We grew 45% last year

Amitava Roy, president, Symphony Services

How has the global slowdown affected Symphony's business?



The economic crisis hasn't had much impact on us. We feel that the next two

quarters are going to be strong. We are getting new orders which are as strong

as the earlier. We grew 45% last year and expect to keep the same pace this year

also. From an Indian industry perspective the industry would remain vibrant but

there will be adjustments when we go on. We can see some impact of the financial

crisis in the BPO and KPO industry.The overall growth rate may slowdown slightly

but it will not be dramatically low, as the dollar has gone up quite

significantly. So, it will reduce some of the issues belief is that there will

be less growth for the certain sectors but for overall industry there will not

be much difficulty.

What is the scope for outsourced product development in India?



McKinsey's latest report says, as the cost increase in the western

countries, more outsourcing will happen and the pie is going to become bigger

and the market will grow very fast. The outsourced product development itself is

projected to be above $11 bn by 2011. According to Nasscom, the market

projection for outsourced product development is $3.5 bn, which comes to 30-35%

of the overall market. It is a fairly large market and there are only few

specialized companies in this market. There are many new small companies coming

in the market, so the potential for a specialized company like ours is high.

Can you elaborate on some of your expansion plans, both organic and

inorganic?



We are planning to expand our operations but that will be within the

existing geographies, we have already opened a center in China. We have opened a

new facility in Pune and also plan to expand our presence in Bangalore. We

expanded our sales and marketing team in Europe and the US. Plans for inorganic

growth always existed but it has to be a value addition for us, not just to

aggregate revenue. We look for inorganic growth only if it gives us special

skills or new markets.

Pradeesh Chandran



pradeeshc@cybermedia.co.in