This Paper has won Consolation Prize in the CoolAvenues' Paper-writing Competition - "In Search of Excellence" - for the Year 2005.

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The Indian BPO Industry NOW

The Indian BPO industry is different in many ways from traditional businesses in India and even from the IT industry, with which it shares many attributes. Some major points of parity and disparity are: -

Reach: Unlike the IT industry, BPO reaches out to the masses. Any college degree is enough to enter the industry, and given the rate at which this industry is growing, there will always be opportunities for most college graduates who want a job, have aptitude, and are willing to work hard.

Customers: The early adopters of Indian BPO are some of the largest MNCs in the world (Citigroup, Amex, GE, HSBC, etc.). These are also some of the most demanding customers; they can benchmark against the best in the world; they lay down the highest standards for delivery and are ruthless in demanding these from their service providers.

Infrastructure: The BPO industry has taken a leaf out of the IT industry's books and has not stinted on the quality of infrastructure, premises, office furniture, and general work environment. The need to keep people motivated and excited has resulted in a lot of emphasis being placed on creating a fun and attractive workplace. Today, the BPO employees in India can take a world-class working environment for granted.

Training: The initial unfamiliarity with client processes, stiff metrics, need for quality - all translate into a very significant training requirement, and again, the BPO industry has more than risen to this challenge.

All new BPO employees undergo rigorous training and certification. Moreover, some of the material being used is absolutely world-class, and in more than one instance, has been adopted by the customer for use at the home location.

Quality: Driven by the customers, the Indian BPO industry has implemented extensive quality programmes, and certifications like COPC, ISO 9002 and BS 7799 are commonplace. This further reinforces the tough standards that the service providers are required to achieve.

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* Contributed by -
Srinath Raj Kasi,
PGDIM XI,
NITIE, Mumbai.