Indian Contact Center Outsourcing: Surviving the Shakeout

SUMMARY

Introduction

Newcomers to the Indian outsourcing market are utilizing aggressivestrategies, such as significantly discounting services, to grab a piece of the$400 million market, resulting in shrinking margins and questions as to who willsurvive the inevitable shakeout. This report examines the Indian outsourcingmarket, focusing particularly on the competitive dynamics of this dynamicmarketplace.

Scope

• Forecasts for the Indian outsourced contact center market, given by callcenters and agent positions.
• Key data segmentation and analysis of activity outsourced to India bybusiness function, communication media and vertical market.
• Competitive analysis of key Indian outsourcing players, including profilesof leading Indian outsourcers, such as Wipro, Infosys and GTL/Global.
• Actionable recommendations for both outsourcers and technology vendorspitching to outsourcers.

Report Highlights

Datamonitor expects customer service, helpdesk, collections and salesactivity to significantly outpace the growth of back office processing activityfor the next two to three years.

Datamonitor believes that in two to three years there will be a second Indianoutsourcing market shakeout, driven by consulting companies exiting the contactcenter outsourcing market, by either spinning off their contact centeroperations or by turning over management of their customer care offering toother third-party outsourcers.

Contact center infrastructure technology vendors should pitch advanced callrouting and workforce optimization technologies to offshore Indian outsourcers.

Reasons to Purchase

• Local Indian outsourcers can learn how to best compete against onshoreoutsourcers.
• Contact center technology vendors can develop successful marketing programsthrough identification of high-demand technologies for Indian outsourcers.
• Outsourcers can develop successful vertical strategies through thesegmentation of outsourcing demand by vertical.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MARKET CONTEXT

Key Findings

• Examine the key metrics which demonstrate how market growth will occur overthe period 2002-07
• Understand what will cause the market slowdown in 2005
• Understand the drivers and risks to outsourcing to India
• Segment market activity by business function and communication medium

Research Methodology

• This report is based on extensive primary research, including a regularsurvey of 250 call center managers, and interviews with the key industryplayers, including outsourcers, technology vendors, systems integrators andtelcos. Information and data was validated both through key company contacts andan extensive in-house quality check that crosschecks data between countries andvertical markets.

Market Regions

• India

Drivers and Trends

Overview of what is shaping the Indian offshore outsourcing market. You willunderstand the key drivers and the future direction of the market, as well asunderstand the business opportunity by vertical market.

• What are the vertical markets most likely to outsource to India?
• How is the current influx of newcomers to the Indian market affectingpricing?
• How important are quality certifications to winning contracts?

COMPETITIVE DYNAMICS

The Indian offshore outsourcing market remains very fragmented andcompetitive but is beginning to witness consolidation. As the demand foroutsourcing to India steadily rises, so to does the number of different types ofvendors offering outsourced services. Currently there are four major types ofvendors offering services from India and one potential competitor. This chapterdetails the strengths and weaknesses of each type of vendor and providesprofiles of the following key local Indian outsourcers.

• 24/7 Customer
• Daksh
• GTL Limited/Global CMS
• ICICI OneSource
• MsourcE
• TransWorks
• Wipro Spectramind

ACTION POINTS

• To effectively compete against multinational outsourcers, Indian outsourcersmust establish a global operational presence.
• Indian outsourcers without the resources to expand their global reach mustbecome vertical specialists.
• Contact center infrastructure technology vendors should pitch advanced callrouting and workforce optimization technologies to offshore Indian outsourcers.
• Consulting companies should be seen as near-term competitors but long-termpartners.

APPENDIX

• Relevant Datamonitor products

DATASETS

• Table 1: Outsourced contact centers and agent positions in India
• Table 2: Outsourced contact centers and agent positions in India
• Table 3: Outsourced contact center traffic in India segmented by businessfunction
• Table 4: Outsourced contact center traffic in India segmented bycommunication medium
• Table 5: Outsourced contact center traffic in India segmented by verticalmarket
• Table 6: NASSCOM ranking of contact center & BPO players