It’s Official: Attrition Is India Inc.’s Biggest Enemy
October 6th, 2010By Chandan Das
Believe it or not, awful things occur even during good times. The Indian IT sector is an ideal instance of such a predicament – and it is casting an uncertain shadow over what was once a can’t-miss engine of growth.
Indian IT firms are now facing an unprecedented attrition crisis – even as the economic recovery takes shape. Attrition levels in the Indian IT sector had decline to approximately eight to 10 per cent during the economic recession in 2009, but the figures have skyrocketed to between 15 and 20 per cent in 2010.
Mexico Outsourcing Will Soar Under Schumer Law
August 12th, 2010
Senator Schumer probably doesn't realize the huge incentive he is helping create to boost outsourcing to Mexico.
In its Haste to Gouge India, Congress Neglects to Consider the TN Visa
By Kirk Laughlin
In what could be one of the most extraordinary examples of the self-defeating consequences of slapdash, politically inspired protectionism, the new Congressional border bill which partly takes aim at Indian outsourcers is likely to trigger a nearshoring bonanza – with Mexico poised to become a major beneficiary. But wait, isn’t Chuck Schumer (D-NY) who is a key sponsor of the bill, going to protect U.S. jobs? Actually no and we’ll explain why.
Are India Software Services Companies Too Expensive?
July 20th, 2010Shares in export-driven Indian software services companies are trading near their peaks on expectations for rising outsourcing demand as companies and governments around the world look to cut costs.
Risks to the sector come from rising wages, uncertainties linked to the debt problems in Europe and wide currency swings.
Last week, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (TCS.BO), the country’s top outsourcer, posted a 21 percent rise in quarterly profit and said it was seeing strong demand.
The result was in sharp contrast to Infosys Technologies (INFY.BO), seen as a trendsetter for India’s $60 billion IT-services industry, that reported a rare drop in quarterly profit.
DEMAND OPTIMISM
Analysts are betting troubled and recovering economies will be under pressure to get many services such as accounting, healthcare and billing done elsewhere to cut costs at home.
“As companies get careful on their costs, demand for outsourcing is only going to get better,” said Shashi Bhusan, …
Legal Process Outsourcing Becomes a Ripe Target But Nearshore Players are Slow to React
June 22nd, 2010 
By Dennis Barker
When the news broke recently that Microsoft is going to outsource more of its legal processing work to the BPO division of Wipro Technologies, in Bangalore, we couldn’t help but wonder: Why not send some of that LPO work to companies closer to home?
There’s no lack of BPO companies in neighboring countries like Costa Rica and Mexico, to name just two. (And as one observer told us, LPO is basically another form of BPO.) Well, the biggest reason is simple: It’s hard to find a Nearshore firm that’s doing LPO.
By Kirk Laughlin
Let’s face it – most U.S. businesses who use some form of outsourced professional services are often strongly opposed to “going public” about their activities. The obvious reason is fear of public backlash or appearing “anti-American”.
We oppose this kind of weak-kneed positioning, which in effect denies the reality that globalization is irreversibly altering the sourcing of talent, the operating culture of major corporations and the contributions third-party organizations make in spurring new ideas, driving research and development and redefining cross-border trade and alliances. (In the coming weeks in fact you will read exclusive reporting in Nearshore Americas about some amazingly innovative LatAm-based services provided to big name clients like Google, Electronic Arts and J. Walter Thompson.)
Wipro Signs 27 New IT Services Clients
April 23rd, 2010Wipro reported on Friday a strong growth in its IT services revenue for the quarter ended March 31, indicating that it is benefiting from a recovery in demand for offshore IT services. The business environment is returning to normal, the company said. Its competitors, Tata Consultancy Services, and Infosys Technologies, also reported growth in revenue and profits this month. The two companies have stepped up hiring in anticipation of a larger demand for their services.
Wipro, which is India’s third largest outsourcer, said that its IT services revenue in U.S. dollar terms was $1.17 billion, up 11.5 percent from the same quarter last year. IT services revenues for the fiscal year ended March 31 was $4.4 billion, an increase of 1.6 percent over last year.
The company’s results for the quarter are in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
Wipro has a diversified business that also includes consumer care, and it …
Wipro Opens New Delivery Center and LATAM HQ in Curitiba
March 26th, 2010Wipro Technologies, the global IT services business of Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT), today announced the inauguration of its new global delivery center in Curitiba, Brazil. The center was inaugurated by the mayor of Curitiba, Mr. Beto Richa, and the Consul General of India in Brazil Mr. Jeitendra K. Tripathi.
Wipro has been operating in Brazil for four years now and the expansion in Curitiba is a part of Wipro’s strategy to diversify its footprint globally. The Curitiba Center will serve as the regional headquarters for other Wipro offices located in the region, i.e, São Paulo (Brazil) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). The center will serve global and domestic clients.
Curitiba will extend Wipro’s expansive IT and BPO portfolio and will serve nearly 20 clients. The center which started with 60 people currently employs around 350 people. Wipro plans on increasing this headcount based on further business demand.
After a rigorous assessment, Curitiba was chosen as …
Not Ready for Prime Time: Brazil Cloud Services Mostly in Early Development
February 23rd, 2010By Dennis Barker
In 1925, the intrepid English explorer Percy Fawcett journeyed once more into the jungles of Brazil to try to find the legendary ancient City of Z. Did it ever really exist, or was it lost to history? In 2010, this reporter set out to answer a much simpler question: Are Brazilian outsourcing companies developing cloud-based services?
And by cloud services, we mean: A business service or process that’s provided via the Internet, in real time; can be scaled up or down; features service-level agreements (SLAs); and can be accessed on demand, like a utility, on a pay-per-use basis. Of course that definition could be broadened to include other characteristics, but you get the idea. We don’t mean things like providing hosting services in a data center.
Cloud services and outsourcing would seem to have a natural affinity. Being able to give customers what they want on a granular, scalable basis — whether it’s BPO or infrastructure — would be advantageous to both provider and client. After all, the cloud is all about getting what you want, when you want it, however much you want, from whatever location you like.
India Investors Sess LATAM as a ‘Land of Plenty’
February 10th, 2010Trade between China and Latin America has been a symbol of strengthening ties between developing economies, but India, too, is now looking to increase its footprint in the region.
More and more Indian companies are looking to do business in Latin America as they seek exposure to growing markets. The ties are also manifesting themselves on a policy level with trade agreements between India and South American countries picking up.
Like those of its Asian neighbor, Indian companies are seeing Latin America as a more secure investment destination, thanks to broadly stable government and economic policies. These markets are also increasingly becoming a potential lifeline as India deals with food shortages and droughts.
“In India, consumption is growing while the land is diminishing but here in Latin America we don’t have any such land-shortage problems,” said Rengaraj Viswanathan, India’s ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, who has been pushing for …
The Nearshore Shift Picks Up Speed: Major Outsourcers Pursue Advantages
February 9th, 2010By Jacob Cherian
News reports say that Indian outsourcing giants, Infosys, TCS and Wipro are likely to fall prey to nearshore rivals, like Israel-based Ness Technologies, Softtek of Mexico, and CPM Braxis of Brazil.
Major outsourcers like Citibank and GEO are now leaning toward nearshore, specialized vendors instead of offshoring work to distant locations like India. These clients are now looking at emerging outsourcing centers like Latin America that is closer to home as favored destinations for outsourcing, reports the Times of India.
Jimit Arora, Research director at Everest Group was quoted as saying, “Some customers having 70-80 per cent of their offshore resources in India are realizing that they need to look at the third category of suppliers that are local and niche,” in an online report by SourcingFocus.com.
