IT Outsourcing India

In a bid to expand the customer base, Mahindra Satyam, earlier known as Satyam Computer Services Ltd., on Tuesday said it is planning to tie up with Saab, a military defence and civil security solutions provider, to develop its India operations. Saab’s outsourcing contract to Satyam is estimated to be between $300-$400 million and is one of the largest customer wins in the recent past.

“This collaboration is a strategic step towards synergizing Satyam’s unique strengths in mission critical systems, ERP, engineering services, avionics and integration and Mahindra’s Systech’s manufacturing capabilities and engineering excellence,” said Anand Mahindra, Vice CMD, Mahindra Group.

The contract would also cover areas such as homeland security where focus is planned for end-to-end security solutions. “We view this relationshipa with Mahindra Satyam as a strategic meeting of two highly skilled teams believing in techincal and engineering excellence,” said Ake Svensson, President & CEO, Saab.

According to the initiative, Satyam and Saab will jointly address the Battlefield Management System (BMS) — which is field proven and deployed across many countries — for the Indian Army.

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New report by research firm XMG Global sees the market growing 14.4% this year, with India and China as the top two countries

In the report by Canada-based research firm XMG Global, India and China were singled out as the market’s top revenue generators, pulling in revenues worth US$48 billion and US$28 billion, respectively.

According to Vincent Altez, senior analyst at XMG, India will account for 44.8 percent of the global market, while China will hold at 25.9 percent. India’s market share is expected to remain similar over 2008, due in large to accounting adjustments following Satyam’s financial scandal and demand moving to other offshore countries.

Altez said in the report: "We are seeing new levels of normalcy in which the recession has provided the opportunity to rationalize, and shift work to other offshore destinations other than India.

XMG named the Philippines as the third-best performing destination, growing an estimated of 21.7 percent to register US$7.3 billion in revenues by year-end. The figure is still lower than the initial forecast of 24 percent, the research firm noted, where demand has been sluggish due to slower growth for IT services and delay in expansion plans by major market players in the country.

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Indian outsourcing companies figure among the top ten worldwide in IT infrastructure services, reflecting the growing appeal of offshore delivery of these services, according to outsourcing consultancy Technology Partners International (TPI).

Indian outsourcers figured in the top ten by value of contracts closed in the first half of this year, not only in their traditionally strong area of application development and maintenance (ADM), but also in infrastructure services, Siddharth Pai, a partner at TPI, said on Thursday.

That Indian companies such as HCL Technologies and Wipro have made it to the top ten in infrastructure services, a relatively new area in IT services for Indian outsourcers, suggests that customers are now considering seriously the option of remote delivery of these services from offshore locations like India, Pai said.

Indian companies figured in the top ten last year in ADM but not in infrastructure services, according to TPI data.

TPI released its index this week covering the global commercial outsourcing market in the second quarter and the first half of this year.

The market for outsourcing has shrunk to US$40.2 billion in contracts in the first half of this year from $51.5 billion in the first half of last year. TPI monitors contracts of a value of $25 million and above.

It is unlikely that the outsourcing market this year will grow to last year’s level of $93.1 billion, and is more likely to end this year with total contracts of less than $80 billion, Pai said.

Top Indian outsourcers have reported flat or declining revenue in the quarter ended June 30. Infosys, India’s second largest outsourcer, has forecast that revenue for its fiscal year ending March 31, 2010 will decline by 3.1 to 4.6 percent over revenue in the previous year.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/

Telecommuters who do administrative tasks, usually on a contractual basis, bring specialized skills and don’t receive benefits — or even desks.

Washington — Michael Hanik used to have 12 employees, a warehouse and trucks to run his medical devices catalog company.

But four years ago, he turned to the Internet to look for ways to reduce overhead costs for his Rockville, Md.-based Total Medical Systems. He now has just three employees on the payroll but as many as 50 contractors working for him, some of them known as virtual assistants.

he term, around since the Internet became widely available, encompasses anyone who telecommutes and does administrative tasks for other businesses, usually on a contractual basis. Most do tasks such as document preparation, paperwork and accounting. Some have niche areas, such as bilingual translation or creative services.

In the current economy, Jane Weizmann, a senior consultant at Arlington, Va.-based human resources consultant Watson Wyatt, said she was seeing more businesses with a "part-time cadre or network of people" who telecommute and bring different skills to projects as needed.

"It’s a lot less expensive than having resources on staff, sitting on the bench and waiting," she said.

Virtual assistants enable companies to save on real estate and equipment, as well as on benefits, which can add 35% to a base salary, Weizmann said.

She cautioned, however, against businesses relying entirely on outsourced work and contractors. The high levels of turnover can create an unstable workforce.

"You can supplement your core capability, but you can’t replace it completely with 100% outsourced work," she said.

The numbers are difficult to track because there is no formal certification and not all people doing similar work call themselves virtual assistants. But one small trade group, the International Virtual Assistants Assn., said its number of new members doubled from 2007 to 2008. To date this year, the group has added 160 members, bringing membership to about 900.

Hanik estimates he’s decreased his business costs 65% through outsourcing and using virtual assistants. "It’s a tremendous revolution," he said.

Association officials say the number of virtual assistants is increasing as companies lay off their administrative and executive assistants. Plus, the barrier to entry is low because most people already have the equipment they need, such as computers, printers, fax machines and Internet access.

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