{"id":4714,"date":"2009-04-24T21:57:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-24T21:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/projects\/horsesforsources\/contemplating-the-bpo-industry-with-infosys-ritesh-idnani\/"},"modified":"2009-04-24T21:57:00","modified_gmt":"2009-04-24T21:57:00","slug":"contemplating-the-bpo-industry-with-infosys-ritesh-idnani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/contemplating-the-bpo-industry-with-infosys-ritesh-idnani\/","title":{"rendered":"Contemplating the BPO industry with Infosys’ Ritesh Idnani"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ritesh_Idnani\"<\/strong><\/span>When he's not tinkering with his <\/em>fast-cars and rock music<\/em><\/a>, Ritesh Idnani has emerged one of the key guys behind Infosys' prominent rise as a leading BPO provider.  But's it's not been an easy ride…when you get up close, you can start to see some grey hairs creeping in to defy those baby-face looks.  I've known Ritesh for a number of years and thought it ample time for him to share his views on the development of the BPO industry and what holds for the future in these crazy times…<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a>PF: We've been through a tremendous development in the world of BPO over the last decade. What, in your opinion, has worked, and what hasn't?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

RI: The emergence of outsourcing is not a new phenomenon. It has been practiced by corporates from the 60\u2019s, but it is only in the last decade or so that corporations have recognized the phenomenon and actively engaging in outsourcing as a lever to reduce the effect of non-core activities contributing to the wrong side of P&L .<\/p>\n<\/p>\n


\nMuch has changed in the last few years from the initial euphoria of tangible costs benefits. Today cost arbitrage and productivity efficiency is tablestakes. Clients are now looking more closely at their business processes not only to reduce costs and increase efficiencies but also on how tightly integrated processes can actually impact their overall business revenues over a long term.. There is a greater degree of acceptance to work with incremental benefits over a long term, rather than a \u201cbig bang\u201d approach that often fails to sustain momentum. We are seeing companies wanting better management of their IP and governance models. Strategic outsourcing, higher risk appetite, bundling of IT and BPO deals are increasingly shaping the nature of BPO deals today.<\/p>\n

Service Providers on the other hand have not only been able to build upon their existing capabilities, but also put more skin in the game and are showing a lot more appetite for gain share and other flexible engagement models. I believe that the emergence of service providers who have leveraged technology in their overall business offerings stand to gain in the long term in their ability to provide greater benefits to customer by supporting development, integration and outsourcing initiatives.<\/p>\n

Technology also has provided a great impetus to providers to integrate their delivery seamlessly across the world. One of our key customers has their engagement serviced across all our delivery locations, capitalizing on our global reach, nearshore and offshore capabilities.<\/p>\n

Today service providers who have a long term vision for the BPO industy have invested in domain and technology to create industry led solutions with a focus on impacting client revenues. The emergence of Platform-led solutions is a strong indicator of the ability of clients to derisk their business from huge capex outflow. In fact Infosys recent wins in the HRO Platform space have made me extremely optimistic of the fact that clients are willing to put their bets on alternative business and pricing models (a core outcome of Platform solutions)<\/p>\n

At the core of the BPO industry is people. India Inc recognized this early on and with a sizeable graduate pool, service providers have been able to fuel the growth of BPO here as well as other emerging destinations.<\/p>\n

Have we reached a state of an outsourced utopia? Not quite.<\/p>\n

Let's talk about an Integrated IT & BPO Approach<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today much as I would like to believe, it is true that within many industries and organizations, there does not exist a single window or a unified outsourcing approach. There is an inherent buoyancy with providers to invest and put more skin in the game when it is a combined IT& BPO deal. Clients don\u2019t have to grapple with integration or silo outputs that have not aggregated bearing on their business outcomes.<\/p>\n