The Hindu : Connect 2003: BPO takes centre stage

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 19, 2003

Business

Business

Connect 2003: BPO takes centre stage

By Our Staff Correspondent

CHENNAI SEPT. 18 . Even as Tamil Nadu is striving to become a main hub for business process outsourcing (BPO), the Connect 2003, which got under way here, has provided a meaningful platform for exchange of views on boosting revenue in this segment for the State. Earlier Connect events focused mainly on IT services and technology. This is the first time that BPO has become the main focus of Connect. Connect 2003 is jointly organised by the CII and Tamil Nadu Government.

In the main session on `Business process outsourcing,' Kevin M Campbell, Chief Executive Officer, Exult Inc. of the U.S, said "cost is not the main factor for multinationals to come to India. It is the quality that matters.'' The value proposition had been a major factor for the growth of BPO, he said. Though the bottomline for MNCs setting up bases in India was guaranteed, reliable service and customer satisfaction were also assured in India.

Ranjit Pisharoty, Country Head and Vice-President of Vettri Software, said, "the vertical concept has been wrongly borrowed by BPOs from IT software services industry. Verticals are referred as telecom, health care and manufacturing services.'' He wanted BPO to focus on the process, the `middle word' in BPO. Apart from higher productivity and low cost, outsourcing to the third party was a major factor. Using catalyst for business transformation was a value proposition, he added.

Earlier in the special plenary session on "India Tomorrow and IT,'' N. Lakshmi Narayanan, President and Chief Operating Officer, Cognizant Technologies Solutions, said the challenge for IT industry was not about strategy but about executing it well.

Manoj Chugh, President, India and SAARC, EMC Data Storage Systems (India) Private Limited, said companies across all sectors needed to switch their focus in having a sound information management infrastructure than just an information technology infrastructure.

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