Archive for May, 2008

Unlocking The Full Potential Of Call Center Services

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

Hiring call center services offered by third-party offshore outsourcing companies is a trend that has become popular worldwide. Availability of wide ranging benefits such as cost savings, efficiency improvements and process optimization is providing the right reasons for businesses to hire call center services. However, there is a word of caution in that taking things for granted can easily negate all the benefits that might have been derived. Outsourcing certainly has its benefits, but since complacency is a factor that can adversely affect business interests at any given stage, it becomes necessary that all of the involved parties never let their eyes off their target.

Complacency can seep in from either side, i.e. the client as well as the service provider. If the objective is to unlock the full potential of call center services, both clients and service providers will thus have to work together and undertake initiatives to eliminate complacency. A good way of achieving that would be to hold regular meetings, where representatives from both sides can discuss current issues and future plans. The main agenda of these meetings should be the identification and resolution of problems and issues that might be acting as roadblocks.

Unlocking the full potential of call centers can be made a lot easier if automated tracking systems are installed. With the help of these systems, clients can keep track of ongoing activities whereas service providers will be able to assess their current performance. All of these will eventually help improve customer service quality, thereby allowing businesses to derive the best possible results from call center services.

Emerging Trends In India’s Data Outsourcing Industry

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

India’s data outsourcing industry is no doubt one of the oldest players in the outsourcing sector, but still it contributes significantly to the overall business generated by this dynamic sector, both in terms of value and volumes. It is estimated that data entry outsourcing services will contribute around 39.7% to the overall revenues generated by the outsourcing sector during the financial year 2008-2009. That will be quite a significant contribution, considering the fact that the global outsourcing market is currently worth a staggering $148 Billion and that India’s share is approximately around 27.3% and growing every minute.

The data entry industry has consistently produced double digit growth rates and is set to achieve even greater heights of success in the years to come. This is based on reliable market research data that indicates that demand for data entry outsourcing is now also being generated by Small & Medium enterprises as well. Earlier, the demand mostly came from large businesses based in the US and the UK, but with the subprime crisis adversely affecting all types of businesses, large and small, even the Small & Medium enterprises have started to feel the need to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Outsourcing data entry functions is a proven method for reducing operational costs and improving efficiency and that is one of the main reasons as to why more and more Small & Medium sized businesses have started hiring data entry services.

The ability of India’s data entry firms to achieve desired levels of accuracy is also one of the important factors that has aided the growth of the data entry outsourcing industry. Some of the best data entry outsourcing firms have consistently achieved and maintained accuracies as high as 99.99%, something that explains very well why India’s data entry firms are being preferred by businesses worldwide. It’s basically a win-win for both clients and India’s data outsourcing industry.

The Merits Of Financial Outsourcing

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

Financial outsourcing services may be a relatively new addition to the global outsourcing business, but still it holds great potential, especially in terms of the benefits that can be derived. It’s true that the finance function can never be entirely outsourced since it is a core process, but still opportunities exist because there is virtually no problem in identifying and segregating individual sub-processes that may not necessarily require an on-shore presence. Once that is done, businesses just need to search for an appropriate financial services provider, preferably an outsourcing company that has the requisite domain experience and expertise.

Outsourcing individual financial functions and related activities such as financial analysis, equity research, financial planning, final accounts preparation, tax planning, pay roll processing etc. has its merits because what it does is that it significantly reduces operational costs and overheads.

Another important benefit that it provides relates to time savings and man-hour savings, which together can be put to good use for optimizing other important organizational functions such as production, sales & marketing, business expansion and others.

Outsourcing financial processes also helps businesses to ensure high-quality, accurate services since the outsourced processes are handled by knowledgeable and skilled professionals. Moreover, since outsourcing is usually a contractual affair, businesses always have the right to demand the desired levels of quality, accuracy and efficiency from service providers.

Geographical boundaries may have acted as an impediment once, but now that high speed Internet services are readily available in most parts of the globe, such roadblocks have been eliminated. It basically implies that all businesses, large and small, can now benefit from financial outsourcing services.

Why India’s Outsourcing Companies Are Preferred?

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

For businesses worldwide, India‘s outsourcing companies are currently the preferred choice for almost all types of outsourcing projects such as customer care & support, B2B & B2C telemarketing, web promotion, content development, accounting and financial services, tax consultancy, medical records retrieval, market research, database creations, document scanning & sorting, infomercial sales services, insurance claims and many more.

There are many reasons as to why India’s outsourcing companies are currently preferred over outsourcing companies based in other countries, but if we were to talk about the primary reasons, it would most likely include the ability of Indian-based outsourcing companies to deliver wide ranging benefits such as cost savings, efficiency improvements, quality upgrades and process value addition.

Outsourcing companies in India were the first that started providing outsourcing services and over the years they have acquired high-level skills, expertise, and domain experience, factors that provide these companies a natural edge over competitors.

Apart from soft skills, these companies have also invested heavily in developing the requisite infrastructure, which includes everything from business premises, to computer terminals, telecommunications systems, always-on web servers, databases, and advanced IT systems.

All this naturally helps in improving quality, efficiency and accuracy of services offered, something that every client would like to have after having made the outsourcing decision. Through word-of-mouth publicity and referrals, the above factors help in generating more business for outsourcing companies based in India.

In spite of the subprime crisis, outsourcing companies in India are still registering double-digit growth rates, the average being an astounding 25%. That is enough to prove the competitiveness of India‘s outsourcing companies and also explains why they are preferred by businesses worldwide.

Why The Benefits Of Outsourcing To India Cannot Be Matched?

Sunday, May 25th, 2008

Well, there are many reasons as to why the benefits of outsourcing to India cannot be matched, but the one that is probably the most prominent is the fact that being a developing country, India has some very useful natural advantages. Human resource acquisition and retention costs, infrastructural development costs and overheads are a lot less in India as compared to that in developed nations such as the US and the UK. This naturally reduces the operational costs of outsourcing companies based in India, something that ultimately gets delivered to clients in the form of cost savings. That’s a natural advantage that cannot be recreated in a laboratory.

There are other developing countries in the world, so why only India? Well, it’s simply because India has the largest English speaking population in the entire list of countries that do not have English as their mother tongue. The English language is quite prevalent in India because the country was a British colony for more than two centuries. The other reason is that the country has a wide network of schools, colleges and universities that use English as the primary medium of instruction. With capacity intakes exceeding hundreds and thousands, these schools and colleges provide a regular supply of the required talents and skills as needed by the outsourcing industry.

The hard work and efforts of those who work in the outsourcing industry in India has also contributed to the phenomenal success achieved by India’s outsourcing companies. Combined with the natural advantages available through outsourcing to India, it has propelled the country to acquire the leadership position in the global outsourcing market.