Infy BPO in global push to serve local clients

Company opens four global delivery centres creates geographic business units

Infosys BPO, the business process outsourcing arm of Infosys Ltd, is opening four new international delivery centres in a bid to offer services locally and get access to diverse skill sets available in different parts of the world.

The new centres are coming up in Johannesburg (South Africa), Eindhoven (The Netherlands), Costa Rica and Tokyo (Japan), which would together employ about 500 people in the next 12-18 months, Infosys BPO chief executive officer and managing director Swami Swaminathan said. This will take the number of its global delivery centres to 17.

Infosys BPO on Saturday employs about 25,000 people — of 54 nationalities and in 23 locations globally. The company aims to offer strategic finance and accounting and order management services to its global clients out of the new centres apart from front-end customer services.

THE OUTPOSTS BIZ

• International centres account for 20% of Infosys BPO’s head count
   
• Company employs people of 54 nationalities
   
• Of its 23 delivery centres, 17 are outside India
   
• Global centres account for 35% of overall revenues
   
• Geographic business units created to think and deliver locally

According to the company, presently about 35 per cent of its total revenues come from the services offered by its international centres.

Besides, with an aim of giving more confidence to the global clients and build customised services and solutions, Infosys BPO has recently created four geographic business units and has appointed geographic heads. The mandate of these geographic units — Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America and India — will be to create solutions and explore business opportunities with the government and enterprises at local level.

“As we move up in the value chain, it would require direct touch points with the statekolders of our clients including their customers, vendors and their employees. So whichever locations provide our client with a strategic and competitive advantage, we are open to work with our client in those locations,” said Swaminathan.

He added the company was looking at acquisition opportunities in human resources outsourcing, legal process outsourcing, media and entertainment and healthcare.

“These are the areas where we are doing some amount of works. However, if we fill some of the gaps and wide spaces in these areas quickly, we will be able to deliver better value proposition to our clients,” Swaminathan said.

All the previous acquisitions by the company in BPO, including the buyout of the captive BPO centres of Philips, US-based McCamish Systems and Marsh BPO and Australian company Portland Group, have been quite successful.

Swaminathan said the company’s acquisition strategy was not based on just improving the top line.

In the quarter ended December 31, Infosys BPO reported a revenue of $152 million with a year-on-year growth of about 20 per cent. The company is hopeful of closing this financial year with a revenue of $570-600 million, with a healthy profit margin of 21-23 per cent.