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Part - VII

With the entry of MNCs in banking and insurance sector, and most of them deciding to outsource non-core operations, BPO is certainly getting more focused. And India, with its IT service credentials, has already had the first mover advantage.

According to NASSCOM, the finance BPO domain generated revenues of $ 450 million in 2002-03. The kind of finance BPO work coming to India covers the entire gamut of services ranging from simple processes like cheque processing factories to complex financial processes. The bottom- end activities include transaction processing, accounting, and fixed assets, account receivable, account payable, cash application and account reconciliation. The mid-tier activities include accounting operations, general ledger consolidation and full cycle accounting. The high-end includes finance planning and analysis, marketing and decision support. With the Indian BPO industry making giant strides, an unrestricted market access in the West is vital.

The need for moving up the value chain

Value-added services are clearly the key advantage that Indian BPO players have over other similar players in a highly competitive market. The need of the hour is to develop process and business expertise in addition to technical and operational expertise for creating a niche in a highly competitive market in three key verticals: BFSI (banking, finance and insurance), telecom and high technology. BPO providers must look for ways to improve the value of their capabilities, and thereby move up the service value chain faster.

Shift in Focus for BPO

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*Contributed by -
Deepa Dubey,
PGDIM IXth Batch,
NITIE Mumbai.