The H-1B Equation

Computerworld
Next week, the U.S. government will begin accepting H-1B applications from companies that want to take advantage of an increase in the fiscal 2005 visa cap to hire foreign workers who have advanced degrees from U.S. universities. Up to 20,000 new H-1B visa slots are becoming available. Opponents of the cap increase say the graduates being hired will take jobs from U.S. workers, including IT staffers. Supporters argue that foreign workers are important to the country's economic health. At the core of the debate lies a question that's likely to re-emerge as the application process begins again: Do H-1B visa holders help or hurt the U.S. workforce? more...

Poor Offshoring Choices Risk Consumer Trust

Contact Center Today
The financial benefits of establishing a call center overseas are considerable: Published sources claim setting one up in India can save a marketer US$50,000, said Pat Kachura, the Direct Marketing Association's senior vice president for ethics and consumer affairs. While neither Kachura nor the DMA will assign a dollar amount to a poorly chosen overseas call center vendor, there doubtless is one, and it's not trivial. more...

Asia Calls the Shots in Global Outsourcing

CRMBUYER.COM
The dynamic Asian call-center market is all set to witness an astonishing 60 percent growth in 2005. The figures were released in a survey by ACA Research, Singapore, and Michigan-based Fortune 500 BPO staffing firm Kelly Services.
The booming call-center industry in India is to further expand operations by as much as 64 percent in the next 12 months. While the Philippines will witness a 53 percent growth, China will stand third at 50 percent. more...

Cognizant to invest $76 m in India

CIOL.com
US based IT services provider Cognizant Technology Solutions plans to invest $76 million in 2005-06 putting up facilities in Bangalore and also in Chennai, Pune and Kolkata. Announcing this, the company's CEO Lakshmi Narayanan said, "We have around 1000 people in Bangalore currently and when the new facility is completed next year, it can seat around 2250 professionals." A techno-campus would be developed in the CV Raman Nagar area of the city. To meet further expansion requirements, the company has acquired 10 acres of land in Electronic City. more...

It's Asia which's calling the shots in global BPO biz

Economic Times
The dynamic Asian call centre market is all set to witness an astonishing 60% growth in 2005. The figures were released in a survey by ACA Research, Singapore and Michigan-based Fortune 500 BPO staffing firm Kelly Services, Inc. The booming call centre industry in India is to further expand operations by as much as 64 per cent in the next 12 months. While the Philippines will witness a 53 per cent growth, China will stand third at 50 per cent. more...

A promising quarter for IT/BPO cos

CIOL.Com
Many IT companies including the major players as well as mid-tier companies showed strong quarterly results for the period October to December 31, 2004. The Indian industry heaved a collective sigh of relief in November when the US election results put President Bush back into the White House- ensuring that all was safe on the offshoring front. The big four consisting of TCS, Wipro, Infosys and Satyam witnessed good growth in net profit. TCS reported net profit of Rs 709.3 crore, a 54.1 percent Y-on-Y growth for the quarter ended December 31, 2004. Bangalore majors Infosys and Wipro also fared quite well with Infy recording a 52 percent jump in quarterly net profit (Rs 497 crore) while the latter's net profit stood at Rs 427 crore representing an increase of 71 percent over the same period last year. Satyam's net profit after tax was Rs 87.51 crore signifying a whopping increase of 141.82 percent over the net profit of Rs 36.19 crore in the corresponding period of last year. more...

Eye on Offshoring: Lessons From the Tsunami

Computerworld
While government and relief agencies around the world continue to funnel humanitarian aid to the victims of the Asian tsunami, multinational businesses are scrambling to assess their exposure to disasters of this sort, not just in terms of their own people and facilities around the world, but also to the suppliers of services they are ever more reliant upon. Businesses that have offshored services to India, China and other distant locations must understand the impact a natural disaster can have on their suppliers' facilities and infrastructures just as clearly as they understand their own vulnerabilities, and they must make plans to recover from any such disasters, wherever they may strike. more...

Indian units are IT MNCs' zip drivers

The Economic Times
They don’t have any marketing offices. Neither do they spend on advertising. Some don’t even sell their services or products here. Though selling in the Indian market may not be important, some global IT giants have nonetheless become dependent on India. Because of outsourcing, a substantial proportion of their workforce is now located here. The rising trend of offshore outsourcing has strengthened the India connection. The India operations of multinational companies like Accenture, Sapient, Convergys and Perot Systems increasingly play a major role in delivery of their services. more...

Fewer pink slips for techies

ZDNet
Large-scale layoffs, prevalent in the technology industry since the dot-com implosion, are scaling back. So indicates a fourth-quarter U.S. Department of Labor report released Wednesday. The study also suggests that offshore outsourcing--widely blamed for tech-related layoffs and other potential economic problems in recent months--accounted for just a small fraction of major, extended layoffs in the United States last year. more...

Outsourcers Anxious To Safeguard Privacy

Technewsworld
Nearly two-thirds of companies surveyed last year by a leading IT consulting firm said they weren't outsourcing abroad because of security concerns. Of respondents who are outsourcing, nearly half said they weren't doing more overseas because of the issue, according to the Forrester Research report. more...

Dubai Outsource Zone opens for registration

AME Info
Dubai Outsource Zone (DOZ) today announced that it has officially opened for registration to companies across the spectrum of the outsourcing sector. Announcing this, Ismail Al Naqi, Director of DOZ said today that the new initiative's key focus is on the mid and high-end Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector. more...

IT Jobs Exported via Offshore Outsourcing Totaled $51.6 Billion in 2004, Says Frost

Tekrati
Frost analysis of the global offshore outsourcing and offshoring of IT jobs reveals that the value of IT jobs exported in 2004 totaled $51.6 billion. According to Frost, its study is the first to provide hard numbers regarding IT job flows from high-cost countries such as the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Japan and Hong Kong to lower-cost nations, such as Brazil, Mexico, Romania, Poland, Russia, India, Malaysia and China. more...

Outsourcers are anxious to safeguard your privacy

The Charlotte Observer
Ensuring the security of customer data and other sensitive information remains a top concern of U.S. companies increasingly sending call center and computer work to lower-wage nations. And it's a matter of survival for the foreign firms providing outsourcing services. "If you have even one minor breach that makes it into the press, it's over," said Rick Rossow, IT policy director at the U.S.-India Business Council in Washington. "It's not going to take a lot for companies to pull back." more...

LogicaCMG to double headcount in India

Business Standard
LogicaCMG, the global IT services company, announced here on Thursday that it will increase its headcount in India by an additional 1,000 people by the end of 2005. This will take the number of employees to 2,200. According to Martin Read, group chief executive, LogicaCMG, “India will be the fastest growing region in headcount globally. more...

India Inc.’s Future: More High-Value Services

AMR research - USA
More than 17,000 IT professionals are discussing the future of the Indian IT services and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry at this year’s NASSCOM leadership forum in Mumbai. The question on everyone’s mind: How quickly will India Inc. expand and mature its higher value services? more...

India foresees reverse brain drain in IT

Sify.com
With the emergence of a matured offshore outsourcing industry, India is all set to witness a reversal of the brain-drain with over 10,000 Indians are expected to return every year, bringing with them investments and expertise acquired overseas. more...

Convergys to hire 4000 in Mumbai

The Economic Times
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company Convergys India will open a new call centre office near Mumbai by June. The company, which currently employs 10,000 people in India is looking to further increase its manpower by 4000. more...

India unit part of CSC R&D project

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Computer Science Corporation India has joined the company’s global innovation programme. As part of the programme, CSC India will initiate research and development activities in the areas of networks, storage and security. In line with the development, CSC’s operations in Hyderabad would be upgraded to the top level of its global network. more...

i-Gate to hire 1,000 this year

The Economic Times
iGate Global Solutions has announced plans to hire 1,000 people in 2005 to expand its integrated technology and operations capability. Over 500 will be hired at its Noida contact centre over the next 12 months. “We have recently announced two large integrated tech and ops deals and are seeing increasing traction in the marketplace for our integrated delivery model. The expansion is in line with our plans to build the required capability and scale that we need for going forward," says Phaneesh Murthy, CEO, iGate. more...

Polaris, Cognizant likely to expand Toronto operations

The Hindu Business Line
IT majors, Cognizant Technology Services and Polaris Software Lab are looking at ramping up their Toronto operations, as part of a strategy to use Canada as a near-shore option for clients in the US. more...

Report: China's outsourcing industry lags India's

CNET News.com - USA
The Chinese tech economy has been racing forward, but neighbor India has a comfortable lead in the field of software outsourcing. That's the conclusion of a recent study from consulting firm McKinsey, which said the fragmentation of China's software-outsourcing industry is a limitation. more...

2005: The year of CIO

MIS Magazine - Asia
New governance requirements and surging licensing costs show that the need for assertive IT management is greater than ever this year, says Irene Tham. By now, most IT directors will have already charted their strategic directions for 2005. more....