Advantage India
BPO Advantage India Today, India is undoubtedly the most favored IT/BPO destination of the world. This raises the question why most of the big MNCs are interested in outsourcing their operations to BPOs in India. The answer is very simple- India is home to large and skilled human resources. India has inherent strengths, which have made it a major success as an outsourcing destination. India produces the largest number of graduates in the world. The name of India has become synonymous with that of BPOs and IT industry hence the name BPO India.

Besides being technically sound, the work force is proficient in English and work at lower wages in comparison to other developed countries of the world. India also has a distinct advantage of being in a different time zone that gives it flexibility in working hours. All these factors make the Indian BPOs more efficient and cost effective. In order to meet the growing international demand for lucrative, customer-interaction centers, many organizations worldwide are looking to BPO India.

Human Resource
Availability of suitable human resources is one of those factors which have made India one of the hotspots of BPO/IT industry.

India is home to a vast pool of human resources consisting of educated, English speaking, tech-savvy personnel. Every year, approximately 19 million students are enrolled in high schools and 10 million students in pre-graduate degree courses across India. Moreover, 2.1 million graduates and 0.3 million post-graduates pass out of India's non-engineering colleges. These figures very well give the idea of human resources availability in India

This great pool of human resources holds the key to IT/BPO destination i.e. India. If the flow from high schools to graduate courses increases even marginally, there will be a massive increase in the number of skilled workers available to the IT/BPO industry. If we calculate the availability of human resources at current rates, there will approximately be 17 million people available to the IT industry by the year 2008.

Language
India definitely enjoys the benefits of a vast pool of skilled workers who are proficient in English language. India produces the largest number of graduates every year and most of these graduates have the knowledge of English language. Thus, language is one of those factors which attract MNCs to contract out their business operations to Indian BPOs and IT companies. Though there are competitors like China which also have a large pool of skilled workers but they don't have enough graduates who have command over English language.

In addition to this the Indian education system also places strong emphasis on mathematics and science. This has resulted into a large number of science and engineering graduates. Mastery over quantitative concepts coupled with English proficiency makes India one of the hot spots of the IT/BPO word. It has enabled the India to take advantage of the current international demand for IT.

Manpower Quality
In term of human resources, there are a number of countries who are at an advantageous position but the real difference between them and India is of quality man power. In the field of information technology and computer software India experts have proved their worth beyond doubt. India is rich not only in terms of number of qualified people but the quality of our professionals is also of international level.

Indian programmers are known for their strong technical skills and their eagerness to accommodate and engage clients. In some cases, clients outsource work to get access to more specialized engineering talent, particularly in the area of telecommunications. Expertise in English language is also a great strength of India and it has definitely helped India in increasing its manpower quality.

Time Zone Defference
India has an 8-12 hour time zone difference with respect to the US and other developed markets. It is of great advantage in BPO operations, which offers reduced turnaround times, since processing services are performed at night hours in the developed countries. India is able to offer a 24x7 services and reduction in turnaround times by leveraging time zone differences. This difference in time zone is because of India's unique geographic location. When it is day in India, it is night in America and even as we go to bed, they rise and go to work. This time difference has been intelligently brought to their advantage by the call centers/BPOs.

Most of the Indian call centers servicing American customers have timings between 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. This time zone difference benefits not only the Americans but also the Indians. Not only does the time difference allow Indian companies/BPOs/Call centers to service American clients by working in the nights, it also helps in better utilization of their resources. The companies can utilize the same resources to serve other clients in India and abroad during the day. Thus the time zone difference also helps in sharing of resources which, in turn, saves costs and also earns call centers better revenues.

Huge Cost Savings
Cost effective man power is yet another important factor which makes India a hot spot of IT/BPO industry. With a vast pool of skilled human resources ready to work at lower wages in comparison to the European or American countries India is attracting business process outsourcing. In a call interaction center operation, manpower typically accounts for 55 to 60 percent of the total cost. Besides being cost effective, Indians are also skilled and fulfill all the requirements of the IT/BPO industry.

In India, the manpower cost is approximately one-tenth of what it is overseas. For example, per agent cost in USA is approximately $40,000 while in India it is only $5,000. It is but natural that companies contract out their work to cost effective destinations like India. India produces about 100,000 engineers every year. These can be used in call centers for troubleshooting/tech support, as the salaries are dramatically lower than in Europe or the US. In such situations MNCs choose to outsource their business processes to cost effective India rather than offshoring to other costly destinations.

Salaries of Employees
Another important factor which attracts MNCs to outsource their work to India is the salary in Indian BPOs and IT industry. Here is a brief summary of salary in Indian BPOs, according to different hierarchies. Besides the salary, Indian BPO employees are paid incentives depending upon many factors like attendance regularity, target achievements etc.

Government Policy
The Indian government realizes that Information Technology has the potential to influence extensive economic development in the country. IT is now one of the top priorities of the Indian government and favorable policies are being formulated to extract maximum benefits from the industry. Here, we are highlighting some of the government policies which have proved very beneficial in the growth of IT/BPO industry. These favorable government policies have gone a long way in making India a BPO/IT hub.

	The reforms have reduced licensing requirements and made foreign technology accessible. The reforms have also removed restrictions on investment and made the process of investment easier. This has tremendously helped the IT/BPO industries.
	The Indian government is actively promoting FDI and investments from NRIs (Non-Resident Indians). FDI can be brought in through the automatic route, based on powers accorded to the Reserve Bank of India.
	In pursuance of liberalization and globalization, the Indian government has been formulating and implementing more transparent and investment friendly policies. This is now reflecting in many areas. Till 1994, DOT was the sole provider of basic telecom services in India but the new telecom policy opened the field to the private operators as well. It has made India one of the fastest growing countries in the field of telecom.
	Another significant example of the liberal policy of the Indian government is the IT Act.
	The IT Bill passed in 2000 provides a legal framework for the recognition of electronic contracts, prevention of computer crimes, electronic filing of documents, etc.
	In pursuance of the liberal policies, the Indian government has been continuously proposing amendments in the Indian Evidence Act, Indian Penal Code and the RBI Act. The mechanism of digital signature has been proposed to address the issues of jurisdiction, authentication and origination.
	Recognizing the importance of Venture Capital Funding, the Ministry of Information Technology has set up a National Venture Fund for the Software and IT Industry with a corpus of Rs. 100 crore. The main aim of the venture capital Fund is to provide Venture Capital to start up software professionals and small IT units.
	Nasscom (most important promoter of the IT/BPO industry) has been playing a crucial role in helping the IT industry achieve the IT and ITES vision and make India far ahead of other players in the field of IT and BPO.
	Nasscom has helped the government implement almost all the original recommendations of the last Nasscom-McKinsey Report, 1999 concerning the capital markets, venture capitalists, SEBI and the Companies Act.

Strengths at a Glance

	Great history in software development .
	English Language proficiency.
	Government Support and policies.
	Cost advantage.
	Strong tertiary education.
	Process quality focus.
	Skilled workforce.
	Expertise in new technologies.
	Entrepreneurship.
	Reasonable technical innovations.
	Reverse brain drain.
	Existing long term relationships.
	Creation of global brands.
	BPO & Call center offerings.
	Expansion of existing relationships.
	Chinese domestic & export market.
	Leverage relationships in West to access overseas markets.
	Indian domestic-market growth.