BPO Rankings: 2 | Transworks: The Minacs Touch

It needed a small, non-listed subsidiary of an old economy group
to try out what no Indian services firm has done so farbuying a company
several times its size to scale up. By acquiring Canada-based Minacs, the Aditya
Birla group company, Transworks has changed the rule of the game. With a growth
of more than 800%, today it stands next only to leader Genpact in the Dataquest
BPO Top 20.

This single acquisition has given Transworks thirty delivery
locations, operations in seven countries, and close to 10,000 people spread
across offshore, onshore and near-shore locations, not to talk of the brand
Minacs. So strong is the brand that many deals have been closed without an RFP.

But that brand is of a strong customer interaction services
firm. In India, where the "BPO" companies have changed the rule of the
business, combining multiple service lines and delivering them successfully,
often literally "under one roof", critics consider the huge investment
in Minacs as one in "yesterdays business model."

Now that may be a little harsh as call centers are still one of
the most outsourced functions in an enterprise, and many other firms in our list
have consciously positioned themselves around these servicescustomer
lifecycle management, being the favorite catch phrase. Transworks, however, has
plans to ramp-up non-voice. In fact, it is one of the few multi-services Indian
BPO firms which has existing practices in F&A, document management, HR
administration, and procurement and logistics. This makes Transworks well suited
to position itself as a new generation, old-world BPO company, ie, a true
horizontal services firm. Procurement and logistics already contributes close to
10% to its revenue. Last year Transworks added fifty clients.

However, the biggest concern for Transworks comes from currency
fluctuations. With the Rupee gaining strength against the dollar, Transworks
margins can come under pressure as close to 90% of its revenue comes from North
America. Fortunately, with a large near-shore/onshore delivery which can
steadily move offshore, margins have huge scope for improvement. DQ