Sanjay Mehta, CEO, Teleperformance India: The important thing is our running out of this whole exercise, and it's not about commodity or specialization. Whatever you choose to do and what we choose to do; we have to be good at it-the best at it. There is tremendous opportunity at the every level.

John Harkin, MD, Insurance Software Business, Xchanging: We are retaining and attracting staff because they are beginning to understand the importance of technology in a business services company.

Avinash Vashistha, CEO, Tholons: I guess without technology, BPO would not have happened. Essentially, technology is at the heart of the entire BPO revolution.

Information Security in BPO, Gautam Dua, business manager, Check Point Software Technologies: Technology is a key part in the delivery of processes and that goes without saying. It does play the underlying architecture. What is becoming more and more relevant in today's time is the end result. Customer's experience is also critical. And we can bring technology anywhere to help elevate the level of experience. This is going to add value to our business.

SESSION II
Prakash Iyer, group product manager, Tata Indicom Enterprise Business Unit: The initial capex, maintenance cost of infrastructure, and support services, which vendors require for regular AMC, needs to be maintained both on hardware and software. Call centers today are best operated if they focus on the core business. Hosted contact center services help you do that.

Srikiran Raghavan, regional sales head, RSA: We can make a difference by looking at how to change the landscape by applying information security principles in an enabling fashion rather than a restrictive fashion. People, whether your customer, your partner or own employees, have all become increasingly virtual and mobile.

Industry Presentation
Vineet Kalucha, director sales (Apac), Talisma: Today, the alternate channel-non-voice-are seeing much higher growth because they are based in the US or other such places while customers are in places like India. The adoption of the Internet is increasing. emailing for services, chat, and self-service has become popular. Voice is also moving from the traditional PSTN to VoIP, increasing the dependence on the Internet. BPOs also need to look out more towards emerging technologies and be ready with the offering and knowledge.

Panel
Ravi Jaganathan, head, Global BPO Services, 3i Infotech: Clients are expecting a lot. We are talking about so many value-added services and it's not just volume anymore. When you talk about value, there is need for an integrated approach. Only technology fills that gap, and then security is the next critical area where technology is inevitable.

Dhananjay Prasad, VP, IT/MIS, Keane Worldzen: We are actually into the infrastructure block and we wanted to migrate. Initially, we were just looking at a cost play kind of a game, which was a lift-and-shift operation for the BPO. But, subsequently, when we came to generation BPO Version 2 or second generation products, it was cost and value play wherein process improvements were happening across. Technology was playing an initial role in the improvement of processes, moving toward quality and other aspects.

Rajnish Sarna, director, Effort BPO: There is a need to keep looking at newer technologies. What people really miss out during panel discussions is the physical security. There was a mention of a beta version of physical security but it is limited largely to network and data security. So, even in things like media surveillance, technology will become an important part.

Gautam Dua, business manager, Checkpoint Software: But security is actually an inhibitor in a way. .

Akhilesh Tuteja, executive director, KPMG: You need to have different network segments for different clients. At the same time you need to have at least the basic level of security in every segment.

Nilabh Jha
nilabhj@cybermedia.co.in