Knowledge services market on a fast track

 NEW DELHI, INDIA: A study by NASSCOM and CRISIL has presented some interesting insights into the knowledge services market in India, popularly known as KPO. As per the results of the study, the sector is on a high growth track with an yearly growth rate of 20 per cent.

With a large pool of talent available, India is leading the global scene for knowledge services. Estimations are that the $2 billion sector is going to triple by 2015 as demand for data analytics and research is surging massively.

“Knowledge services is not outsourcing, it is expertise and knowledge that is being delivered,” according to Pramod Bhasin, vice president, Genpact.

Knowledge services is currently one of the fastest-growing areas in the Indian BPO space. Among its different sub sectors, 45 per cent of the share is held by business research followed by data analytics and legal research. Data analytics is the most high-growth area that holds huge opportunities for service providers.

North America is expected to remain the largest market for Indian knowledge services, while Europe is the fastest growing. As customers are focusing more on benefits other than just cost savings, Indian service providers will be looking to add more value by implementing new technologies and strategies. There are new advancements coming up within different sub segments that include end-to-end workflows in legal research, quasi-consulting in business services and model development in data analytics.

To be able to capitalize on the knowledge services opportunity, service providers need to be able to hire, groom and retain the right talent. Talking about the major challenges the sector is facing today, Roopa Kudwa, managing director and CEO, Crisil said, “Finding and grooming talent is the biggest issue, even before the issue of retention.”

Emergence of other strong destinations in this space is another major challenge. As countries like Philippines and China are capturing attention, India as a destination needs to work around different areas like education and infrastructure and make things easier to work.