They Too Do IT

Is Rajdeep Sahwrawat, vice president, Nasscom puts it:
"Most of the Indian IT companies have moved from stage zero of having basic
automation like payroll etc. In 2000, most IT companies after going global
realized that their existing IT infrastructure was not going to help their
business, therefore, there was a need for integration of resources."

As far as IT infrastructure goes there are three key
perspectives which are common to all companies: firstly, whether the company has
got the right skill set of people to provide the right solution; secondly,
processes which are dictated by the IT infrastructure and lastly, hardware and
software to be used. "Any IT company is no different from the other
company, it has the same operations but what is relevant is the domain and how
active it is in that particular domain," says Vinod Sadavarte, CIO Patni.

Elaborating on the reasons for the change in approach, Sahrawat
says that the companies soon realized that without an IT infrastructure in
place, business could not be managed and also customers were complaining about
the lack of robust infrastructure.

Where Do They Stand

While Sahwrawat on one hand says that the level of IT infrastructure in the
Top 10 IT companies "is as good as any MNC because they have no legacy to
follow," he also says that, "It all depends on the organization's
management as most of IT companies fail to leverage IT in spite of being IT
companies because they are more concerned with the end customer and not about
their own infrastructure IT does not deliver business value for them."
Therefore it is a crucial decision for the management to decide whether they are
looking at IT as another cost being incurred in the business or as an investment
being made for boosting business.

For most IT companies, their business now runs on infrastructure
and is critically dependent on IT with the processes being designed around
technology. For instance, Polaris operates a complex multidimensional business
organization. The dimensions typically are geography, global accounts, delivery,
practice, technology and product-all of these are parallel global dimensions
and business strategies are devised along these.

But the criticality of the IT infrastructure assumes mammoth
proportions when it comes to BPOs. In fact, Indian BPOs have adopted some of the
best technologies available in the global markets. Meeting technology standards
and requirements of the clients are critical for retention and growth of the BPO
outsourcing business. The Indian BPO industry has long enough experience to
provide enough strategic focus to achieve the same. And often they are better
equipped than some of their clients in other areas.

Elaborating on the factors that have contributed to the level of
adoption achieved, T Jaganathan, director of Technology Ajuba Solutions, says,
"Customer expectations with regard to service levels have increased and
compliance to such rigorous service levels necessitates increasing investments
in technology; most BPOs enjoy tax benefits with regards to technology equipment
and a decline in prices of such equipment over the past few years has allowed
companies to invest liberally in technology infrastructure, and technology is
becoming increasingly sophisticated. Equally, competition among BPO companies is
getting increasingly tougher with the result that companies look for technology
differentiators." Also, the spectacular performance of the Indian telecom
industry and expansion of business on a global foot print have enabled the
Indian BPO industry in getting global class service.

"Customer expectations with regard to service levels have increased and compliance to such rigorous service levels necessitates increasing investments in technology"		"In a high growth environment, one has little choice but to constantly upgrade their IT infrastructure. This is also necessary to leverage the power of technology for the growth of business in a nonlinear fashion"		"The IT infrastructure of Top 10 Indian IT companies is at par with the foreign counterparts"
-T Jaganathan, director of Technology, Ajuba Solutions		-Debashish Ghosh, executive VP, Global Operations, Aptara		-Rajdeep Sahwrawat, vice president, Nasscom

IT is Business

Managements today understand that investment in technology is not a choice
but a necessity. In a competitive landscape, where companies are competing for
the same business, the differentiator can sometimes come from deploying the
right technology-for eg, a good work-flow software could improve productivity
levels for a BPO, and a top-end dialer could help with the calling strategy and
help increase collections.

"Thus, investment in the right technology could either be a
hygiene factor or could provide competitive edge to companies. Managements fully
understand these imperatives. Of course, as with any investment involving
capital expenditure, managements would insist on appropriate due diligence to be
carried out with due consideration given to return on investment in upgrading IT
infrastructure," opines Jagnathan.

And realizing the significance of a robust IT infrastructure,
managements these days have come a far way from relegating IT to the backend to
deploying the latest technology available not only at customer sites but also at
its own premises as well for better managing the business and automating
processes for saving precious time. "The management has realized that in
order to stand ahead of competition and also gain customer confidence, they will
have to align market demand and be customer savvy. In a high growth environment,
one has little choice but to constantly upgrade their IT infrastructure. This is
also necessary to leverage the power of technology for the growth of business in
a nonlinear fashion," says Debashish Ghosh, executive vice president,
Global Operations, Aptara.

Adds Krishna Kumar, VP, Technology, e4e that management are now
understanding and supportive of the need for world class, efficient
infrastructure at affordable prices. At e4e, we understand the criticality of
technology and have always been supportive of IT initiatives.

For the BPOs, the management realizes that it is critical for
them to upgrade for meeting the standards expected by clients and more often
than not, the IT infrastructure in a BPO environment is an extension of client
infrastructure into vendor's facility in India and this necessitates the
inevitable upgrade. "If the management is educated appropriately about
clear implications of the business, they should not be coming in the way,"
says M Karuppasamy, VP-Technology, 24/7 Customer.

"Any IT company is no different from the other company, it has the same operations but what is relevant is the domain and how active it is in that particular domain"		"Though the procedures have been simplified over a period of time, it still contributes to longer lead times for Indian BPO industries compared to their counterparts"		"IT infrastructure is a very major and critical component of decision making in terms of allocating major deals or orders. In fact, a visit to the facility to see the infrastructure is an integral part of any major order signing"
-Vinod Sadavarte, CIO Patni		-M Karuppasamy, VP-Technology, 24/7 Customer		-Ashish Gaumat, CIO, CSC India

For the customers too, a world class IT infrastructure assumes
importance as "with time and experience, offshoring customers are
becoming more and more demanding. IT infrastructure is a very major and
critical component of decision making in terms of allocating major deals or
orders. In fact, a visit to the facility to see the infrastructure is an
integral part of any major order signing," says Ashish Gaumat, CIO,
CSC India.

The Security Nightmare

Maintaining stringent security standards that meet customer expectations and
standards while permitting maximum flexibility to business managers to exploit
the latest technologies is the key challenge today. With instances reported in
the past of security breaches especially in the BPO space, the task is to keep
on strengthening the infrastructure security to avoid such incidents from
happening again. 

Another challenge is related to the lengthy process to follow
STPI and customs procedures, which often become critical in delivery of
services. "Though the procedures have been simplified over a period of
time, it still contributes to longer lead times for Indian BPO industries
compared to their counterparts," says Karuppasamy. Other challenges include
keeping in-control and reducing spending on IT infrastructure without
compromising on quality through adoption of better and cost effective
technologies, infrastructure consolidation etc. As the BPO industry needs to
mature very fast and be in line with dynamic requirements of the industry, this
change needs to happen very fast and also the responsiveness around the ITeS
sector has to improve drastically and be in line with the 24/7 nature of
business.

 But these challenges can only be met depending on the
investments done for infrastructure upgradation that is dependent on the company's
priorities. As Jaganathan puts it, "As a ball park, the initial investment
in IT infrastructure could range from $4,000 to $6,000 per seat for voice
processes." Agrees Gaumat, that while the investment depends on the
priorities and growth plans, but on an average it will be 3-5% of their
earnings.

For most IT services and BPOs, a robust IT infrastructure in the
end is used to stay ahead of competition for maintaining the capability to
deliver the best technology enabled solutions to customers.

Stuti Das

stutid@cybermedia.co.in