Top 50 Emerging Global Outsourcing Cities - Tholons

Special ReportThe gateway to the global sourcing of IT and BPO servicesQ&ANeeraj Bhargava, CEO, WNS“Quality of talent isexcellent”What challenges did your company facein the past five years.We have witnessed a biggest problem ofpower and transportation, which needs tobe addressed by the government. Over thepast five years, the real estate cost havesoftened which came as a respite.What are the reasons to set up a centerin Mumbai? And how do you utilizethe destination to improve on youroutsourcing capabilities?Mumbai has good infrastructure and highqualitytalent pool. This makes Mumbaian attractive destination for providingBPO services, and it is because of theseadvantages, we opened our headquarterin Mumbai.Our organization currently has over 23,000full-time employees, delivering servicesfrom 22 global delivery centers spreadacross 3 continents. A large portion of theworkforce operates from India. Employeesare predominantly between the age groupof 25 to 35 years.The quality of talent is excellent acrossthe board for BPO services, which helpsus cater for over 200 customers includingBritish Airways, Travelocity, Aviva, BritishGas, T-Mobile. GS— By Pratibha VermaMumbai, IndiaMumbai, the financial capital of India, is not only home to Bombay StockExchange, which is the oldest stock exchange in Asia, but also is the centerof excellence for its outsourcing capabilities in financial services, ApplicationDevelopment and Management (ADM) and health-care services.India’s largest city Mumbai generates 5 percent of the country’s total GDP.The emerging services areas in Mumbai are engineering services, media andentertainment outsourcing, animation and game development.The city’s GDP is $41.3 billion, and its per capita income is $1,010, which isalmost three times the national average.The city exhibits an established position in the global outsourcing spaceowing to various factors like infrastructure, a large talent pool of around60,000 in BPO sector and developed policies. It had traditionally owed itsprosperity largely to its textile mills and its seaport till the 1980s, which werereplaced by industries employing more skilled labor such as engineering,health care and IT.India’s IT-services industry was born in Mumbai in 1967 with the creationof TCS. The first software export zone SEEPZ was set up here way back in 1973,the old avatar of the modern day IT park. There was a time when more than 80percent of the country’s software exports happened out of SEEPZ.There are around 30 registered units of electronic and hardware firmsand around 74 registered units of electronics and software firms in SEEPZat present. SEEPZ is relatively a safer area in Mumbai because there isn’t toomuch of new business or growth that is happening currently. Other parts ofMumbai are witnessing bigger growth and, hence, are more riskier.Mumbai is the preferred choice of outsourcing buyers for financial servicesBPO sector, contract research, which is in the growing mode and legal serviceswhich has a major center in the city. It is easy to find quality resourcesin Mumbai but costlier than other cities. ADM is the core strength of this cityand the new model, which is growing here is marketing and financial analytics.Some niche skills which are prominent here are engineering services andresearch and development.The city exhibitsan establishedposition in theglobal outsourcingspace owing tovarious factors likeinfrastructure, alarge talent poolof around 60,000in BPO sector anddeveloped policiesTop services providers like TCS, IBM, Infosys,Wipro, HCL, Mahindra Satyam, Accenture,CSC, ACS, Caliber Point, Firstsource, Convergys,Genpact, WNS Global Services, Minacs, Cognizantand EDS are present here.Estimated exports from Mumbai in softwareservices (including IT and IT-enabledservices) in 2008 were $3.0 billion to 3.6 billion.However, if Mumbai continues to growat 63 percent (as last year), it is expected totouch $ 4.1 billion.Being home to many financial institutions,the city faced a considerable impact of recession.Tholons Analyst Saugata Sen Gupta says,“The captive centers in Mumbai suffered badlydue to economic slowdown. The job marketbecame sluggish. A lot of engineers faced salarydeductions, and layoffs. The market has notyet recovered. We see some hopes in the end offirst quarter of 2010.”GS26 GlobalServices www. globalservicesmedia.com October 2009