India Knowledge Process Outsourcing Industry expected to touch US$ 30 billion by 2015

India’s KPO market is expected to touch US$30 billion by 2015 from the FY2013 level of US$20 billion, which highlights the fact that KPO industry in India, continues to grow at a CAGR of about 30% annually, according to ASSOCHAM. India dominates the Global KPO industry as it controls the 70% market and industry is seeing good growth despite the economic slowdown that impacted the outsourcing industry as a whole. Growth in the Industry is fueled by demand for profession-based services in areas of research for capital & financial markets, legal works, editing jobs for international publishing houses, analytics, etc. KPOs has also other advantages like better work tools and processes, sophisticated client centricity, higher billing rates & more domain focused organizations. Currently the industry has more than 3.5 lakh professionals specialized in engineering, medicines, management and professionals in the field of accountancy, company secretary and legal fraternity but there still is huge demand for professionals as the industry still needs around 6-8 lakhs professionals by 2015.  Not only HR requirement is an issue but also the fact the KPO industry deals with highly confidential and secured data, India needs to work its data security and privacy laws. The KPO sector deals with confidential data, including financial data, treasury and cash management functions and investment portfolio decisions and needs to address the issue of data security raised by international clients, said Mr. Mr. D S Rawat, ASSOCHAM Secretary General.

Some of the KPOs in India are Evalueserve, Genpact, EXL Service, Copal Partners, WNS, PANGEA3, etc. Availability of highly educated talent, cost arbitrage, favorable government policies, Time Zone advantage, India has become the most attractive location for KPO. Companies like Bain & Co, Mckinsey & Co, Ernst & Young, and KPMG have their own knowledge centres in India. India’s professionals are proficient in KPO software like SPSS, SAS and MS Excel and well trained in advanced analytical, technical and interpretation skills. But industry is facing stiff competition from countries like Philippines, Russia, China, Poland and Hungary as these are emerging strong contenders for KPO business in view of qualified KPO professionals, low-cost advantages, domain expertise, location advantage, sales and marketing capabilities and data compliance, according to ASSOCHAM. Industry have to look at Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities where there is good talent available due to presence of good educational institutions and the companies can work closely with these institutions and train the talent accordingly. With high speed internet penetration, Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities are a good option for KPO Industry players and since KPO work can be done by individuals or small teams – remote work is also possible. KPO companies have to come up with working models that can tap into the isolated resources pools available in smaller towns across India, adds the ASSOCHAM. KPO industry growth will be driven by factors like breadth and depth of coverage, domain expertise, location advantage (e.g., near-shoring & language capabilities), sales and marketing capabilities, data compliance with respect to regulatory standards (especially of USA, Canada & the European Union) and the management of business risks, according to ASSOCHAM. The KPO industry has matured and the range of services being provided has expanded from research and analytics, to a variety of services, such as legal process outsourcing and clinical trial management.

India Business Process Management Industry 2013 – BPO Industry rebranding

NASSCOM, IT Industry Body in India is working to rebrand the Indian Business Process Outsourcing Industry to Business Process Management Industry which is a difficult task as it still needs to convince clients, job aspirants and other stakeholders. The BPO is often associated with low-end work night shift based typical call centres selling credit cards and insurance policies to foreigners. India's BPO services industry accounts for 38 per cent of the global market.But Indian BPO industry has moved away from this low end work to high end work involving analytics, MIS, Knowledge process outsourcing, legal process outsourcing, Healthcare and medical related work. This has led to the rebranding exercise by NASSCOM for creating a stronger image for Indian BPO Industry that will improve its identity as a full-service value provider that specializes in providing performance-based services.  India's BPM industry directly employs about 1.1 million people and this figure will touch 1.8 million by 2020. The sector is expected to grow to USD 50 billion by 2020 from USD 20.8 billion in 2012-13 fiscal at a compounded annual growth rate of 13 per cent, according to NASSCOM.

Global BPM sourcing market is currently valued at about USD 150 billion and India is expected to capture major share of this industry and Indian IT-BPO players are well equipped, as they have built the necessary technological expertise in Business Process as a Service (BPaaS), automation, IT-BPM interplay, etc. India’s BPM industry has changed its pricing models wherein it offers tailored pricing models like outcome based pricing model, according to client requirements, according to NASSCOM President Som Mittal. Already, the industry had moved to a non-linear trajectory. "The industry's growth from $18 bn to $20 bn was non-linear as people addition was far less compared to the normal course," according to Raman Roy, founder of BPM firm Quattro and who is regarded as one of the pioneers of India's BPO industry. Domain specialists in sectors like healthcare and retail will be the growth drivers for India's business process outsourcing (BPO) services industry, according to industry body NASSCOM. Nasscom president Som Mittal said the association was launching an outreach program that engages with various influencers, including academia and parents, about career options in the BPM industry.

Indian BPO Industry has been developing transformational outsourcing models that are more integrated with IT technologies and delivering clients huge value benefits and are also impacting the business outcomes of their clients. Higher end work in the areas of analytics, market research, MIS, customer relationship management, social media marketing, etc. and highly specialized work related to LPO, Healthcare outsourcing is also being outsourced to Indian vendors like Genpact, WNS, TCS BPO, Infosys BPO, HCL BPO, etc. Mergers and Acquisitions are also increasing as the Indian BPO players are looking to acquire new skills and technologies and offer them to clients that will not only increase their revenues but also increase their profitability. They are also establishing near shore development centers in Mexico, Brazil, etc and also in eastern European countries like Poland, etc. Indian BPO Industry has transformed into BPM Industry and looking to continue its growth trajectory. 

Finance & Accounting Outsourcing market maturing & seeing stable growth in 2013

According to Everest Group, Financing and Accounting Outsourcing: Annual report 2013, the global multi-process FAO market grew at the rate of 10% to reach ACV of US$4.3 billion which highlights the fact the market is matured and stabilizing and is further substantiated by the fact that over 65% of the ACV growth in 2012 was contributed by contract extensions/renewals. Cost reduction and process improvement are the primary drivers for adoption but standardization, scalability and flexibility drove FAO adoption further, emphasizing a cost+ value proposition highlights the Everest Group report. As the traditional markets matured the vendors are forced to move to under-penetrated markets but Europe led the market increased FAO adoption and mid-market and small buyer segments also increased their adoptions significantly in 2012 led to moderate growth in 2012. Competition in the FAO market is intensifying as the share of the top three service providers declined from 68% in 2002 to ~50% in 2012. Some of the key players in the FAO market are Accenture, Aditya Birla Minacs, Aegis, Capgemini, Cognizant, Datamatics, EXL Services, Genpact, HCL, HP, IBM, iGATE, Infosys, IQ BackOffice, NCO, Quatrro, Serco, Steria, Sutherland Global Services, TCS, Wipro, WNS, Xchanging, and Xerox. ( Data Source: Everest Group)

One of the significant trends is the rise in Adoption of end-to-end process but buyers continue to remain cautious and adopt a phased approach to F&A outsourcing. Some of the new focus areas that are emerging are Analytics, risk management & compliance and F&A services are increasingly getting industry-specific. The Everest report also highlights buyers are increasingly adopting non-advisor-led competitive bidding route for sourcing F&A services. India continues to be the predominant hub of offshore delivery and most of the vendors both global and Indian are striving to build a balanced onshore-nearshore-offshore model. Technology augmentation model is becoming the predominant approach where in the vendors are developing technology infrastructure and also adopting emerging technologies like cloud computing, mobility, social media and big data analytics to offer innovative service offerings to clients. Outcome based pricing model and platform-based solutions are also gaining traction. Service provider performance is up-to-the-mark against the metrics important to FAO buyers, resulting in high satisfaction levels. However, buyer organizations have highlighted some areas of improvements for service providers to work upon. Vendors are shifting their focus to building technologies and service offerings through adoption of emerging technologies like cloud computing and offer cloud-enabled F&A technology that can be delivered as a BPaaS solution.

Insurance BPO Vendor Profile – WNS

WNS insurance outsourcing service offerings extend across the insurance value chain of Property and Casualty, Life, Pensions, and Annuity. Services related to Product Development, Sales & Distribution, Policy Administration, Claims Administration, Analytics, Finance & Accounting and Customer Care.

With a dedicated team of over 7,500 professionals for the insurance industry, WNS manages over 40 million claims per year helping insurers streamline their claims operations. WNS recently positioned industry 'leader' for Insurance BPO in Everest Group's  Insurance BPO PEAK Matrix.

In January 2012, Australian insurance major Suncorp gave majority portion of the order worth $220 million to WNS for end-to-end insurance outsourcing for a period of five to seven years.

WNS won a $228-million contract from UK-based Aviva in 2008 for all in-scope services related to Aviva's life & general insurance businesses in the UK and Canada. Based on the anticipated service requirements of these businesses, WNS estimates Master Services Agreement could generate $1 billion in revenues over the life of the contract. WNS also benefits from a recently signed AGS contract for approximately 580 employees with Aviva's Irish subsidiary, Hibernian.

In June 2012, WNS has acquired South Africa-based Fusion Outsourcing Services in an all cash deal of over £10 million or $15.5 million. Fusion currently employs about 1,500 people and the centre currently offers high-end voice services with plans to start financial, accounting and insurance services.

Insurance BPO Vendor Profile – EXL Service

EXL’s insurance experience is proven by 60 leading global insurance carrier clients and the tenure of more than 4,000 industry professionals and is dominant player in the US Insurance BPO Market. EXL provides high quality services and better controls support to clients allowing them to be more efficient and to better understand their customers, their markets and their risks. Clients leverage EXL’s outsourcing, analytics, advisory and risk management capabilities.

Collaborate with clients to understand their priorities & design solutions to address insurers needs and support them to manage claims, enhance subrogation services, improve first notice of loss, build compliance preparedness, improve underwriting margins, optimize loss ratios, increase customer penetration or accelerate customer reach, &  help P&C, life, annuity and health insurers become competitive.

In October 2012, EXL acquired Landacorp, a provider of software in support of clinical data exchange in the healthcare industry  and acquisition brings 15 payer clients and 50 provider clients and Landacorp has  50 million members under management on its platforms

In October 2011, EXL acquired Trumbull Services, a specialized provider of Insurance BPO services in the Property & Casualty (P&C) segment in the US, which has a ready-made technology platform to offer in  U.S. P&C Insurance BPO space and the insurance subrogation BPO business in particular. In May 2010, it acquired PDMA, the maker of LifePRO, a policy administration system in the Life Insurance BPO market deployed with 40+ insurers around the world.