Accenture Focus On Communications, Tech: New Chief

International management consultancy major Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) will increasingly focus on the two sunrise industries--communications and technology.

In order to be closer to its target clients, Accenture expects to open offices in the south.

Accenture's new country managing director Sanjay Jain said: "Our focus on financial services, communication and hi-tech industries will be in addition to the manufacturing sector which has been our core area of focus."

The consultancy has already started a "comprehensive industry program," wherein it will hire more consultants with industry-specific experience.

"Over the last two years, clients have become more discerning in their demands. It is therefore necessary for us to build global-level expertise in India so that we can deliver value to them on an economical basis," Jain said.

Getting expatriate consultants all the time will not make it a viable proposition, he explained.

Jain said that having established Accenture's businesses in Mumbai in the west and New Delhi in the north, the company will now focus on its businsses in the south and the east.

But given its renewed emphasis on communications and technology companies, Accenture is most likely to move first in the south, Jain said.

Jain set up the company's New Delhi office in 1990 and is said to be responsible for growing the business from a one-man show to a 100-strong team. He was later made national head of the consultancy's Products and Resources market units.

Speaking of his priorities as the new head of Accenture, Jain said his first objective is to introduce domestic corporates to the benefits of outsourcing.

"Outsourcing is a good value proposition when the eceonomy is doing well, but it is a great proposition when its is not doing well. Indian companies are yet to accept the benefits of outscourcing," Jain said.

Indian corporates have certainly started work on cutting costs in their balance sheets, he said, "but outscourcing is not about costs alone. By farming out internal services to outside parties, the existing resources can be better harvested to increase service level efficiency."

Outgoing managing director Sid Khanna, who is relocating to London, added that many Indian companies made substantial investments in IT.

"I suspect that the economic value they have derived from their investments is often not complete. The business processes might not have been completely re-engineered, or software has not been used effectively or it has not been integrated in the business totally. So really as a part of outsourcing, we are seeking to add value for our corporate clients by helping them utilise these investments in the world-class context," Khanna said.