full outsourcing segment accounted for 18% of the IT services market, reflecting a decline of 2.5% from 2009.

“Growth in the managed services market can be attributed to an increasing demand from organisations to gain access to the best IT skills in the market, without the cost and administration of employing them directly,” Flint said.

“With the Dimension Data service models and significant investments we have made in our systems, we’re able to replicate and provide services to organisations that were traditionally only available to very large companies,” he added.

This came on the back of the recent announcement by Gartner that Dimension Data had been positioned in the leaders quadrant of the magic quadrant for communications outsourcing and professional services global report.

Source:http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page292518?oid=560347&sn=2009+Detail&pid=287226

The Indian IT industry is hopeful of maintaining its growth momentum in 2012 despite global economic uncertainty and concerns over the fallout of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

“The Indian IT sector, especially software services, will do well to sustain the growth momentum as demand for its offerings in export and domestic markets continue to be favorable despite uncertainty, arising mainly out of the Euro crisis,” a top industry representative told IANS ahead of the third quarterly (Oct-Dec) earnings season.

Asserting that the market conditions were not as bad as they were in 2008-10 when global financial meltdown reduced the industry’s growth to single digit (six per cent) in fiscal 2009-10, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) president Som Mittal said software exports would be in line with the projected 15-17 per cent to generate about $70 billion in 2011-12 as against $59 billion in 2010-11.

“We are cautious about the outlook for the ensuing fiscal (2012-13) due to concerns over the Euro crisis. Though we don’t know how it (crisis) would play out eventually, we are optimistic that our services will be in demand as clients will continue to engage us for their business operations, which are non-discretionary,” Mittal said.

The results season starts Jan 12 when bellwether Infosys will announce results for its third quarter ending Dec 31, 2011.

Analysts are also upbeat on the overall performance of the software services sector owing to the long-term contracts of IT projects and the transformational jobs they are involved in providing more for less.

“As evident from their robust performance during the first half (April-September) of this fiscal, we expect the topline growth of the IT majors to be higher than a year ago and sequentially better than the second quarter due to increase in service offerings, client acquisitions and new lines of business such as cloud computing, mobile applications and outsourcing of more IT-enabled services, including remote infrastructure management and data mining,” an analyst told IANS.

A sharp depreciation of the rupee to 53 from 49 against the US dollar during the October-December quarter is also expected to improve the operating margins and profitability of the software export firms despite anticipated losses in hedging at a higher rate.

“Benefit from a depreciating rupee will only be a short-term gain on exports but continued volatility in the forex (foreign exchange) market is a cause for concern as it will have an impact on the overseas operations of IT majors and budgets in exploring businesses in emerging markets. Sharp fluctuations in shorter cycles are detrimental either way,” Mittal noted.

Notwithstanding the looming Euro crisis, the latest data on job gains in the US, which accounts for over 60 per cent of the Indian IT exports, augurs well, though the pace of economic recovery has been slower than expected.

“Job gains or losses in the US are largely in the manufacturing, transportation, retail trade and construction sectors and not in the services sector, which continues to be healthy. Increase in employment in other sectors indicates signs of recovery and investments,” Mittal said.

According a research study by an international bank, the Indian IT vendors are in a position to pitch for multi-billion dollar deals that are due for renewal this year and compete for large annual contracts that are up for grabs in new service lines.

“In hard times, when companies across verticals look for cutting costs and focus on core business, they will scout for partners to manage their non-core activities such as IT services, which means more business for our sector,” Mittal added.

Source:http://news.ciol.com/News/News-Reports/Indian-IT-industry-to-grow-despite-global-crisis/158652/0/

Representatives of city-based IT and ITES firms deplored the lack of proper infrastructure and other facilities in Vizag, which of late, has been emerging as one of the fastest developing cities in the country.

At a meeting held here on Tuesday, members of the Rushikonda Information Technology Park Associa-tion (RITPA) urged the local MP and Union minister of state for human resource development, Ms D. Purandeswari, to take steps immediately so that IT imports from city could improve.

Association representative O. Naresh Kumar pointed that IT exports from Hyderabad was recorded at Rs.36,000 crore while the rest of Andhra Pradesh amounted to only Rs.1,000 crore, which shows that Vizag’s contribution is minimal due to lack of proper facilities.

“IT SEZs here are struggling to reach the set targets due to poor facilities like lack of drinking water, uninterrupted power supply, public transport, dedicated telephone lines and other facilities,” said Mr Naresh.

Other representatives felt that domestic business should be improved in the light of the global slowdown and cities like Vizag would play a very crucial role.

They also said that many multinational companies that have set up IT operations in India were not deploying outsourcing personnel due to the tax structure where 10 per cent TDS is being deducted on payments received from domestic works and the levy of income tax on profits and sales tax on software, while all these taxes are exempt on exports.

Speaking at the meeting, Ms Purandeswari assured all possible help to make Vizag an IT destination. “This is first time that the association has brought their problems to my notice. Most of these issues are related to both the Union and the state governments. If IT companies come forward I will try setting up a soft skill training centre, under private-public-participation,” she added.

Source:http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/regions/visakhapatnam/it-firms-seek-better-facilities-729

The year 2011 has been one of the worst years for the Indian rupee. The rupee has virtually crashed, posting the biggest annual loss since 2008. From 44.81 on December 31, 2010, the rupee depreciated to 53.11 against the American dollar on December 30, 2011. This is a huge loss in the rupee value — close to 16 per cent drop against the dollar. For the IT (information technology) industry, too, the rupee slide can prove a big challenge in the days to come.

The IT industry is already facing myriad concerns which have, of late, made the global environment tough for the Indian IT, ITeS (IT-enabled services), outsourcing and call centre outfits.

Can the Indian IT juggernaut ride the headwinds and the volatility in the global economy? As they ring in a new year, these companies have to ponder a lot and calculate the collateral damage to their business arising out of assorted negative implications of events in 2011. Surely, the men and boys in the industry will be identified sooner than later by the way the leadership of these companies navigate the global headwinds.

A unique angle

“I think the global foreign exchange fluctuations are having a unique angle. The appreciating yen against the dollar is making more Japanese pack their bags and travel. A stronger Australian dollar against the Singapore currency is forcing reverse traffic from Australia to Singapore for shopping. Indians are wary of travel now with the dollar and the pound sterling at such high numbers,” points out a CEO of an IT infrastructure management company, who shuffles around the globe regularly. “The year 2012 will produce pronounced woes due to this imbalance even to the IT industry,” he argues.

A spate of not-so-encouraging initiatives — the subtle visa curbs imposed by the U.S., the rising anger within America against outsourcing work and the move by law-makers to slip through a bill that penalises companies that move jobs outside the U.S. — have all made for an inclement global environment for the Indian software industry. With the elections round the corner in the U.S., things appear to be going tough for the software firms.

To add to their discomfiture, the U.S. has accorded the most favoured nation status to Colombia, which is doing every bit to attract BPO (business process outsourcing) work. “There will be an added impact of the recent free trade agreements (FTA) that improve upon the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services, especially in Colombia,” sources point out.

The U.S. is trying hard to promote telecom trade with Colombia. “The FTA will allow Colombian companies to provide services at a higher quality. Colombia now has the MFN status along with other Andean nations. Higher levels of intellectual property protection will also be implemented that will be applicable to every kind of services, but particularly on the IT side and some BPO services,” they add. All these bound to have a dampening effect on the Indian companies.

Coming as it does against this anti-outsourcing sentiment, the big slide in the rupee may force the IT industry to re-work its game plan. Sources aver that there could be a bit of rebalancing. As a consequence, the ‘Indian outsourcers’ could end up creating more U.S. jobs to address the sentiment. One has to wait and watch as to what cost implications would this have on the Indian companies. As the Indian firms are turning to be global players, they could not possibly brush aside global concerns.

Given the emerging tough environment, which is getting tougher by the day, the domestic software industry may even think of efforts to insulate themselves against all kinds of adverse factors. “Most customers are hurting themselves.” They could soon start a campaign for renegotiating, feels a top functionary of an IT company. Let us say customer `A’ pays Indian vendor `A’ $ 4,000 per man month. Let us also assume that the rate at the time of signing the contract was Rs. 45 per dollar. When the rate goes to Rs.50, the customer would like to peg it to $ 3,500 per man month. “Today, we have a flat rate. Now, savvy customers are asking for a table where they take a rolling average of the last three months’ conversion price and peg the per person rate based on that three month average,” points out a top IT source. Is it feasible? A definite answer will depend on the ability of the Indian companies to bargain. One thing, however, is sure at the moment. The domestic IT firms are headed for a `heady’ few quarters.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/business/markets/article2766273.ece

The current plight of the Indian rupee is “multi-centric in origin” and is just a transient drift as the currency is bound to bounce back in the medium term once the outlook for the global economy improves, according to speakers at a recent seminar.

Dr Bharat Butaney, president of the Indian Business and Professional Council, or IBPC, said the rupee’s fall has global as well as domestic reasons and implications.

Speaking at a panel discussion on the volatility of the rupee, which has nosedived to historic lows over the past weeks, Butaney said India and other emerging markets are unlikely to remain immune to the crisis in the eurozone and the Americas in a context of increased global interdependence.

He said widening trade deficit, large fiscal and current account deficits, increased spending on food and fuel subsidies, weakening economic growth, perceived political resistance to monetary policy change and tax evasions are key factors behind the plunge of the currency. Increasing doubts of foreign investors over the ability of India to tame high food inflation has further aggravated the situation, he added.

Suresh Kumar, chief executive and board member of Emirates Financial Services and Emirates NBD Capital, moderated the panel discussions key-noted by M.K. Lokesh, Ambassador of India to the UAE.

Speakers included Ajai Kumar, chairman and managing director of Corporation Bank, K.V. Rama Moorthy, chief executive of Bank of Baroda’s GCC operations, G. Raj Kumar Nair of Punjab National bank and Debajyoti Ray Chaudhuri of State Bank of India.

IBPC secretary-general Kulwant Singh said the exchange rate of the rupee would be driven strongly by the impact of global events on India’s trade and capital flows. The deprecation of the rupee will not last for a long time and it will have to appreciate eventually, he said. Lokesh said an increasing gap between India’s exports and imports is also putting further pressure on the currency.

“The widening current account deficit, which is the difference between a country’s imports of goods, services and its exports, was making managing the currency a nightmare. The trade deficit, an important component of the current account, was $118 billion during 2010-2011. For the first seven months of the current financial year, the trade deficit is $93 billion. The current account deficit has widened to over three percent of the gross domestic product. Therefore, the immediate simple answer is that the fall is caused by flows driven by supply and demand,” he said.

Ajai Kumar said India has strong growth fundamentals to tide over the present rupee crisis.

Moorthy said the depreciation of rupee is like both sides of a coin. “It has got both advantages and disadvantages. If it is adversely affecting a particular sector, it also favours some other sectors.”

“Companies that export and operate overseas will witness their revenues shoot up and will earn more revenues in terms of rupee. Sectors like IT that are dependent on outsourcing will stand to benefit the most. Imports will become expensive. Trade deficit is likely to go up on account of higher import bill of crude oil. Apart from crude oil import, import bill of gold is also on the rise,” he pointed out.

Moorthy said foreign direct investments and foreign institutional investor inflow have shown a sign of reversal due to a persistent rise in inflation, a widening fiscal deficit and lack of political consensus to go for required economic reforms.

Nair pointed out the difference between the rupee’s current depreciation and its devaluations done earlier. “While devaluation is an intentional decision by the authorities, depreciation is an unintentional behaviour of the market in a floating rate system. Devaluations are resorted when the country is facing forex shortage to meet its imports, with a view of making exports more competitive thereby enabling more inflow of forex,” he said.

The rupee was devalued twice in 1966, when its value was cut from 4.75 per dollar to 7.5 per dollar, a 58 per cent devaluation. It was immediately after the war with Pakistan. Another one was in 1990 to the extent of 19 per cent, when India faced with a current account deficit of $9.44 billion, said Nair.

Chaudhuri said the fall of the Indian rupee is not a reflection of the fundamentals of the Indian economy, which remains strong. “The rupee might remain weak in the short term due to global developments and therefore exporters from India and NRIs should take advantage of this. In the medium term the rupee would strengthen once the outlook for the global economy improves,” he said.

Source:http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/business/2011/December/business_December536.xml&section=business&col=

With the financial sector in turmoil in the west, worries are building in the IT industry over the sustainability of revenues from banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector in 2012.

The Indian IT industry draws the bulk of its sustenance from the BFSI sector. About 70 per cent of revenues of IT firms come from the US and Europe, and the BFSI segment contributes about 30 to 35 per cent of it.

“There will be a slowdown if the crisis persists. The major impact will be across verticals, but to be precise the BFSI front will be impacted the most. The emerging market is not a major concern for us. Mature markets such as US and Europe contributes 60 to 80 per cent of revenues for all Indian IT companies. So, it is the slowdown there which will affect us,” said Ganesh Murthy, CFO, MphasiS.

“Another major concern will be if these countries adopt policies of protectionism. They will not outsource much. Added to that worry is that the domestic market is also not growing,” he said.

Recently US legislators introduced the call centre worker and consumer protection bill. The bill aims to disincentivise companies that move call centres overseas by making them ineligible for grants or guaranteed loans from the government.

“We sense that IT budgets may be marginally up for some verticals and flat-to-marginally down for others. Verticals such as banking and finance might slash their IT budgets,” iGate CEO Phaneesh Murthy told Financial Chronicle in a recent interview. Infosys recently admitted a deep impact from the Europen slowdown.

An IT analyst, who didn’t want to be named, said BFSI is one of the major verticals contributing to top lines of software companies.

Asked if there are risks of outsourcing projects going to other low-cost countries, he said Indian IT firms have established good relations with clients.

Deloitte India senior director PN Sudarshan said: “Firms have reported a more controlled approach to IT spending since the 2008 crisis and enterprises may need to resume spending. However, their approach is likely to remain controlled and focused on leaner IT investments. Consequently, cloud-based solutions (off-premise-on-tap models) are likely to continue to gain favour.”

Infosys did not respond to questions as it is in silent period. The company goes into silent period ahead of its quarterly results.

Source:http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/global-slowdown-bfsi-space-worries-it-players-867

Datamatics Global Services, a Global Information Technology (IT) and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) organization, announced today that Ms. Divya Kumat, Vice President (Legal) and Company Secretary has won the “Women Leaders in India Awards 2011″. She was adjudged as the Leading Woman Company Secretary of the year 2011 in the 3rd edition of Women Leaders in India Awards, at a glittering award ceremony held at the Taj Mahal Palace, Colaba, Mumbai.

Ms. Kumat leads all legal and secretarial initiatives for Datamatics Group of companies. She has over 19 years of professional experience and has held progressively senior and leadership positions. She has been associated with Datamatics for more than 8 years.

On receiving the award, Ms. Divya Kumat said, “It is an honour to receive this award. As a part of Team Datamatics, I have always believed in the core values of transparency and corporate ethics, which also lay a robust foundation for sound corporate governance. The award therefore not only celebrates my personal achievements but also lays recognition to the highest standards of transparency and corporate governance at Datamatics. I would like to thank the jury members and the participants for recognising our efforts”.

Divya holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce (Honors), Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree and is a Gold Medalist in LLM with thesis in International Arbitration. She is a fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (FCS) and Merit holder in ICSA, London.

Annual Women Leaders in India Awards ceremony celebrates the remarkable achievements of the successful women leaders, entrepreneurs and professionals. The event recognizes an exceptional leader who has played an important role in the specific sector and developments on various levels. This esteemed award, which is in its 3rd year, is based on various parameters like internal perception within the organization, credibility, achievements and value contribution to the business. This year the initiative hosted 200 Top Women from the Business, Professional and Political Arena.

Source:http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/information-technology/20111216106714.htm

SPi Global Holdings, the BPO arm of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) said it expects to add 75 employees to the firm by end-2013 as its new health care servicing center in North Carolina hits full capacity.

This, after the firm in October consolidated its health care management subsidiaries — US-based Springfield Service Corp. and Laguna Medical Systems — under SPi Healthcare.

“This expansion addresses the demand for our services and will put us in a position for future growth. The demand is reflected in the five-year growth of… SPi Healthcare and the industry-leading profits we had. The trend is very encouraging,” Maulik Parekh, SPi Global preisdent and chief executive officer, said in a statement yesterday.

“We also believe that the Greensboro community is a place where we can hire excellent people to work for us, and where we can do great work for health care organizations,” Mr. Parekh said.

SPi Healthcare offers solutions such as back office support, coding and clinical documentation.

Aside from the new facility in the US, SPi Global said it will be expanding operations in Dumaguete City, where the firm has operations for health care, content solutions, and customer relationship management.

Of the firm’s 14,000 employees worldwide, 11,000 are in the Philippines. SPi Global is eyeing to end the year with 26,000 employees worldwide.

The firm is eyeing a 14% growth in revenues this year, with revenues from non-voice transactions seen to grow by 16%-17%, and profits from voice transactions seen to grow by a little below 14%.

Shares of PLDT closed 1.06% higher at P2,480 per share yesterday.

Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a unit of the Beneficial Trust Fund of PLDT, has a minority stake in BusinessWorld.

International office space provider Regus, for its part, said it has launched its fourth business center in the Ortigas business district as the company takes advantage of the country’s increasing demand for workspace.

“The Ortigas location makes it an ideal base for businesses working in or with the BPO industry, or looking to move into this area,” Regus said in a statement, referring to its new space in the Joy Nostalg Center along ADB Ave.

Source:http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Corporate&title=SPi-Global,-Regus-disclose-expansions-in-the-BPO-sector&id=43429

This, after the firm in October consolidated its health care management subsidiaries–US-based Springfield Service Corp. and Laguna Medical Systems–under SPi Healthcare.

“This expansion addresses the demand for our services and will put us in a position for future growth. The demand is reflected in the five-year growth of…SPi Healthcare and the industry-leading profits we had. The trend is very encouraging,” Maulik Parekh, SPi Global preisdent and chief executive officer, said in the statement.

The newly-opened Greensboro facility is expected to add 75 employees to the firm by the end of 2013.

SPi Healthcare offers solutions such as back office support, coding, and clinical documentation.

Aside from the new facility in the US, SPi Global said it will be expanding operations in Dumaguete City, where the firm has operations for health care, content solutions, and customer relationship management.

Source:http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Corporate&title=SPi-Global-opens-BPO-in-the-US&id=43338

Global services exports revenue in China is projected to increase to US$9.5-10 billion by 2015 at a CAGR of 20-25 percent from US$3.5 billion in 2010, according to Everest Group, an advisory and research firm on global services.

Global services exports from China increased from about US$1.2 billion in 2007 to US$3.5 billion in 2010, according to Everest Group’s study, Global Locations Compass: China. The study reports IT Outsourcing (ITO) services contribute about 65 percent towards China’s total export revenue, largely driven by the in-country presence of several top-tier global IT providers. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) work comprises the remaining 35 percent.

“China offers a compelling regional language advantage and cost arbitrage and is thus best leveraged to serve the Asia region, which accounts for about 60 percent of China’s global sourcing revenues,” said Amneet Singh, vice president — Global Sourcing. “While lack of clear cost and English language skills translate to a limited competitive advantage over India and the Philippines for work exported to North America and Europe, these regions still account for about 40 percent of China’s global sourcing exports. China can serve as a risk diversification alternative to serve North America and Europe.”

Last year’s market growth in China prompted its reclassification as a mature offshore destination on Everest Group’s Market Vista Locations Maturity Heatmap. According to Everest Group’s Offshore Locations Survey of buyers earlier this year, China has emerged as a leading destination after India and the Philippines.

Other findings:

– More than 15 delivery centers were established or expanded across Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities during the last 12 months.

– Market growth also has been propelled by several government initiatives, development/promotion organizations and government-backed incentives.

– China offers more than 20 cities for global services delivery, some of which are Tier-2 cities that are emerging as credible alternatives to Tier-1 options.

– Cost arbitrage is expected to remain sustainable over the next 13-14 years.

“Players defining their ‘China Delivery Strategy’ should assess China’s role in their global services delivery models and understand the costs and talent pool available in context of the envisaged role for China. Cities in China offer varying levels of attractiveness across global, regional and local delivery from China,” said H Karthik, vice president — Global Sourcing. “Companies planning to enter or expand in China also need to invest in talent engagement and development, monitor progress of recent data protection guidelines and examine Tier-2 cities to lower delivery costs.”

The report provides an in-depth analysis of China’s global services landscape across captives and third-party service providers for ITO and BPO services to include market characteristics, education system and future outlook. The study also provides detailed data and perspectives on seven key cities — Shanghai, Beijing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Suzhou — spanning across labor pool, cost, market activity and risk analysis.

For more information about the report, Global Locations Compass: China, other Global Sourcing and Location Optimization research reports or other research services, please visit research.everestgrp.com, email info@everestgrp.com or call +1-214-451-3110.

About Everest Group

Everest Group is an advisor to business leaders on the next generation of global services with a worldwide reputation for helping Global 1000 firms dramatically improve their performance by optimizing their back- and middle-office business services. With a fact-based approach driving outcomes, Everest Group counsels organizations with complex challenges related to the use and delivery of global services in their pursuits to balance short-term needs with long-term goals. Through its practical consulting, original research and industry resource services, Everest Group helps clients maximize value from delivery strategies, talent and sourcing models, technologies and management approaches. Established in 1991, Everest Group serves users of global services, providers of services, country organizations and private equity firms, in six continents across all industry categories. For more information, please visit www.everestgrp.com and research.everestgrp.com.

Source:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/everest-group-chinas-global-services-market-projected-to-grow-20-25-percent-cagr-by-2015-2011-11-17

A Philippines-based outsourcing services provider, has acquired Chennai-based publishing BPO company Laserwords Private Limited, a part of $3 billion Murugappa Group. The company, in which group company Carborundum Universal holds 44 per cent stake, was sold at a valuation of Rs 114 crore, according to VCCircle estimates.

Carborundum Universal, in which private equity firm Nalanda Capital holds 9 per cent stake, informed the exchanges that it has sold its stake in Laserwords for Rs 50 crore. Carborundum Universal scrip last traded at Rs 157.25 a share, up by 1.42 per cent at BSE on Friday.

“Carborundum Universal Ltd has divested its entire shareholding in Laserwords Private Limited, the pre-press publishing entity for a consideration of Rs 50 crore. The transaction is in line with CUMI’s overall strategy to divest its non-core assets to fund its core businesses,” said the statement made to the exchanges.

Carborundum is involved in the business of manufacturing abrasives, ceramics including industrial ceramics & refractories besides electro minerals.

According to a June report by brokerage Sushil Finance, Carborundum held a 44 per cent stake in Laserwords. This translates into an equity valuation of Rs 114 crore for Laserwords, which was acquired by the Murugappa Group in 2006. The group has a presence in engineering, abrasives, finance, general insurance, fertilizers, farm inputs, sugar, bio-products, nutraceuticals, cycles, and plantations.

Another recent deal in this space was when Repro India Ltd, a Mumbai-based firm which is into printing and digitising educational content, acquired the Chennai-based printing operations of Macmillan Publishers India Ltd (MPIL), a subsidiary of the leading UK-based publisher.

SPi Global has been in the content solutions business for more than 30 years. It has facilities in Chennai, and Pondicherry in India focusing on Scientific, Technical and Medical (STM) publishing.

Laserwords was founded in 1983 and its clients include McGraw Hill, National Geographic, Kaplan, Oxford University Press, Pearson, Thomson Reuters, among others. Laserwords has production facilities spread over India and the United States and provides a range of solutions that include production, editorial, multimedia, conversion and technology.

“This strategic acquisition will complement SPi Global’ s strong presence in the Scientific, Technical, Medical and Legal verticals with Laserwords’ established foothold in the Education sector,” said SPi Global President and CEO Maulik Parekh.

Besides its content solutions business, SPi Global, with its 15,000 employees in 24 locations worldwide, also offers customer relationship management (CRM) and healthcare solutions.

Source:http://techcircle.vccircle.com/500/spi-global-buys-murugappa-groups-bpo-firm-laserwords/

A provider of data center, outsourcing and managed services in the Americas, today announced its 2011 Executive IT Networking Event called “One Night in Rio”. The company will co-host an event that promises to be the “IT Networking Event of the Year” and demonstrate how companies can benefit from Globalweb’s core expertise. The event co-sponsor is CoreSite Realty Corp. (NYSE: COR), Globalweb Outsourcing’s strategic partner for data center space and power.

Globalweb Outsourcing Corp. is a Pan-American information technology company with a focus on cloud computing and outsourcing. The organization has already over 750 employees and offices in the United States in Miami, Florida and through the Globalweb Group of Companies in Brazil in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte. Globalweb is the first in Brazil to emerge based on the concept of cloud computing. For more information about Globalweb, visit http://www.globalweb-us.com.

The company is part of the Globalweb Group, a Pan-American company offering IT services across the Americas. “Through this event, we expect to raise market awareness about new trends in Managed Services and how companies can maximize their revenues while optimizing internal and external customer service,” said George Farkass, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Source:http://www.marketpressrelease.com/GLOBALWEB-OUTSOURCING-ANNOUNCES-ITS-2011-WORKSHOP-EVENT-1320220944.html

The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals® (IAOP®) announces the launch of its newest virtual chapter, IT Infrastructure. The inaugural meeting will take place October 26, 2011 beginning at 11:00 a.m. EDT, and feature the presentation “Mobility Management – How Companies Are Rethinking Expenses Management, Data Privacy Compliance and Revenue Enablement,” by Mike Beals, the COO of M-Core.

The IT Infrastructure chapter is chaired by Blazent Software, Aviva, CSC, Enlighta and TPI.
“With the continued growth of the industry and the rapid pace of technological change, today’s IT infrastructure environments pose numerous challenges,” said IAOP CEO Debi Hamill. “We’re looking forward to having an IAOP chapter dedicated to tackling these issues head on.”

“Today’s economic environment, and the cost cutting measures associated, the introduction of cloud computing and mobile expansion, among other things, make it increasingly difficult to manage and drive value through ITO contracts,” said Jeff McCauley, of Blazent. “The Infrastructure Chapter is focused on helping companies and vendors alike understand how to better govern their contracts, stay in touch with best practices, and review emerging technologies and trends that will drive efficiencies and value.”

The webinar will also give a brief introduction of the chapter, review the chapter charter and governance team, and hold a discussion of potential future chapter meeting topics and schedule polling questions for the audience regarding future topics and the Mobility Management presentation.

The webinar is free and open to users, advisors and providers of outsourcing services who are professional or corporate members of IAOP. IAOP also offers complimentary Associate Membership which allows you to attend up to two chapter meetings as our guest and access select online resources.

Source:http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=120282

The global business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is on the path to recovery following the global economic recession that dented growth prospects in several industrialized nations including the US. As the recession affected all industry verticals, businesses adopted measures to contain costs and enhance profit margins – strategies that led to layoffs, recruitment freezes and pay cuts across various countries including the US. The inability of BPO clients to forge long-term contracts during the recession further contributed to the downward slide in industry activity. In order to deal with economic adversities, several companies opted for outsourcing services thereby benefiting outsourcing hubs such as India and China.

The United States and Europe dominate the global BPO market, as stated by the new market research report on Business Process Outsourcing. The increasing size and scope of the BPO industry is largely attributed to the growing desire of global businesses to address primary issues such as shortage of skilled personnel and rising operational costs. Outsourcing is also emerging as a tactical approach for imparting value addition, flexibility as well as agility to organizations, which enables them to respond effectively in a rapidly changing business environment. Technological advancements, introduction of sophisticated platforms and software, and the emergence of newer media are also driving businesses to opt for services of specialist third-party service providers.

Finance & Accounting outsourcing is expected to witness fastest growth among all horizontal segments. The need to streamline costs and increase competitiveness is likely to drive organizations to seek outsourcing services, positioning F&A outsourcing as a vital constituent of the strategy to achieve the twin objectives. Financial services, manufacturing, logistics and travel industries have been among the most active adopters of F&A outsourcing services. In the coming years, real estate and property management companies, IT firms, and medical and banking sector participants are also likely to seek F&A outsourcing services. The US represents the largest finance and accounting BPO market worldwide. On the other hand, demand for finance & accounting outsourcing services is increasing in countries such as China, Latin America and Central Europe that require multi-lingual capabilities and higher-touch processes. Customer Services segment continues to grow at a steady pace driven by the rising interest in outsourcing, particularly in view of the current economic conditions. BPO services offered include round-the-clock support services through e-mail, chat and voice.

With organizations across all verticals dealing with volatile economic environment, increased regulations, Web 2.0 environment, and content digitization, there exists a need for strategies that would enable companies to actively deal with the emerging challenges. This is particularly pertinent to companies from the BFSI, retail, government, and healthcare and life sciences sectors, which would in turn drive the demand for outsourcing services in the near-to-mid-term future. Banking, Insurance & Finance Services represents the largest end-use segment in the global BPO market. In the post recession scenario, the banking industry is expected to witness massive changes due to increased regulations. As a result, the trend towards outsourcing of processes such as cash management, custody, and treasury is expected to gain strength. The need for outsourcing is also expected to rise in view of the integration of social and mobile technologies that are disrupting conventional branch banking operations. In the retail, media and manufacturing sectors, BPO opportunities are expected to grow due to the relatively lesser use of outsourcing in these industries. The convergence of ITO/BPO, cloud and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models, and the growing ability of Tier-1 providers to offer BPO services are likely to drive outsourcing trend in these sectors.

Major players profiled in the report include Accenture Plc, ACS, A Xerox Company, Aon Hewitt, Ceridian Corporation, Computer Sciences Corporation, Dell Services, HP Enterprise Services, Intelenet Global Services Pvt. Ltd., Intelligroup Inc., Keane Inc., NorthgateArinso, SFN Group Inc., Tata Consultancy Services Limited, TriNet Group Inc., and Unisys Corporation.

The research report titled “Business Process Outsourcing (BPO): A Global Strategic Business Report” announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a strategic review of the industry, key market trends, recent product launches, strategic corporate initiatives, and profiles of key market participants. The report provides annual sales estimates and projections by the following geographic markets – US, Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of World. Horizontal segments analyzed include Finance & Accounting, Customer Services, and Others. End-use segments analyzed include Manufacturing, Telecommunications & Technology, Banking, Insurance & Finance Services, Retail, and Others.

Source:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/10/12/prweb8857236.DTL&ao=2

The Indian IT companies are strongest on Outsourcing in Norway, and will quickly take over large parts of the market, if we are to believe the Nordic companies are using IT outsourcing.

Norwegian companies put more and more IT functions (ITO) and standard / mature processes (BPO) with external partners, ie outsourcing. And all the more often they choose some of the Indian IT companies such as Tata Consulting Services (TCS), Infosys and Cognizant, which has already established itself in Norway. All these companies are currently the fastest growing in the consulting world, and they have very expansive growth plans going forward. The reason is simple. The Indian IT companies deliver higher quality, lower cost, more risk sharing and a more trusting partnership model than their local, European and American colleagues. This shows KPMG’s annual poll (conducted by KPMG and EquaTerra) of how satisfied the Norwegian Outsourcing’s customers. The Norwegian’s outsourcing market as a whole has a value of 10-11 billion and growing at 8-10% a year. When we see that the Indian IT companies are expanding by 25-30% a year, they will shortly have one billion shop in the North. This also means that they quickly take market share from the established vendors.

One of the characteristics of the Indian IT companies is that they are extremely long-term in their actions and that they start at a moderate scale, in this way they grow controlled and structured. They work a lot with relationships and are very willing to change in their models. Many of the companies have only 4 levels between the customer and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), this in contrast with the established which often can have up to 12-14 levels. In addition, they are placed employees with the highest competence closest to the customer. Put it all together so should the Nordic and American suppliers to be a little uneasy, given the new competition that has come full. Yet they have a head start through their long customer relationships, but this is an area the Indian IT companies are focusing most on. In KPMG measurement (Nordic Region Service Providers Performance and Satisfaction (SPSS: 2011) – An Assessment of the Nordic Region Information and Communication Technology Outsourcing Market and its Service Providers), it is a very clear message from the Norwegian customers that the Indian IT companies increase their quality and that the Norwegian and Nordic supplier companies are losing ground. Some of the Norwegian suppliers are even on the opposite side of the satisfaction scale in relation to the Indian IT companies. This is unique set of European standards, as it always has been some local suppliers on the top three list in the KPMG research. Such measurements are disturbing, since the measurement covers the 710 signed contracts of 300 organizations that invest the most in IT in the Nordic countries. The total value of the contracts studied is approximately 40 billion, of which about 10% are in offshoring, which also affect the Indian IT companies to the greatest extent. When we see offshoring as a whole, as this market is 81% tied to India, while the current space is Central and Eastern Europe by 43%. When we look at the local IT companies in outsourcing in the Nordic countries, especially EDB ErgoGroup , Steria and IBM are below average in customer satisfaction, while Accenture ATEA is above average. On the top three places we find TCS, Cognizant and Infosys.

Source:http://www.dataforeningen.no/globale-it-trender-utfordrer-endringsvillighet.4969939-133913.html

In what can be seen as an immediate outcome of the first ever Executive Council meeting of Nasscom in Thiruvananthapuram yesterday, Aegis, the leading Business Process Outsourcing company has announced its intentions to set up a centre in Kerala. Aparup Sengupta, MD & Global CEO, Aegis announced this in Trivandrum today, during an interaction of Nasscom officials with the media. Aegis is wholly owned by the Essar Group, a US$16 billion conglomerate and has more than 50,000 employees across 50 locations world wide.

The centre will come up in Trivandrum and would employee a sizeable number. “The visit to Kerala was a real eye opener and the IT infrastructure here is really impressive. That’s the reason we have decided to start a centre here. Further details needs to be worked out”, Aparup added.

Briefing the media about the Executive Council meeting, Rajendra S Pawar, Chairman, Nasscom said that Kerala had the potential to become a major IT-BPO destination but needs to aggressively market itself. The success which Kerala achieved in the tourism sector can be repeated in the IT sector as well, by harnessing its inherent strength like literacy and connectivity. He also announced the opening of the Nasscom regional chapter in Kerala at the Technopark in Trivandrum.

Som Mittal, President, Nasscom said that Nasscom expects a 16-18 percent growth rate of the Indian IT industry this year irrespective of the tribulations overseas as the private sector is doing well and all the emerging markets are growing faster than developed markets. Although the deal sizes have shrunk in size, the volumes are being maintained.

Nasscom, the National Association of Software and Services Companies, membership base of 1,300 IT / ITeS companies accounts for almost 90% of the industry revenues in India and employs over 2.24 million professionals. Of the 300 odd IT / ITeS companies in Kerala, 27 are members of Nasscom.

Source:http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/thiruvananthapuram/3175-essars-aegis-global-to-expand-bpo-operations-to-kerala

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Compass has embarked on its most aggressive acquisition spree in seven years as it seeks to hand out its menus to armies, office workers and schoolchildren in canteens and restaurants worldwide.

The Surrey-based company has spent £425m ($664m) on 13 deals in 10 countries including Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden and India. In the UK, it bought Cygnet Foods, a supplier of hot or ready-to-heat meals to 450 schools, mostly in north-east England.

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Richard Cousins, chief executive, said the group was benefiting from the trend towards outsourcing as companies sought to focus on core competencies and governments looked to cut costs. “This has been a big year for us. We have done a big deal in every corner of the planet,” he said.

The company, which serves about 4bn meals each year in more than 50 countries, said full-year revenues were expected to rise about 5 per cent from last year, helped by a 7 per cent increase in North America and a 9 per cent rise elsewhere.

Despite this, Mr Cousins acknowledged it was a “tough world”, with business slowing throughout Europe. Sales in the UK and Ireland, which account for 10 per cent of group earnings, are down 1 per cent on the previous year as companies and governments cut corporate catering and hospitality amid government austerity measures and a slow economic recovery.

The group has passed on the impact of food inflation to customers, raising prices by about 2 per cent as some commodities prices doubled. Labour costs, which account for about half of group expenditure, remained fairly stable in most parts of the world, but could rise in emerging markets such as Brazil and China, where it is expanding its business. A £15m-£20m hit from the Japanese earthquake would also push operating profit margins about 0.2 percentage points lower.

Wyn Ellis, analyst at Numis, said the rapid pace of acquisitions made sense after several years spent streamlining the business and withdrawing from non-core markets. “Compass has a strong balance sheet and is a powerful cash generator and it has seen an opportunity to develop the business with sensible medium-sized and small bolt-on acquisitions,” he said.

“This strategy makes a lot of sense as small businesses are relatively easy to integrate and Compass has a strong record of delivering good returns on these. Investors will still want to see a somewhat flabby balance sheet addressed when they deliver their results in November.”

Source:http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8b77d2a6-ea7f-11e0-b0f5-00144feab49a.html#axzz1ZRrEfXYu