SlashSupport to open centres close to clients

First facility comes up in US

SlashSupport, a BPO that provides technology support, has started opening centres where its clients are located in order to handle some of its high-value projects.

The company today announced that it had set up its first facility in the US, which is expected to become fully operational this quarter.

SlashSupport's CEO Shiva Ramani told Business Standard that the company is looking at setting up a centre in Europe too. Hopefully it will be ready first quarter next year, he added.

SlashSupport's decision to start on-site centres does not mean a significant change in its style of functioning. Ramani said the on-site centres were meant to handle high-value projects where the lead time to get into the market was limited.

In the US, the new centre would employ about 50 people, and the employees would be locally recruited, he said.

SlashSupport would continue to follow an off-shore model and about 95 per cent of the capacity would be off-shore, he added.

SlashSupport concentrates on providing technology support to global technology providers in the US and Europe.

The company's operations are largely carried out of its centres in Chennai.

The company has three centres functioning in Chennai. The fourth one will open shortly, said Ramani. Once the fourth centre opens, SlashSupport, spread over 180,000 square feet, would have about 4,000 people in Chennai .

Barings Private Equity Partners is the primary investor in the company.