Security

Security is seen as another big issue for Indian BPOs. Following a few incidents, unions, particularly in the UK, and the media, have jumped on the security of customers’ information in Indian contact centres. But the reality is that there have been far fewer security breaches in India than in either the UK or the US. The UK’s FSA recognised the country’s security levels when it reported in 2005 that outsourcing to India’s best contact centres carried no greater inherent risk than outsourcing in the UK.

Nevertheless because Indian firms are extremely aware of their perceived lack of security, the leading players not only comply with international security standard, BS 7799, but also have in place Fort Knoxlike security measures to ensure that employees cannot access to core data. Some of these systems imitate the security standards of many global banks.

Airport style security checks take place for employees on entry and exit; it is the norm to ban mobile phones, CDs and sometimes stationery, and to block e-mail, the Internet and all forms of external disc drives; and shredding machines for customer conversation notes are common. Furthermore, ‘thin-client’ technology means that Indian workers never get to see the raw customer account data; it remains on secure servers domestically. Some Indian firms even employ teams focused entirely on trying to crack their own computer systems. NASSCOM also is working with the government to change India's Information Technology Act to improve data protection.

The future for outsourcing

The days of tactical outsourcing are behind us. The issue of outsourcing is now viewed as a much more strategic focus for a successful company. The range of outsourcing options continues to expand and there will be an increasing number of high end complex processes that will be outsourced in specialist professions such as finance and accounting, legal, medical. We are continuing to see more outsourcing in horizontal applications such as procurement, design, HR and training. Publishing is another area where we are seeing growth as fewer organisations publish their own documents or research articles. The trend towards smaller print runs of niche topics and web based publishing is also an opportunity for specialist outsourcers. The balance between front and back office outsourcing will be evened out, with Datamonitor predicting that Indian BPO companies’ shareof front office vs back office processes will be 50:50.

The thorny issue of ‘cultural differences’ will become less important as it will cease tomatter whether a contact centre is in Belfast or Bangalore. What will matter in relation to customer service is delivery of excellent service that adds real value to the end customer’s experience as well as to the bottom line of the company outsourcing the service. Outsourcers are becoming smarter and more scientific at measuring customer satisfaction levels which are key to assessing the value of outsourced services.

There will be fewer questions raised about the security of offshore operations as the intensity of security measures become appreciated and any breaches come to be seen in the light of the global challenge of data and identity theft. Anyone who visits an offshore delivery centre will appreciate how much more stringent security often is compared to many onshore sites.

As part of the movement towards more the more strategic approach to outsourcing, there will be continue to be less emphasis on cost benefits and more focus on business transformation. This transformation can only happen if outsourcing companies view their relationship with their outsourcer as a partnership with joint ownership of the challenges. There will be less stick and more carrot in terms of the benefits to both parties.

There will be expansion at both ends of the contract spectrum with the ‘mega-deals’ of $100m plus continuing to increase but at the other end of the scale, with more complex niche processes, calling for specialist service providers, there will also be an increase in the lower net worth contracts but these will continue for the longer term as the outsource company develops more expertise and becomes more attuned to the requirements of the client.

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