Sunday 15 February 2009

Why a Blog on BPO Industry – 2/?


Having covered a little of the early days of how I came to be the CEO of Vital Link Outsourcing, I have been personal witness to all the explosion going on around in this segment now called BPO.
With a historical background and with some modesty, terming myself as a pioneer, I felt that the perspective that I bring to this field should not go unshared for the common benefit of the newer entrants.
I have also personally seen quite a bit of things going wrong and am anguished that as in any emerging segment gold diggers have rushed in. I think of myself as a crusader and feel that some of the trends emerging need watching for the benefit of all concerned. I have in this time seen quite a few ‘hype’ cycles and know that most press coverage during this period is ‘sponsored’ and that the media in a rush to file stories has little time for due diligence. In this Blog I am hoping to counter some of this for the benefit of all those who care to read it J .
Again with traditional media there exists very little scope for insiders and veterans to share their perspective for the benefit of all. I am hoping that with this blog there would exist a platform for all like minded individuals to come together and share experiences.

Venkat

Tuesday 10 February 2009

Why a Blog on BPO Industry - 1/?


When the Internet started in India, circa 1996, we at Vital Link Outsourcing got our email id from VSNL on the giasbm01.vsnl.net.in server in India. This server was / is the first email server available to the public and we were there. As such we had one of the first 1000 or so email ids from India. We still maintain this email id though in a shorter form now. For those who came in late, this server is now renamed as bom1 server by VSNL. And oh… VSNL itself got renamed as Tata Indicom.
In my earlier avatar as a Chartered Accountant ( a.k.a. CPA ) I had run a practice of advising US based clients. When my father was posted in NY from 1972 to 1976 I had spent my teenage years in the US of A and knew all about labor cost arbitrage. These years gave me an exposure in the business cultures of both countries. From 1992 to 1996 we had created capacities to capture data from Share application forms and with the collapse of the IPO market we did not know what to do with this capability. My Ham Radio ( VU3PVN ) background propelled my continuing interest in emerging technologies such as the Internet.
The confluence of all these forces led Vital Link Outsourcing to take its strategic assets and leverage its capabilities in the offshore markets so as to capture the labor arbitrage opportunities. Simply put, we started writing emails and asking for work, promising we could do it cheap. Ahhhh thats easier now…
From those beginings we have come a long way now. We now service Fortune 100 clients with with their business critical data with strict quality and tight turn around times on a daily basis.
This blog is to share with you my musings on this industry from its early days as also current and future trends in the emerging BPO industry in India.
I promise to write atleast once a week and from a common point of view so as to interest readers on both sides of the border.
Thanks for taking the time to stick to the end and do feel free to comment.

Venkat