BPO vendors see larger US deals by year-end

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Reviewing roadmaps

The uncertain environment has indeed forced client companies in the US to 'reprioritise' and 'review' their roadmap for the future, but key offshoring decisions are only being put on hold and not being relinquished altogether. However, this uncertainty is taking its toll on the Indian BPO sector, industry officials feel.

What BPO companies are facing today is the result of client situations of the past six months, said Mr Sandeep Soni, CEO and Executive Director of Spanco BPO Services. "In the last 3-4 months, clients were figuring out how to get out of the sub-prime mess and hence outsourcing was not one of their main priorities," said Mr Soni.

Moreover, the depth of the crisis forced many clients to review all key decisions, resulting in a temporary stoppage of outsourcing work, a senior official with a Mumbai-based BPO said on the condition of anonymity. Moreover, a lot of CEOs and CFOs have been losing jobs overseas, which has again prolonged the decision-making cycle.

BPO firms say there is indication that client companies are nearing completion of their internal evaluation process. Once these companies have sorted out the issues, they are expected to offshore more than what they did in a bid to trim losses and stay competitive, an industry analyst said. This will result in larger ticket sizes for Indian BPOs, says Mr Lokendra Tomar, Senior Vice-President, Knowledge Services, Integreon.

Already, deal visibility is much better compared with the situation in August or September last year, prompting BPO firms to believe that there will be light at the end of the tunnel by the year-end, feels Mr Soni. Mr Tomar feels that the ill effects of the US recession on the BPO space would last, at most, till September.

Taken from Business Line

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