24/7 Customer: We want to remain independent

In this consolidation phase in the BPO market, how do you see 24/7customer

positioned?

The consolidation is the result of the global economic downturn; the HP-Compaq merger

is a classic example of such consolidations.  The turmoil of the slowdown continues to exist for few.

Others, who have  managed to cope with the challenges,  have emerged strongly

as  leaders in the space of the services being offered.

But how will you ensure that you would be independent?

By being clearly focused on what we are offering, delivering what we

promise, and moving along with the market needs. We continue to get offers for investments, but right

now, we want to remain independent and be one of the top three `independent’

BPO players in the country. Moreover, companies across the globe are looking at

diversifying their risks and  they are outsourcing to different service providers. So, it does not make sense

to merge with an IT services company to get more customers. That is not

going to help much.

Are you then ruling out any investments and consider the Wipro episode an

aberration?

I was not in the organization at that point of time so I am not aware of all that

happened. Wipro acquired Spectramind, which is very good for both of

them. We were, at that point of time, considering a possible strategic investment

partner, but now we are able to operate independently and would continue to be

so. Clients are concerned about deliverables and not about whether the player is a one-stop-shop offering the entire gamut of

services. In fact, he does not want that. Today even a strategic investor is very unlikely to

bring many competencies to supplement our services.

What about a take-over bid?

Who are the possible buyers for us?  Big

services companies like Accenture, EDS are the likely names that occur to me. But they are better-off

outsourcing the services instead of

buying us out. A possible take-over bid by these companies is ruled

out for the next four to five years, because this is not their core competency.

The scenario after this period is unpredictable.

Given that you are independent how will you scale up?

We will be able to scale up whenever the business demands. However, every business has challenges to

be overcome and we do have

our own. Scalability should also be proportionate to the business acquired and

the sustainability of the client.  

Is that how you got into BPO?

A couple of existing clients of our voice-related services came forward and

initiated the talks of extending our services to non-voice related services like

transaction processing. The non-voice related services can be done any time, and

so,the work is executed during the day in India, when it is night in the

US. At the moment, we are engaged in offering BPO services to our existing

customers. 

There are rumors that ITeS companies underutilize their seat capacity to

gain cost advantage!

True, but now that scene is changing. By extending our services to non-voice

related activities our utilization rates have increased by over 20 per cent.

Voice- related services can be executed during a 12-hour time frame of the

customer, the rest of the time the seat is practically unused. Non-voice

related activities change the scene.

What is your next landing stage in the value addition chain in BPO?

A BPO is a huge ocean and any business, which can be outsourced will fall

under this category. BPO is a huge ocean and there will be components of BPO

emerging and categorized to specialized service providers.