One of the things that I find fascinating about this business is that sometimes what is old can be new again. Never has this been more obvious than with the renewed interest in India as an offshore delivery point. For the longest time, skeptics had more or less written off India as a viable market in face of other options in APAC and beyond. But this was premature, as India’s contact center space remains one of the most viable and dynamic in the world.
To be clear, the Indian contact center industry is no longer the same BPO vendors that US-based clients were familiar with in the late ‘90s and early 2000’s. Granted, there are still some legacy elements to this market; it is still the largest offshore delivery point for contact center services in the world, its labor pool is enormous and the country continues to embrace western products / services (which incidentally has led to the growth of an expanding Indian domestic contact center market). But there are also other compelling elements that have become more obvious for both outsourcers and their clients, which make India a valuable location.
Take for instance the recognized expertise that is emerging from India in non-voice customer care. Now, more organizations are finding that the right skill sets for web-chat, email, even SMS/instant messaging are readily found in India at a great price and flexible volumes. With more consumers expecting companies from which they buy products and services to provide non-voice support, this is a clear advantage for Indian offshoring.
There is also something to be said for the similarities in legal management between India and many western demand markets. As a trained lawyer, I can appreciate that contract negotiation and dispute resolution are infinitely easier when dealing in systems that are more process aligned. From the nuts and bolts of contract management and delivery, this goes a long way in making India an attractive delivery point, yet it is one that does not come up very often. In my opinion, it really should.
Language skills are always top of mind for any offshore delivery deal. In fact, I recall seeing a survey undertaken by Ovum not long ago, in which enterprise contact center decision-makers cited agent language capabilities as one of the most important elements in choosing an outsourcer. And for those BPOs on the ground in India, a country where citizens may speak a number of languages, they can take advantage of great English language fluency. In fact, the Indian census bureau counted over 125 million citizens speak English. This is more people than the UK, Canada and Australia combined, as well as a tremendous pool of talent to draw from.
Going forward, India should be an option that no enterprise contact center decision-maker overlooks. For a country that has weathered the BPO sector’s evolution, it remains strong, agile and opportunistic in the domain of customer experience management. Golden Gate BPO believes strongly in this country and is proud to be servicing clients from there.