Ascent - HR Outsourcing Simplified Using Technology Date:   Friday , July 02, 2010 Before the acquisition of UK based Reuters Group by Canadian publisher Thomson in 2008, the Payroll and Benefits services, part of the HR operations of the former were outsourced to Ascent, while the latter’s Payroll functions were handled by Hewitt Associates. Post the acquisition, the newly formed joint entity - Thomson Reuters - was considering several HR outsourcing firms to streamline its Payroll functions. When the time came to award the contracts, Ascent emerged as the winner beating other major players including Hewitt. “We won the contract mainly because of the unique features that we offer using technology,” says Subramanyam Sreenivasaiah, CEO and Founder of Ascent Consulting Services, which he claims is today among the top HR outsourcing providers in India. According to him, the company’s USP lies in its balanced offering through technology and services. As part of its HR outsourcing service, Ascent also offers a web based application that both employees and employers can access to manage the various HR functions. According to the Chief Executive, though companies like Hewitt offer similar kind of an application, Ascent offers more number of features in its application. “Some of the unique features that we offer include performance appraisal, internal job postings, online HR helpdesk and separation, which no one else offers,” he says. Founded in 2002, Bangalore-based Ascent focuses on payroll and benefits outsourcing. Prior to Ascent, Subramanyam was a corporate lawyer, who believed that there were a lot of opportunities in the outsourcing space especially in South India because of the IT boom. The company offers its outsourcing service on a ‘per employee per month’ model. Apart from HR outsourcing, Ascent also derives its revenue from the SAAS based applications that it offers. iHR is a solution for managing HR needs businesses caterings to all critical areas in HR management like recruitment, HR life cycle management, payroll processing and payroll compliance management. Another key application that Ascent offers is iBuild, which is targeted towards the construction industry and works on a licensing model. Currently, some of the major builders in Bangalore use this application to manage their businesses. Ascent also offers iDoc, which enables companies to maintain all files and records electronically, thus eliminating the need for maintaining physical files and the loss of valuable time in the search and retrieval of records. It has been developed specifically to address the pain-points most organizations face in their record-keeping. iQmS is another product that Ascent offers which aims to help organizations simplify the system of managing system-related documents of maintenance activities. The web based applications are developed in-house by Ascent, which has 70 engineers, who are into development and maintenance of applications, among its 170 strong workforce. Though Ascent caters to over 110 customers including large multinational clients like Thomson Reuters, Yahoo, Nike and Sandisk among others, the company is also planning to focus on the SME market. “We are in the process of launching an application that is targeted mainly towards the SMEs,” Subramanyam says. The new web based application will integrate business critical functions such as sales, purchases, inventory, sales force management, dealer/warehouse management together with HR modules and in the process aims to be a ‘Mini ERP,’ which is expected to launch by September this year as a Business Management solution for SMBs. Currently, the company is spread across all the major cities in India including Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. Going forward, Ascent hopes to spread its wings outside India and focus on countries in the Asia Pacific region like Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Philippines for enlarging their HR outsourcing services.