The global financial crisis has inflicted at least a year's delay on the Indian IT outsourcing industry's drive to reach its short-term revenue forecasts, with key markets in the US and Europe suffering from the financial downturn.
The outsourcing industry believes the growth of the LPO is expected to be between 50 and 100 per cent. Forrester Research, an independent technology and market research company, has projected the offshoring of 29,000 legal jobs by the end of the year and as many as 79,000 by 2015. When a company files for bankruptcy protection or various forms of bailouts take place in the US, there arises a need for legal work associated with such events.
The US' attempts to block outsourcing work to low cost destinations like India "made no sense" as the future lay in creation of newer jobs through technological changes, a leading American academic has said.\n\n\n\n
This indirect outsourcing will make Airbus' parent company EADS' total business outsourced to India grow 10 times by 2020, from the current euro 100 million. In comparison, the total outsourcing to countries outside Europe will only increase by more than three times in that period, albeit from a far larger base of euro 8 billion. Industry experts said this indirect outsourcing would be a clear way to rationalise costs.
More and more companies are opting for outsourcing data centres. Data centre operators are also called managed service providers (MSPs). These MSPs include Reliance Communications (RCom), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Bharti, Netcore, and Ctrl S. The biggest outsourcers are enterprises, banks and financial institutions. IT managers in the Asia-Pacific region rely on outsourcing data centre operations more than their peers.
Compelled by the pressure to cut costs and compete globally, there is no turning back for the American companies on offshore outsourcing, according to the latest issue of US magazine Forbes.
The Promed group manufactures and delivers branded as well as generic pharmaceutical formulations to Russia, CIS, south-east Asian countries, the UK and EU.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) is set to acquire Haleon's global portfolio of consumer healthcare brands in the nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) category outside of the US. DRL will pay a total consideration of 500 million, including an upfront cash consideration of 458 million and contingent cash payments up to 42 million based on performances in CY25 and CY26. DRL will acquire the portfolio through the purchase of shares of Northstar Switzerland SARL, a Haleon group firm.
The survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Duke University's Offshoring Research Network stated that the outsourcing industry is transforming due to the emergence of new providers around the world and efforts of existing outsourcers to expand into new markets.
Infosys Technologies Ltd announced on Tuesday its selection as Best Outsourcing Partner by readers of Waters, a leading publication covering the needs of chief information officers in the global capital market firms.
In a discussion paper, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has suggested creation of new service entities to which most of the statutory compliances, under the labour laws for small and medium enterprises, can be outsourced.
The global outsourcing market seems to be going through a sluggish phase, showing signs of slowdown, as number of deals signed during the July-September quarter this year dropped to 472 from 503 deals in Q3 2010.
After business, knowledge and legal process outsourcing, the Indian industries are now eyeing 'diagnostics jobs' outsourcing from other countries. According to industry experts, a number of hospitals in the US and Europe are outsourcing laboratory and diagnostic tests to India as it helps in saving cost and money while maintaining quality.
The outsourcing industry, which provides services ranging from developing software for overseas clients to managing back office processing of mortgages, has risen to become one of India's main export earners.
20 Indian companies, including Infosys, Wipro, TCS, made it to the top 100 global outsourcing companies.
State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, is on an outsourcing overdrive. After outsourcing the back-office work in foreign offices, the bank has now decided to rope in external agencies to set up automated teller machines to save on capital expenditure and reduce the rollout time. It plans to initially outsource 500 ATMs to vendors, including original equipment manufacturers.
Top five vendors captured more than 50% of the total contract value.
Outsourcing could be one of the campaign issues.
The five-year BP outsourcing deal for $1.5 billion (Rs 7,500 crore) is the best piece of news that the outsourcing industry has had since the global recession began. It tells the country that outsourcing, and its companion off-shoring, are here to stay.
Two senators are probing how Indian outsourcing firms use U.S. work visas, with an eye on new restrictions.
The human resources department is so 20th century. Recruitment has become the next outsourcing frontier. Think India.
Is the only Indian company to receive this recognition, is included due strong growth there.
'We have got enough internal accruals, and we are able to do acquisitions on our own.'
Seeking to allay fears over the outsourcing backlash, Union Communications and IT Minister Arun Shourie said India's strengths in talent, skill and costs in software service would make it imperative for the companies to outsource to India.
Many Indian companies provide outsourcing services to various American entities, including large banks and financial institutions.
The US is the biggest market for the outsourcing industry.
Mittal said the US continues to face shortage of IT skills, and expressed hope that there would be comprehensive changes in immigration policy.
If low-paid workers in China and India can sew your clothes, process your medical bills and answer your computer questions, why can't they teach your children, too?
Chicago-based Tribune Publishing Company is moving work to TCS
The Reserve Bank of India is likely to formulate guidelines on outsourcing banking activities by July to improve regulatory oversight for risk management of this segment.
With a large number of Indian youth aspiring to work in the railways, delays in filling up railway job vacancies were a point of criticism against the BJP in the run-up to the elections.
After outsourcing its network management and IT operations, Sunil Mittal-owned Bharti Group has given contract of its call centre operations for mobile services to four global majors in a deal, valued cumulatively at Rs 1,000 crore.
Legal research and patent search are the latest in a string of outsourcing items increasingly sent to India.
China and India's advantages such as lower costs and greater market opportunity outweigh the higher risk compared with the more established and mature regulatory regimes of Australia, Japan and Singapore.
Reflecting United States President Obama's consistent refrain in recent weeks while on the stump campaigning for his re-election where he has been railing against the outsourcing of American jobs to China, India, and elsewhere, the national Democratic manifesto unveiled at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, has said, "The Democratic Party believes in insourcing so that America can out-build the rest of the world again."
Outsourcing of passport related services -- like issuing of new passports, renewal -- has been given to VFS Global, which would begin its services from April 16.
