Outsourcing enters legal sector

Outsourcing is nothing but contracting out a company's non-core, non-revenue producing activities to third party companies. And recently there has been a big shift to outsource intellectually-based service activities like research, product development, logistics, human relations, accounting, legal work, marketing, logistics, market research.

 Offshore outsourcing has entered to the legal profession as well. However it had not entered the complex agreements but more fundamental labor. BPO companies lifts the burden so that the firm can focus on the aspects that provide maximum value to its clients such as strategy, negotiations, fact development, drafting, depositions and court appearances. Outsourcing legal work, ranging from legal research to proofreading to organizing and indexing documents for trial has emerged as a hot issue in the legal community.

Any talks or discussions on the offshore outsourcing sector leads to Indian BPO companies. India is at the forefront of outsourcing. This is due to technical maturity, cost advantages and the productivity gains firms receive.Today, India is one of the most exciting emerging markets in the world. Skilled managerial and technical manpower that match the best available in the world and a middle class whose size exceeds the population of the USA or the European Union, provide India with a distinct cutting edge in global competition.

 Law firms, legal departments of major corporations and state and federal government are increasingly following the BPO route to reduce cost and increase efficiency. Outsourcing allows them to remain competitive and serve more clients. It has become an indispensable asset to legal community. Moreover Indian BPO companies are more productive because they work six days a week, not five, and they start work 5.5 hours before the UK.

Companies return to growth after the high tides

According to IT research firm the return of growth has been accompanied by a strong appetite to increase spending on BPO projects. A survey of 600 mid-to-large companies in 14 countries found 54% of the respondents looking to increase their BPO spending this year by 5% or more.Out of this, 20% (of the total surveyed companies) were planning to increase their BPO budgets by 10% or more this year, reflecting at the return of growth. Most companies had put big projects, whether in BPO or IT outsourcing, on hold during the recession."Many of these budget increases are driven by the fact that BPM is focused on improving business outcomes and explicitly meets the objectives of many organisations' return-to-growth strategies,” says the expert.

The results are good news for  BPO companies in India and Filipino -- the two strongest players in the international BPO market. offshore outsourcing services refers to the handing over of activities such as handing customer queries and even making sales calls to specialist companies.BPO companies in India is arguably one of the biggest sources of employment for India's millions of graduates.The "return to growth" trend was stronger in Asia Pacific, where 25 percent of respondents were planning to hike their BPO outlay by more than 10%, compared to the 20% for the World as a whole.The numbers are more aggressive than corresponding figures for the IT outsourcing market, partly because companies see outsourced service providers as more crucial to their business expansion than IT.

"BPM project funding comes not from an IT budget but from the line of business budget in 66 percent of cases, and because BPM is focused on business outcomes, many business units are funding it more readily than they are IT-specific projects," expert pointed out.

BPO- Insurance

The life Insurance segment is facing various areas of concern like growing claims, increasing litigation, rising labor attrition and nontraditional competitions like brokerages and banks. In this situation, the Insurance companies particularly the ones dealing with Life Insurance need to implement remedial measures. Most of the life insurance companies rely upon Back Office service Provider for reducing administrative and labor costs through automation and outsourcing. The insurance outsourcing market is enormous with India being one of the most preferred destinations. There are nearly 3,000 insurance companies in the US alone and around 63 percent of India’s outsourcing revenue comes from United States, says Global Insurance Outsourcing report.

Also by outsourcing property and casualty insurance works, the insurers have focal determination of high severity claims management with accurate claim processing, faster business cycle, reimbursements and turnaround times. With the internet playing a major role in expanding insurance segment, majority of the population go for online insurance products than relying on the traditional methods. Consequently, the insurance companies particularly in the Property and Casualty insurance vertical are no longer relying only on Back Office Outsourcing but rectification and strengthening of crucial business processes. 

Shriram Value Services, an associate of the multi-billion dollar Shriram Group, headquartered in Chennai, India efficiently delivers insurance industry specific as well as cross industry BPO solutions for clients across the globe. We provide a list of comprehensive solutions to our trusted clientele reaching places far away from just being offshore BPO providers. With our deep domain expertise in insurance processing and diligence, Shriram Value strives to deliver maximum productivity, increased operational efficiency and profitably to our clients.

Insurance BPO sector in India

The Property and Casualty Insurance sector has been experiencing vibes of strong competition. This has been substantiated by the acquisitions and mergers happening in the segment due to the dominant position of large market leaders, ever growing technology and competitive pricing environment. However market conditions remain supportive for underwriting profitability and rates have increases in market segments particularly in Property and Casualty Insurance following catastrophes. All these have resulted in tight competition within the Insurance space. 

By outsourcing property and casualty insurance works, the insurers have focal determination of high severity claims management with accurate claim processing, faster business cycle, reimbursements and turnaround times. With the internet playing a major role in expanding insurance segment, majority of the population go for online insurance products than relying on the traditional methods. Consequently, the insurance companies particularly in the Property and Casualty insurance vertical are no longer outsourcing just back office support work but rectification and strengthening of crucial business processes.  

Shriram Value understands the segments of Property and Casualty insurance that requires enhancement and renders help in attaining proficiency.  We are equipped with knowledge as well as technological competence for delivering comprehensive off shoring solutions.

BPO sector ensues economic growth in India

When the demand for outsourcing work to India became significant among western companies, it led to the tremendous growth of BPO sector in the country. And this eventually led to the economic growth despite the global recession. The role played by BPOs in boosting India’s economy shows that the IT and ITES sector have been contributing largely to the economic growth of India. Studies prove that the growth in the contribution of BPOs to Gross Domestic Product has shown a steady rise from 1.2% to 5.4%. It is hence evident that the BPO industry is making an impact on the Indian economy.

BPOs in India are focused on the domestic segments and off-shoring. The benefit to the local economy is subject to well-judged utilization of resources existing in these areas. At the same time, BPOs are aiming at contributing towards bringing in more earnings to the country and IP creation. Emphasis on quality services, skilled sets and workers, cost effectiveness, quality product and English speaking manpower are some of the driving forces that account for the increase in foreign investments. However the role played by BPO in economic growth of the country is set towards making a significant impact in the time as well. The setting up of more BPOs is also bringing in more job opportunities for the Indian youth. BPO role in India's economic growth will even facilitate great manoeuvring in the country’s balance of payments.

Finishing schools for BPO training

A plethora of allied careers on the forefront has been brought out by the BPO boom in India. One of the latest in this ever-growing list of professions is voice and accent training. Log on to any job site and one is struck by the demand. With the Businees Process Outsourcing industry penetrating into smaller cities across India, the demand for the trainers are on the rise. Voice and accent training involves equipping professionals with communication skills required to survive in the globalised world.

Many voice trainers claim that voice and accent training is in fact more about speaking English clearly and neutralising native accents. This is to clarify the common misconception that voal training is all about putting on a British or an American accent. Basically no accent is right if it is not accent neutral. In a globalised world it is not possible to work without a neutral accent. Even Britain has 32 dialects which they do not recognise among themselves, opines the trainers. Some of the courses for the trainers cost as much as Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 for a 60-hour programme. Many organisations also employ in-house voice and accent trainers. 

 

The scope for trainers is definitely higher in cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai but with the number of BPOs on the raise and company’s planning to open in cities like Thiruvananthapuram, the prospects are looking good in the future. A beginner can make anywhere between Rs 250-300 per hour. This can go up to Rs 1000-2000 per hour or around Rs 60,000 a month.

Low cost in BPO sector appeals globally

India has been a subject for study in almost all industries and sectors across the world. And when it comes to BPO industry, the country has always ruled the roost. It has shown a strong withstand against the rising tide of global recession and surpassed the whirlwinds efficiently. According to a recent study, India's prowess as a low-cost business process outsourcing (BPO) hub continues to attract investors across the globe despite the regulatory issues in the country. The survey has thrown light at the current scenario in India and clearly establishes the country as one of the leading economies where foreign capital will flow into in the coming years. In addition to the overall strong macro-economic fundamentals, India's navigation of the economic downturn over the last couple of years has been strong and steady.

According to Nasscom, India's IT and BPO exports jumped 18.7 per cent during fiscal 2011 to $59 billion. It now accounts for 26 per cent of India's overall exports and 11 per cent of services revenue. Within the high-tech export basket, IT services grew faster (22.7 per cent) than BPO (14 per cent). The software and services export revenue is slated to grow 16-18 per cent during the current financial year to $68-70 billion. The decline in capital intensity of inward investment resulted from strong competition for investment projects and investment pattern diversification, the report said.

Mergers and acquisitons take its toll in BPO industry

The Indian BPO industry is seeing a spurt of merger and acquisition activities and this shows immense growth of the setcor in the coming years. The BPO veterans are to add more capabilities and are looking at acquisitions to widen their scope of offerings. The cleint base is really strong in most of the BPO companies and with the presence of the mother company across the world, the BPO clients are only a small percentage of that. The business process outsourcing companies continue to have huge headroom in growing with those customers and at the same time they are looking for opportunities. More and more companies are looking for acquisitions and of course the price has to be right.

There has been drastic benefit and oppotunity with the mergers and acquisitons. The companies are definitely looking into all those options. Their argusing point is that when they get so much enamour with the idea with going off with inorganic, they might not take a look at how much they are paying for it. Industry experts also say that several PE firms are looking to exit their investments in BPO companies which means more M&A activity in the coming months. Also analysts expect the BFSI space to witness the maximum deals as clients are now looking to outsource core functions like mortagage processing and core banking. Despite growing by 14 per cent last fiscal, the BPO industry in India grew much slower than IT services as delayed decision making and deal restructuring took its toll. Currently over 70 per cent of the outsourced work to Indian BPOs are basic services like customer interaction and support and this will change as firms move up the value chain.

BPO among youngsters

The BPO industry has definietly got projects in their pipe line and this can be adjudged by the way in which the sector has generated employment. Business process outsourcing firms have been hiring employees and expanding their manpower resource. Earlier youngsters in the country did not look at call center jobs as a stable career choice. Only college-goers or those who didn't find employment elsewhere worked at the call center. Customer service agents were largely undergraduates, more so in the third world countries. Hence the value for man power became less in the initial stage. However the scenraio has drastcially changed now. 

 

When the economy became lean and companies were expected to shed weight, the call centers were the only units that were hiring. The youth joining the telemarketing sector looks at the BPO industry with a fresh perspective. The BPO services job had a certain stability that was not shaken up by the economic meltdown. Youngsters want job security and that is not something that the other industries like offline marketing or retail were in a position to offer. Moreover, there was a strong sense of purpose in expanding their horizons beyond set parameters. There were more opportunities for growth and the youngsters took the challenge up enthusiastically.

Scope of BPO among job seekers

BPO refers to outsourcing in all the major fields of business and it has become one of the fastest growing industries in the past scenario. Various organizations have set up call centres wherein outsourcing of business process is done throughout cities as well as suburbs in India. There are call centres for customer care services of every other organization, right from telecommunications companies to banks.

A career in the outsourcing field has become a hit among the youngsters of India, thanks to the attractive five figure salaries and incentives! Usually youngsters of the age between 18 and 30 are seen to be indulged in the BPO jobs. According to surveys, more than one million people in India are working in the BPO industry, which is expected to increase to 2.5 to 3 million in the coming years. Factors which have led to the current boom are convenient transport facilities, attractive lifestyle, flexibility in work timings and whopping salary package. 

Since the clients expect top notch outcome, training in the BPO sector have become an essential thing. Hence many institutes have started imparting training to develop special skills required for the job, such as proficiency in spoken English, speech, accent and voice modulation, negotiation with clients, marketing skills and communication skills, through short-term diploma or certificate courses. After completing their graduation, job seekers can join any BPO as specialists in Transactional BPO, Comprehensive BPO, and Niche BPO etc. Ample job opportunities are available in customer support services, telemarketing services, technical support services, employee IT help-desk services, insurance services, data entry services, data conversion services and online marketing, in this field.