NASSCOM Hosts ITES-BPO Strategy Summit 2006
By Paul Catiang

From June 7 to 8, 2006, the National Association of Software and Service Companies hosted its ITES-BPO Strategy Summit 2006, the ninth global conclave focused on India 's BPO sector. The international conference, mirroring the developments taking place within the industry since its inception, was held to note the achievements of the sector and identify the challenges that still need to be overcome. Business intelligence analysts and customers associated with the industry came together to discuss the issues of the day, define the future roadmap of the industry and understand how India can extend its leadership in the worldwide ITES-BPO segment.

The following are short descriptions of the sessions held at the conference.

The Indian ITES-BPO industry: overcoming the mid-life crisis 

The opening activity was a debate on whether Indian BPOs are undergoing a mid-life crisis. As the industry matures and consolidates, its problems are now those of managing growth and combating competition. The speaker for this topic was John McCarthy, Vice President of Forrester; his presentation was based on customer feedback from the US and EU markets, and highlighted the changing face of BPO in India and the factors contributing to its success.

What's Next in Global Sourcing: the Customer Perspective? 

The growth of the ITES-BPO industry relies on the changing needs of the customer community that is moving up the value chain as far as global sourcing requirements are concerned. The session shed some light on what today's users really want, and how BPOs can build scale and specialization to meet client demands and expectations.

Speakers from reputed international firms, including Duncan Ingram, MD, Customer Services, BT; Alexander P. Campbell, MD, Group Human Resources Talent Management, UBS AG; and Dagoberto Quintana, VP, Dell International Services, spoke on the challenges associated with global sourcing and how they can be met.

The ITES-BPO Country Panel: Heralding the Arrival of the New Offshoring Nations  

As global ITES-BPO customers begin tapping multiple vendors in many countries and across several locations for their outsourcing needs, it becomes necessary for nations, as well as the service providers, to develop partnerships in the spirit of cooperation rather than competition. The Country Panel at the ITES-BPO Summit 2006 held an in-depth of the new breed of offshoring nations that are arriving on the scene and drawing global customers. Leading vendors from India , Philippines , South Africa , China , Portugal and Pakistan showcased their ITES-BPO attractiveness and discussed how they can work together and take advantage of the global offshore outsourcing opportunities.

India 's Cost Edge: How BPOs Are Retaining their Price Efficiencies 

Because achieving cost efficiencies is still the primary reason global organizations outsource their business processes, ITES-BPO service suppliers also have to ensure that their solutions' costs are at their most competitive. This session examined how, despite an escalation in wages and a rise in infrastructure costs, Indian BPOs are still proving to be a cost-effective option for customers.

Process 3600: McKinsey's Benchmarking Framework for Remote BPO Centers 

McKinsey & Co. and NASSCOM have developed a benchmarking framework and diagnostic tool kit to assess the operations maturity level of India 's remote BPO centers. Using “Process 360,” captives and third-party providers can monitor their performance and rate themselves against peers on parameters such as cost, quality, productivity and innovation, speed and flexibility and risk. 

The session talked about how BPOs can align customer, senior management and operations teams on operational priorities and use relevant practices in the areas of recruitment, training, workflow management, and so on, to achieve desired goals.  

The Return of Medical Transcription: How BPOs Are Rebuilding Capabilities in MT 

Even though Medical Transcription was among the earliest ITES-BPO processes to be outsourced to India , it remained low-key due to inherent constraints and talent requirements. This workshop, hosted by NASSCOM and the American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT), showcased the prospects in the MT market in countries such as the US , discussed the legislative and compliance norms, and enumerated the career opportunities created by the segment, and the challenges facing the industry. Dr. Peter Preziosi, Executive Director of the American Association for Medical Transcription, gave his insights on this sub-sector of the industry.

The Honorable Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Thiru Dayanidhi Maran, delivered the keynote address at the summit.