Mauritius may wrench BPO initiative: Infosys

Nasscom India ITES-BPO Strategy Summit 2004

Infosys Technologies feels that Mauritius will soon give India a run for its money in providing cost-effective facilities for BPO companies.

While the overall costs of running a BPO facility in Mauritius are lower than India, the only disadvantage, as of now, is a slightly higher telecom costs than India. Infosys already has a disaster recovery centre in the island country.

According to H R Binod, vice president-commercial and facilities, Infosys Technologies, "As a strategic location, Mauritius will soon give us (Indian BPO industry) a run for our money. We should always manage growth by creating new business paths. Today, Mauritius is not only a multi-lingual society, but also offers lower costs for running a BPO facility. The English speaking population in Mauritius is also high. The only disadvantage is a slightly higher telecom costs compared with India. However, it is just a matter of time when it will be seriously considered as an alternative to India."

Speaking to Business Standard on the sidelines of the Nasscom ITES-BPO Strategy Summit in Bangalore on Thursday, Binod said that the Indian BPO industry must not be complacent with its achievements so far. He added that BPO companies would have to look at Tier-II cities in India as the next best alternative to the metros.

"The four key parameters that we consider before opting for any location are client convenience, employee convenience, strategic convenience and cost of operations. The top two parameters are most important as it is related to the core assets of any organisation-customers and employees. The clients' perception of the location, connectivity, hospitality as well as the proximity to employees is very important. The strategic advantages and cost of operations can be managed from within the company," Binod explained.

Interestingly, Infosys seems to broken many myths by venturing into new territories such as Bhubaneshwar where it has set up development centres.

When Infosys decided to increase its employee headcount from 600 to 1,200 at Bhubaneshwar, it was also able to successfully help vendors, especially concerning transportation and catering, gain more traction.

"By doing this, we have been able to provide value to our vendors. Size does matter in this business, especially when you move into Tier II cities that have low catchment. From the employee perspective, a place such as Bhubaneshwar provides the advantage of very little commute time. In fact, employees have the luxury to go home for lunch," Binodh said.

In many ways, Binod feels that the setting up centres across various cities in India has helped Infosys go global. "Dealing with multi-cultural issues has indeed been a testing a ground for Infosys to be a global company."