NASSCOM dispatch: "We're now past the era of BPO" (Pramod Bhasin)

Have just listened to the inaugural NASSCOM address delivered by Som Mittal (President, NASSCOM), Ganesh Natarajan (Chairman, NASSCOM), Shri Jainder Singh (Secretary for IT and Comms Department for the India Government) and Pramod Bhasin (CEO Genpact).  My main observation is the level of energy, passion and enthusiasm for the industry by the speakers - a far cry from some of the tired, jaded speeches I have been subjected to in the States and Europe recently. 

Som Mittal talked about India's resourcing issues, with companies across different industries now competing for the same talent.  He discussed the fact that 85% of India's outsourcing services are delivered from the main 7 cities, and even if they achieve a split between the tier 1 and tier 2 cities of 60/40 my 2018, that still represents a 250% growth for the tier 1s.  He also discussed the influence of social networking tools, such as Facebook and YouTube, on India's youth and the influence it is having on their career development.

Shri Jainder Singh, revealed BPO exports for 07-08 totaled $10.9 billion, a 30% growth over 06-07. He also discussed the huge importance of KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) as a driver for India's development as a provider of higher-value business services.  He also cited the major infrastructure challenges ahead for India, namely creating new urban centers, educational reforms and a robust information security environment.

Finally, Pramod Bhasin, Genpact's CEO stormed into action declaring unprecedented growth in BPO - 33% overall (I think that one came from me), and 28% in BPO exports.  He then went on to declare that we are "now past the era of BPO", and that we're now entering the "Globalization of services and building a full-scale services industry".  Bhasin sees BPO as a convenient catchphrase that doesn't represent the depth of services.  He also discussed the need for real process expertise and real domain expertise:  companies today don't ask for "BPO", they ask for "finance solutions", or "HR services".  Bhasin also discussed the fact that wage inflation was now under control, citing a 10-12% increase on a $4,000 annual salary being far preferable to the same increase at a much higher wage.  He also mentioned that currency fluctuations were smoothing out and the real disease threatening india was attrition.   He finished by emphasizing the need for massive public and private partnerships to develop their entire ecosystem, reform their healthcare and education systems.  I hope someone sends a recording to Messieurs Obama and McCain...

Anyway... must run to a meeting.  Nothing like blogging from the spare laptop in the speakers' room. 

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[Sumit Nath]

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