rahul_parab2006
Rahul Parab
Overview
The ITeS (Information Technology Enabled Services) sector is a part of the larger and more prominent Information Technology industry. The ITeS sector is almost synonymous with the KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) and BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) sectors. The primary differentiator between the two industries is the workforce employed and the type of processes being outsourced.
Aided by the tremendous growth rate in the IT industry, the ITeS sector progressed rather rapidly in its early stages. This growth was further aggravated by significant developments in the domestic market, which grew to $1.2 billion between fiscal year 2006 and 2007. In 2007, the Indian ITeS-BPO segment grew by 33.5% and contributed $8.4 billion to the total software and services exports of $31.4 billion.Going forward, according to NASSCOM, the domestic BPO market is expected to grow to US$7.6 billion in 2011.
Speaking at a media conference, Kiran Karnik, former President, Nasscom, said, "The ITeS-BPO segment revenues would grow further and clock exports of $10.5-$11.0 billion in FY2008." "The Indian BPO sector has witnessed significant transformation over the past decade. Starting with basic data entry tasks, it now includes increasingly complex processes. The domestic market has also contributed to the growth of the segment as a whole and we expect ongoing momentum considering the large addressable market that it offers. Overseas M&A, along with increase in scale and depth of existing service lines, has complemented the growth of this segment," he added.
Structure
As mentioned earlier, the ITeS industry essentially comprises the BPO and the KPO sectors. The following is the structure of the BPO sector:
* Customer Support Services: Answering customer queries through voice, e-mail and chat.
* Technical Support Services: Finding and providing solutions for customer problems related to hardware, software, peripherals, and Internet.
* Sales and Telemarketing Services: Interacting with customers for selling or promoting products or services.
* Administrative Support: Indexing, form processing, data entry, document conversion, scanning, etc.
* Customer Relationship Management (CRM): (Services such as) Taking orders, customer service, product support, technical help desk, and market research.
* Finance and Accounting: Internal auditing, travel expenses, time and expense management, credit and debt analysis, collections, invoicing, accounts payable, accounts receivable and billing-dispute resolution.
* Human Resources and Training: Recruitment, training, attrition/retention, database management, contract-worker management, etc.
Opportunities
According to projections, the market size of the industry is expected to grow to $21billion-$24 billion by 2008-2010 and approximately 1 million jobs are expected to be created during the same period. Growing at a rate of 35%-40%, the domestic BPO segment employs around 1,50,000-2,00,000 people. Some global BPOs such as Aegis Communications Group, Firstsource Solutions, and IBM-Daksh are looking at the local market for potential BPO business.
Speaking about emerging opportunities in the industry, Manish Mehta, Senior Manager, HR, at one of the leading financial services BPO, since this is a very young industry with multiple position openings and recruitment happening in large numbers. The biggest USP of this sector is the availability of growth opportunities. “Typically young graduates who joined the industry in 2000-2001 will have risen to position of General Manager today.” The industry is growing at an exponential rate of more than 70% in India, and people associated with the industry are also progressing along with it”, says Mehta. “Progress is driven by performance, aptitude and an ability and willingness to learn while being both lateral and vertical,” he adds. Mehta says that the basic qualification required for this sector is graduation though some companies also prefer to hire from B-schools also. “Initially when ITES sector came into being there was a huge influx from the services sectors such as travel and tourism, hotels and airlines. Even today if senior positions are concerned one prefers experience over everything else,” he says.
Jobs in the ITES sector are spread across categories such as business development, operations, migrations, administrative, human resources, and quality initiatives. However, since the revenue generation in the ITES sector is via processes, it is the Operations jobs that are the revenue generators therefore the core function of the sector. In Operations jobs usually fall in three categories: voice-related jobs like customer help lines, and interacting with international customers; data-related jobs that involve communicating with customers on e-mail among other things; and consulting work like arranging balance-sheet data to facilitate analysis by clients like merchant bankers.
Additionally, since the Financial Services segment is the fastest growing arm of ITES a lot of CA’s and MCAs are being hired as well. “Even a while ago professionals may have been a little apprehensive about joining this sector as it was perceived only for graduates and those with lesser qualification. However, things are fast changing. There is a growing awareness about growth opportunities in the sector and the competitive salaries offered. In fact, today the ITES sector attracts and retains some of the best talent. Currently the IT/ITeS industry is among the largest employers in the organised sector creating jobs for over 7.5 million people both directly and indirectly, and this figure is expected to be well over 10 million by 2010 (Source: NASSCOM). From being perceived as an industry that merely specialises in answering calls and entering data, the ITES sector has moved on and is today recognised for the talent and potential to prove the talent and potential it contains.“ says Mehta. Today, even radiologists and doctors are being hired for remote analysis and diagnosis based on medical records, while lawyers are hired as research associates and for legal transcription.
Currently the IT/ITeS industry is among the largest employers in the organised sector creating jobs for over 7.5 million people both directly and indirectly, and this figure is expected to be well over 10 million by 2010 (Source: NASSCOM). From being perceived as an industry that merely specialises in answering calls and entering data, the ITES sector has moved on and is today recognised for the talent and potential to prove the talent and potential it contains.
Salary
The starting level position in the ITES sector is of an agent or customer care executive. At the entry level, salaries could start range anything between Rs. 80,000 to Rs. 2.5 lakhs a year, depending on the individual’s experience and also the hiring company. Middle management, which is the Manager -- Senior manager grade ranges between Rs. 4 lakhs and Rs. 7 lakhs per annum, and sometimes can even go up to Rs 10 lakhs also. At senior levels, which starts from the General Manager grade salaries could be between Rs. 20 lakhs and Rs. 50 lakhs range.
Apart from the salaries there are great incentive schemes in the industry, which are very lucrative. The benefits that an employee is offered is one of the best things about the industry: transport, infrastructure, free meals and also benefits such as medical insurance, this is an industry that takes care of its employees.