Source:www.ilw.com

According to a number of surveys and studies the offshore Indian legal process outsourcing industry is booming and shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. Last month the comprehensive ValueNotes report “Offshoring Legal Services to India: an update” was released. In one of my June postings I commented on the publication of the Brown-Wilson group’s annual survey of legal outsourcing vendors. Over the last few weeks I have read numerous blogs, articles and press releases in particular commenting on the release of the ValueNotes report. I have no intention on merely repeating verbatim the content of this detailed 96 page study. What I am interested in, is looking behind the quoted figures at the reality of the legal outsourcing industry, on the ground in India.

According to the report there appears to be substantial growth in revenue by an increasing number of players who are billing out their various legal support services at similar rates to 18 months ago. Surely this demonstrates substantial growth across the board? More money, more companies and more employees operating within the offshore legal outsourcing space.

On a more detailed inspection of the figures something however doesn’t quite add up. According to the ValueNotes study the revenue generated by the legal outsourcing industry in India was estimated at $62 million for 2005. This grew to $124 million by the end of 2006, a healthy growth rate in any one’s book. However, the number of people employed within the offshore legal process outsourcing industry and the number of vendors has tripled. This has all happened within 18 months. I fully appreciate that this is a remarkably simplistic calculation but it appears to me that revenue earned per full time employee has somehow dropped from around $34,000 to $21,000. How can this happen within such a short period of time, when the billable rates don’t appear to have dropped?

There are a few potential scenarios that I will explore. Does the vast increase in the number of vendors include a significant quantity of small-time operators, jumping on the LPO bandwagon, without any real client base? I suspect so. Believe it or not I currently receive on average one inquiry every couple of weeks from Indian and U.S. attorneys asking for help or advice in setting up offshore legal process outsourcing companies. I mentioned in a previous blog posting how LawScribe recently outsourced an element of our own marketing to a company with a wealth of experience of general marketing in the American legal sector. Several weeks following the conclusion of the marketing campaign, I received an email, no doubt in error, from the same company purporting to be offering legal offshoring and outsourcing solutions to U.S. firms through their arrangement with Indian attorneys! The emergence of fly-by-night operators and the threat that this poses on the long-term health and reputation of the industry is the main reason I have repeatedly called for independent verification and accreditation of LPOs. This is something that I am still working towards with a number of my colleagues from within the industry and I hope to have further news on this shortly.

Another possibility is that some existing LPOs are exaggerating the size of their offshore teams in the hope that this will attract both clients and outside investment. My one piece of advice to any potential client is to look beyond the rhetoric. Prepare a detailed RFP (Request for Proposal) prior to contracting with any LPO and insist on a site visit. Now I understand that not every sole-practitioner out there has the time, inclination, or funds to undertake a 15,000 mile round trip. At the very least, even if you are unable to physically view the India offices of the LPO, ask for a photogallery/video shoot and insist on meeting with the U.S. based team personally.

It is of course possible that the numbers are true. Surely this can only mean that some companies must be operating at a loss. No industry could possibly sustain such a huge drop in revenue per full time employee and still be making a profit across the board. This inevitably raises the spectrum of the boom and bust cycle that we saw with the Dotcom industry in the late 90s. The ValueNotes report predicts that until 2010 we will continue to see the “Boom” within the evolution of the Indian LPO space. I agree with these projections and their prediction that the explosion in the number of vendors will plateau within a couple of years. In an earlier blog I discussed the concept of accreditation and self-regulation as a necessity for the industry

I believe that by the turn of the next decade we will see well established industry regulation, the consolidation of many of the existing reputable LPOs and the exit of the weaker players. I also anticipate the entry into the market of some of the major business process outsourcing companies.

I also read time and time again the much vaunted figure that over 70,000 attorneys are qualifying annually in India. Legal process outsourcing companies, law firm captives and Western companies with their own captive arrangements in India all maintain that they only hire the most highly qualified candidates from the best law schools in India. Surely not everyone can be telling the truth? In my previous blog posting.

I discussed the potential opening up of the Indian legal sector to foreign firms and the impact that this would have on the offshore legal process outsourcing industry. The ValueNotes report estimates that there are currently 7,500 people employed within the legal offshoring space and that this is set to increase to 32,000 by 2010. Although some exaggeration may be taking place and I am not aware of statistics detailing the proportion of these positions that will be filled by fully qualified Indian attorneys, whichever way you look at it the numbers are significant. Over the course of the next 2-3 years a vast number of qualified Indian attorneys will be working within the industry. I believe the Indian government and the Bar association will be backed into a corner and left with no alternative other than to formally open up the market to foreign law firms. How could they possibly turn a blind eye to thousands of attorneys working for foreign companies?

The fact that some within the industry are prone to exaggeration will have little effect on the exponential growth of the LPO marketplace. One thing is certain; the role that offshore legal process outsourcing will play within both the U.S. and Indian legal sectors is set to grow dramatically.

When building something new or innovative, you need a clear understanding about the concept and its working. Along with the advantages, it is really important to consider its weak points that can be taken care of properly which would help you to remain out of risk.

No matter which country you choose as your outsourcing destination, be sure to analyze its statistics in depth, as choosing the right outsourcing destination and partner can go along way in ensuring that you reap huge benefits.

The outsourcing industry do have some risk areas that should be taken good care of in order to increase the productivity of the company. Some of the risk oriented points are mentioned below:

• Cost Reduction Expectations - The biggest risk with offshore outsourcing is that of cost reduction expectations. The companies involved in outsourcing themselves assume labor arbitrage to yield savings. They do not consider the hidden costs and difference in operating model.
• Data security- IT outsourcing companies require successfully tackling the security in concern to data. It is important to check the security practice of the company to whom you are outsourcing. Privacy concerns must be completely addressed. The requirements must be documented with methods and vendors clearly defined.
• Proper Discipline- Companies lacking internal process model maturity tend to undermine potential cost savings.
• Loss of business knowledge- Companies must evaluate business knowledge and determine if moving it either outside the company or to an offshore location will compromise company practices.
• Untimely or late delivery- Even the best vendors or companies may sometime fail or get late in delivery. While outsourcing it is important to consider this point as in such a situation the organization must be ready to shift the outsourcing strategy as per their convenience and be able to tackle the situation.

If the above mentioned risk factors are taken care of then offshore outsourcing would enable your company to reap benefits and be away from risks. There is a need to maintain balance with the risks and uncertainties with the potential for labor arbitrage.

Source: money.cnn.com

iGATE Corporation , a global provider of IT and BPO services, announced that the Company’s offshore subsidiary iGATE Global Solutions (”iGS”), has been ranked among the top 3 best IT employers in India in the 7th Annual Dataquest-IDC survey 2007.

The survey of Top 20 Best IT employers in India was based on a combination of Employee Satisfaction and HR scores.

With total employee headcount of around 6,000, iGS, in the survey was ranked ahead of bigger Indian and Multinational players in the IT industry. From its prior year rank of 29, iGS moved to third place in 2007.

A combination of unique employment benefit programs, coupled with state of the art career planning and a home grown leadership development model pushed iGS to be the 3rd ranked IT employer in India.

“We are glad that our governance model which attempts to optimize the value of shareholders, employees and customer and value to the society at large has received befitting espousal in the DQ-IDC Best Employer Survey 2007. Our organizational culture which is built on an adult to adult engagement model wherein employees have an effective say in their wealth creation has resulted in the most innovative stock ownership program covering 50% of our workforce,” said Phaneesh Murthy, CEO, iGATE Global Solutions.

“At iGS, every employee has an identity and opportunity to exhibit their leadership mettle which is becoming rare in the people intensive knowledge sector. iGS has adopted the German Model of ‘co-determination’ to integrate employee and organizational goals,” said Srinivas Kandula, Global Head HR, iGATE Global Solutions.

Source:pr-gb.com

Handling a business portfolio is a very serious task to consider. It is not just the matter of making your business sellable to the public, but it is also the matter of handling every detail and making it profitable for your business. Thus, starting a business is not for everyone, but exclusive for individuals who have the mind and talent to run a successful business portfolio.

You may have already achieved success at running a small business. With fluctuations in the economy as well as the tight competition with other businesses offering similar products or services you offer, it is indeed an achievement to have your small business staying alive for several years. However, as part of your commitment to make your business portfolio more profitable, you must be regularly updated with regards to the latest strategies in handling businesses. Keep in mind that you must conform to the changing standards of the industry in order for your portfolio to last for the long haul.

Probably, you have heard about outsourcing and its benefits to small businesses. You might also consider outsourcing your business portfolio, but it is important that you understand the meaning of outsourcing and the reasons why many companies outsource some or majority of the functions of their business.

To start with, let us define outsourcing. It is the designation of several non-core functions of a business to an independent entity which has the specialization over a particular non-core function. In other words, outsourcing means giving away some of your business tasks that could be managed by an independent entity, such that the entity has the specialization over that certain task.

In addition, it is also stated in the definition that outsourcing is more of delegation of non-core business functions. Simply put, non-core functions are certain tasks that are commonly handled by a separate department. For instance, as the business owner, your primary concern is the general management and financing of your business. Such aspect is referred to as the core functions, whereas the non-core functions include human resource recruitment and training and information technology (IT) support.

Now, why outsource such non-core functions of your business? At this point, the benefits would now be derived based on the reasons of outsourcing. Read on and learn the benefits that you can enjoy in outsourcing some of your business’ functions.

1. It reduces your expenses. It is cheaper to outsource your business’ non-core functions to independent entities. You do not need to hire additional workers, thus decreasing overhead expenses in terms of employment. In addition, offshore outsourcing offers cheaper rate, thus decreasing further your expenditures.
2. It also allows you to concentrate further on the core functions of your business. Since you have designated some of your tasks to other groups, you can now concentrate on providing better quality of products and services to the public. It leads to increased overall productivity of your business.
3. You are assured that the tasks are handled by professionals. In advertising, for instance, it is important that you have a professional who will propose viable ideas to make your products or services sellable to the public. Since they have specialization on such fields, you are assured that they can manage the task effectively.

Although there is a limited access to the tasks you will outsource to outsourcing firms, it is a viable option that can make your business more profitable. It may even provide you with new ideas to integrate into your business.

source:www.crmbuyer.com

Outsourcing remains one of the premium businesses all over the world. It is gaining in reliability and customer satisfaction. It is required for the corporate buyers of outsourcing services to built innovation, flexibility and relationship management into their working interaction with providers. These things are desired to be dealt as a part of governance although they are not mentioned in the contract.

The latest survey of 300 corporate buyers from advisory firm Alsbridge points out that quality remains a big concern for companies using offshore service providers. The research also found that buyers continue to experience “numerous challenges” with IT providers and are unable to realize all the potential benefits associated with IT Outsourcing (ITO).

It is found that while trying to achieve the goal of cost reduction and being more cost effective, the companies mostly face difficulty in dealing with other factors, such as innovation, speed and flexibility.

More than 40 percent of the poll participants represent organizations with annual revenues of more than US$1 billion and more than 1,000 employees. Approximately 80 percent of the respondents indicate they are currently involved in IT outsourcing.

According to the survey results, it was found that the level of satisfaction was not up to the mark; it was somewhat moderate. the areas in which most of the buyers have been noticed as interested in quality issues, missed deadlines and cost overruns.
It has been very well noticed that disatisfacion effects badly both the buyers and the suppliers. It greatly hampers the profitability of the providers and the the business operations of the buyer.

Best practices in outsourcing strategies require monitoring and measuring satisfaction levels against qualities of the contract and relationship. Usually an outside firm is required to provide an objective evaluation of the situation.

The survey indicates that the buyers have increased their portfolio of IT services operations in various global locations, the importance of managing risk and the relationship with the service provider has increased significantly. The issue of flexibility in relationships with the IT providers was cited among the top factors that contribute to the success of an ITO engagement.