BPO: The Gold Standard

To say that India has come a vast way and has fixated world attention by its
success in securing a dominant global hold on the international offshoring
market, says nothing new.

To spend time analysing how this has been done would simply be to retread old
tracks.

To cogitate on the future path and the evolution of higher value chain
capabilities within the Indian proposition might be of curiosity, but would
hardly add new material.

However, to continue to dwell on the manner in which India's worldwide
clients and those clients' customers, view the Indian value proposition and
the extent to which it provides them assurance or otherwise, must never be
allowed to become old ground.

Richard Stockdale is CEO of Lloyds TSB Global Services

Focused, responsive and sensible action in that area is a future stock in
trade of India's continuing offshoring value proposition.

If the global market can already see evidence of the dominant growth and
commoditized capability of India's voice/data/ITeS value proposition, to what
hitching post exactly are global competitors going to tie their future sales
pitch?

Certainly, they may be tempted to look at recently stated shortages in
emerging India workforce skill sets and certainly, they may seek to cast doubt
on India's capability to introduce infrastructure in a timely fashion.

But in my view India can continue to confound them in those areas, into the
indefinable future.

But, however well India executes there will obviously always be areas of
focus to dwell on. No one proposition is perfect.   

So, what else?

The India offshoring industry is already and undoubtedly focussed on both
quality service delivery and cost arbitrage issues of attrition and also on the
reputationally limiting issue of data protection, and in these disciplines, on
most occasions, it already competes globally as well as the competition.

But in my view these circling competitors will see continuing worthwhile
mileage in constantly seeking to focus global client attention on these areas of
Indian cost arbitrage, service delivery quality and intellectual property
protection, seeking to promote to their own advantage the negative “perception
is reality” culture, so prevalent in the international media attention on
India of 2005.

The reason why these areas have to remain in such sustained tight Indian
focus is increasingly coherent in an intensively competitive world:

• No one is now asleep to India's capabilities. India's visibility,
  coupled with the inherent flexibility of newer entrants, means that success can
  be copied by competitor countries and mistakes avoided.
• To sustain its dominant voice and lower end data proposition, India cannot
  allow its attrition issues to damage the cost arbitrage, or its ability to
  deliver consistent quality service, both regular victims of high attrition
  levels.
• As India progressively climbs the value chain the IP content of the contracts
  awarded will exponentially increase. Consequently, although higher up the value
  chain attrition per se will be less of an issue, DP controls and remedies will
  become ever more important.
• The Indian Industry must recognize the need to waste no time and to pull out
  every stop to robustly strive to reverse any negative perception message. Only
  when it has reversed this to “Reality is Perception” can it afford the
  luxury of self congratulation.

There could possibly be a way to move toward that happy state, as follows:

The Concept

The India offshoring/outsourcing industry, using NASSCOM as a centralized
forum creates an internationally competitive Indian industry standard for
attrition and  DP control.

The certification only to be awarded to Indian-based providers who meet the
independently assessed and stringent criteria required. It should expire say
every two years renewable only after fresh independent review.

Suggested Mechanics

• NASSCOM to arrange for a recognized and respected independent outsourcing/offshoring
  consultancy firm to identify and select the top five Indian voice/data/ITeS
  third party provider firms in the disciplines of attrition and DP.
• These selected five top companies in each category to then be analysed by the
  independent consultant to extract common features contributing to their success.
• The common features to then be merged and welded into an Indian Industry Data
  Protection Standard and an Indian Industry Attrition Control Standard.
• Meeting this standard and thus gaining certification, to be evidenced by
  independent certification, which can only be awarded to providers following a
  satisfactory audit by an independent consultancy or auditor approved, appointed
  and paid through NASSCOM and counter financed
  by an industry contributors fund.
• NASSCOM to then make it clear to the global market that it encourages
  prospective clients to focus their vendor search only on firms carrying the
  standards certification.
• There should be a reaudit every two years for renewal of the standards
  certification and providers failing to achieve the standard will lose their
  certification, thus disadvantaging them in the tender market.

Will it Work?

Those companies who feel comfortable that they will pass and can see the
value of their certification in a prospective client's eyes, may be amenable
to the suggestion. Other lesser providers, fearing inability to certify, may
react more negatively.

Put simply it should have the effective impact of either squeezing out or up
(hopefully the latter), lower quality providers, to the enhancement of the
overall Indian industry value proposition. 

The added cost and resource focus to certify, in an already competitive
market may not be particularly welcome, but then, what cost investment for
tomorrow?