2009 was a mixed year for the Business Process Outsourcing/ITeS industry in India. The industry still gets the majority of business from the US and so is tied closely to the US economy. However, many companies, large and small, have made efforts to diversify into other geographies and the effect of that will be seen in 2010. The top new areas are Europe, which is starting to embrace outsourcing in a bigger way, Middle East, Latin America (for near-shoring operations mainly) and Asia-Pacific. Japan is still a tough nut to crack due to immense cultural differences.
Another area being looked at much more closely is the domestic Indian market. Continuing to grow at 7-8% annually, it is one of the most optimistic business climates in the world according to a Grant Thorton survey, along with Chile, Vietnam, Australia and Brazil. The domestic India market itself is maturing with businesses turning more professional and seeking out IT and BPO services. The price points are also improving to make it worthwhile for export oriented companies to look inward.
Voice-based services will continue to see a decline in growth as a lot of that business is moving to the Philippines and other locations. Non-voice business and the more complex BPO services (loosely called Knowledge Process Outsourcing or KPO – e.g., market research), are expected to see a break-out year in 2010. This is because, not only have they matured to be able to provide more business value, instead of simply executing transactions, but the demand for these services will also increase as the global economy gets back on its feet this year.
This year will also see a heightened level of Merger&Acquisition activity. The companies that have made it through 2009 with their business model and balance sheet intact would be in a strong position to acquire or be acquired. The environment of 2007 where there was too much money chasing too few deals will return pushing valuations back up. It remains to be seen to what extent the activity gets back to 2006/2007 levels and there are still many uncertainties as far as the return to global growth is concerned.
So while growth rates slowed to single digits for this sector in 2009, I expect it to grow at about 15-20% in 2010.
Rahul Sahgal is the found and CEO of Annik Technology Services Pvt. Ltd, one of the leading Market Research and Data Analytics outsourcing companies in India. Today, with over 400 employees, Annik is recognized as a pioneer in the Market Research KPO space. Rahul heads the Center for Knowledge Management, part of the Birla Institute of Management Technology, a top 15 Indian Business School. A unique joint initiative between Annik and BIMTech, supported by NASSCOM, this offers a 3 month foundational Diploma course in KPO fundamentals.