The world’s largest IT training company, New Horizons, announced that it will offshore global content development to the Indian joint venture. New Horizons India (NH India) will create content for internal training material that will be used in 60 countries across the globe, and also offer the same services to both Indian and global customers who require customized content. This also marks New Horizons’ foray into the content development space which until now, it had outsourced to vendors in the US. 

To execute the high managing business New Horizons India is likely to invest an initial $ 10 million over the next three years. A 13,000 sq ft. state of the art development centre has been set up in NOIDA, in the National Capital Region, for which staff of 200 has been hired in the first phase. By the end of 2009, New Horizons India will increase this headcount to 1000, taking its overall staff strength to over 3000 in India. Speaking on the announcement Mark Miller, President and CEO New Horizons Worldwide Inc. said, ‘We believe that the market for content outsourcing is a $ 1 billion opportunity worldwide, and we are confident that New Horizons India will be able to leverage their expertise in technical training as well as the strong Indian intellectual resource pool to capture a significant share of this market.’

With innovation driving global technology change more rapidly than ever before – and businesses IT adoption cycle down to three years from five a decade ago, the need for content in the IT space alone is overwhelming – and ranges from user manuals to internal technical guides, process manuals etc. Added to this is the opportunity in the internal communications arena which is also fast becoming a specialist field. ‘And this is just the beginning of the consolidation possibility in the hitherto fragmented arena of content development.’, said Mr. Ajay Kumar Sharma, President and CEO, New Horizons, India, adding that “Knowledge process outsourcing will be the key growth driver in the global outsourcing opportunity, and India is perfectly suited to leverage this trend to accelerate its positioning as the global knowledge hub. We at NH India are proud to be leading New Horizons foray into this segment, and believe firmly that a combination of our skilling abilities and available skillable talent will both prove success factors in this venture.’

The content development centre in NOIDA will provide content for over 500 titles, spanning both IT and non IT segments. The former includes Instructor led proprietary course material, Technical documentation, User Manuals and E-learning material while the latter  includes content for K12 segment  text books and career development programs in the non-IT space as well as customized content for Internal customers of fortune 500 companies. ‘To begin with, the titles will be developed in English, but going forward NH India plans to add multilingual capabilities too.’ Mr. Sharma added.

The knowledge process outsourcing industry in India is now big business and India is no longer just a hub for cost-effective, English-speaking ‘bodies’. It is emerging as a goldmine for high-level skills, too. KPO outfits are helping global firms source high-skilled work out of India in a cost-effective and efficient manner .According to industry estimates KPOs in India will grow to $12 billion by 2010 from $0.72 billion in 2003. There will be over 2.5 lakh KPO professionals by 2010 compared to the current figure of 25,000 (source Evalueserve) .As India slowly builds its brand in the global marketplace; companies have started offering more high-end jobs to India. New Horizons which is known for its tested training methodologies, highly qualified faculty, and strict adherence to international training standards is looking at riding this tide to deliver world class content.

Sourced From: Text 100 Public Relations Consultancy