TCS plans research, analytic services

Software major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) plans to foray into knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) services as part of its business process outsourcing (BPO) operations.

The company intends to begin the services alongside its BPO businesses in Mumbai and Chennai, with a focus on analytics and research space.

"Our KPO solutions will provide customers a synergistic combination of deep domain expertise and strong operational excellence that we are known for," said N Chandrasekaran, executive vice-president and head-global operations.

He, however, did not divulge the investment planned for the initiative. Globally, the KPO sector is expected to touch $17 billion by 2010, of which $12 billion would be outsourced to India and provide employment to over 2.5 lakh people. At present, the domestic KPO sector employs over 25,000 professionals.

The initiative would be positioned at the higher end of value chain and would provide services to global investment banks, mutual funds, hedge funds, insurance firms and other financial services companies across the globe.