Print this article

Comment This

Email this article

What are some of the issues and challenges for the BPO industry?
We operate in multiple locations and work with various operators from different countries. The local connectivity in India is not as good as in the UK or US, considering the kind of SLAs that we get. We have to take a lot of precautions for maintaining the services continuously without any scope for failure. We have adequate redundancy built in and subscribe to different routes across transatlantic. The SLA on uptime depends on the route, which we are negotiating for. There are restorable and non-restorable links that we have to keep in mind, while negotiating with a service provider. This is crucial as a substantial part of our business is related to directly facing the customers.

What are your views about technology adoption in the BPO industry?
We are deploying latest technologies and are keen on newer technologies such as MPLS, but we are not so confident about it as of now. It might be some time before it becomes a technology of choice.

What is your view about the recent incidents of data theft at some BPO companies?
These are stray incidents and they have been blown out of proportion by the media. We take all the precautions in our companies to protect the confidentiality of the data and do everything possible to stop it from moving out of the premises. It is not only the physical security of data. We are also vulnerable to attacks such as virus against which we take adequate safeguards. We are geared up and do not see any problem.

What do you feel about sharing of infrastructure by BPO companies?
I don't see this becoming a reality considering the security demands of our customers who want strict confidentially of the information. Convincing the customers about shared infrastructure would be a difficult task. Sharing is already being done on some level with companies setting up units inside the Software Technology Parks of India and in the same premises.

Do you see any policy related hurdles to the smooth running of BPO operation in India?
The government recently, came up with a regulation for allowing the infrastructure of domestic and international infrastructure. But I feel that the government should speed up the process of granting permission for such sharing. Policies are there, but it is very important the way you implement it.

What are some of the new technologies, which can be adopted by BPO companies in India?
As far as voice process is concerned, I feel that managed CRM and voice recognition would be the two technologies, which will see a large-scale adoption. Voice recognition is very important as it ensures the confidentiality of the people who are calling. Apart from this, I feel some diagnostic tools would be available, which will mean a better customer experience, and which will help us provider faster services. As for data services, technologies, which ensure data security, better workflow, and moving images across locations, would be most welcome.

Sudesh Prasad  
sudeshp@cybermedia.co.in