India scoffs at SA's BPO plans

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

India, 30 Jul 2007

SA's reasoning for pursuing business process outsourcing (BPO) work is flawed, say Indian IT executives.

Business leaders and government officials often cite good English and other language skills, as well as a time zone similar to Europe, as reasons why BPO will succeed in SA.

However, officials at Satyam, India's fourth-largest IT company, and its BPO subsidiary Nipuna, say the arguments betray a lack of forethought and far too much optimism.

"Time zones are irrelevant in the 21st Century," says Satyam SA country manager Chittaranjan Jena.

Nipuna global head for delivery SN Harish adds that language skills only apply to a small part of the BPO contact centre environment. Otherwise it too is irrelevant as a differentiator.

Nipuna business solutions VP Pradip Advani says clients have matured. They no longer just want a contact centre that can log results; they want value-added services and a partnership that improves the business process.

Advani, Harish and Jena add the key to success is education - which does not mean menial computer skills, but a thorough understanding of clients' business and industry. In banking, this would mean the ability to articulate what compound interest is and why it is important.

Indian BPO workers are schooled in the workings of the banking, pharmaceutical and other industries for up to a year before being deployed.

"The dynamics have changed," says Harish. "Customers want a long-term innovative partner, not just a traditional BPO vendor. Knowledge process outsourcing can be a key differentiator because this is where they [the clients] get value," he says.

Advice from a competitor

Harish and Advani add SA is not making enough "noise" internationally about its BPO plans. "Look at Kenya and agricultural BPO," says Harish.

Government support is also critical, says Advani. "SA is untapped. There is a lot of opportunity to leverage, but it needs more advertising, and political will is a factor."

Harish adds that India's BPO success is in part the result of a long-term societal investment in education and training, dating back 25 years. "Key are resources in terms of skills. If you have that in sufficient depth, no one can take away your opportunity. The rest can always be built up, infrastructure, etc... And the cost of business [in terms of expensive broadband] is not unique to your country. It is a problem everywhere," he adds.

"GramIT [a rural BPO vendor] could be a good idea for Africa," Harish says. GramIT uses a business model that allows a less educated workforce to focus on transactional back-office work. It leverages excellence in delivery to win more mission-critical work from clients.