Sundaram's BPO firm expands, goes overseas

By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 14 July 2004, 19:30 IST
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BANGALORE: Sundaram Business Services, the BPO division of Sundaram Finance Ltd., has entered the overseas market with a multi year outsourcing deal from Total Super Pty. Ltd., an independent self managed superannuation specialist Australian firm. The deal worth Rs 10 crore over a three-year period involves handling the administration and accounting services for superannuation funds. The entire delivery will take place offshore out of SBS's Chennai facilities. Total Super provides compliance and portfolio administration services to superannuation trustees and to their financial advisers. Total Super enables trustees to overcome the considerable administrative difficulties of operating a self managed fund, maximize the effectiveness of their investment advisers and financial planners by providing them with superior information and lower the overall costs of administration Total Super utilizes one of the most advanced electronic superannuation fund administration systems available in Australia today. Commenting on its first overseas outsourcing win, P. S.Raghavan, Executive Director, SBS said, "Superannuation funds represent a niche area and we have the ability to deliver on stringent service level agreements (SLAs). This win is in line with our focus on Australia as an emerging market, which will be followed by Singapore and UK initiatives." SBS service offerings include accounting services, credit processing, deposit processing, employee administration and Insurance related processing services SBS, which currently employs over 350 people, has plans to hire over 200 people in Chennai in the next 12months to support the expanded needs of existing clients as well as new clients that are in the pipeline. This represents an expansion of its employee base by over 50 percent. As part of the future plans, SBS will aggressively target the overseas markets by setting up marketing offices in APAC and Europe over the next 6-12 months. On plans to strengthen its domestic presence, Srinivasaraghavan said, "We will expand in our chosen areas of business- Insurance and Accounting & Payroll. Our focus in India will be on expanding engagement with existing clients, with whom we have a strong outsourcing relationship." On the outlook for the BPO division, Raghavan said "Unlike most BPO service providers who grapple with the sustainability of a cost arbitrage proposition, our platform is based on servicing the enormous domestic outsourcing market. This is where our five decades of local experience will enable us to leverage our understanding of customer insights, which vary across the country, and impact end customer attitude and behaviour. While our expansion into overseas markets is an important part of our growth strategy, we will continue to leverage our strong presence in the domestic market. "