Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
News >> Technology >>
Gartner rings alarm bells for Indian BPOs
By agencies
|
Tuesday, 13 September 2005, 19:30 IST
NEW DELHI: Technology research firm Gartner has said that Indian call centers are at risk as skills shortage and security issues threaten to slow the offshoring of business processes, forcing clients to look at other locations.
The government had earlier estimated that the need for trained call center manpower will reach one million by 2009, with an expected shortfall of over 260,000 workers.
Cost, quality and security issues threaten to slow the off shoring of business processes to India and are causing firms to assess alternative destinations, Gartner said Monday.
Gartner says the labor shortage is due to the growing demand for offshore business process outsourcing resources. The shortage has caught Indian offshore call center service providers unawares.
The report also said that Indian call centers will soon face high attrition as professionals swap companies, either for advancing their careers or higher salaries. Although high employee attrition itself can be managed, a shortage in qualified personnel can have various implications for service providers.
Gartner says in order to stop high attrition rates, BPOs should offer employees higher salaries and benefits. These measures, over time will affect the competitive advantage that India currently enjoys in the area of labor costs.
The report also says quality may also suffer because all the available talent has already been absorbed by the industry and therefore the service providers have no option but to recruit less experienced people who lack quality. This will inturn make high quality in house training a critical and expensive factor.
It adds that any due diligence resulting from the need for rapid recruitment increases the possibility of less trustworthy staff being employed, thereby increasing the risk of fraud and theft of confidential data.
Gartner said organizations should inquire about attrition rates and security measures, and ensure that adequate mechanisms such as service level agreements and resulting penalties, call monitoring and customer satisfaction surveys- are built into contracts.
They also urged organizations to review their offshore BPO strategies regularly, looking for signs of improvement and deterioration in the service provided to them.
Gartner advised the Indian government to consider the long-term implications of the skills shortage and stressed on the need for the government to work closely with the call center industry to implement a comprehensive, clearly defined policy and road map for skill development to help the industry.