Four Myths About the Indian IT-BPO Industry
From zero to over $50 billion in 20 years. That’s been the meteoric rise of the Indian IT-BPO industry. For an industry of such significance, to India and the world, it is not very well understood outside the industry. Perhaps because it doesn’t manufacture a physical product. Or perhaps because it is such a new [...]
End of an Era at Infosys
Yesterday, N R Narayana Murthy retired from Infosys. In a touching farewell in Bangalore, friends and colleagues, present and past, bade him goodbye. There were breaking voices amongst the speakers and moist eyes in the audience. It was a great send-off for a great leader. To Indians, everywhere, Narayana Murthy, means something special. For those [...]
Can You Write a Full Sentence of More Than 140 Characters Anymore?
In the IT Services industry you have to be able to write code. And English. In fact, not being able to write code may be alright. But without English you just can’t function. And yet, it is surprising how little attention is paid to written communication skills. The BPO industry trained thousands of people in [...]
In Which Basab Gets UIDed
A couple of weeks back, I was in the Infosys Bhubaneswar offices. On Friday, which was my last day at work before my vacation, UID enrollment was going on on campus. SBI, one of the agencies entrusted to enroll people into Aadhar was going to be at Infosys for a week. I decided that I [...]
Monday’s Musings: Thoughts On How Indian Infotech Companies Can Lead Instead Of Follow
Disruptive Technologies Remain Top Of Mind Among Business Technology Leaders It’s always a privilege and a pleasure to reach out to clients and prospects around the world. For those tracking my location, I’ve been in London, San Francisco, and Mumbai over the past 9 days. The conversations have ranged from social business and enterprise 2.0 [...]
TVU Immigration Scam
From The Hindu This could become one of the largest immigration frauds to ever hit the U.S. university system With 95% of the students involved said to be of Indian origin, hundreds may face deportation Tri Valley University, here in the Bay Area is involved in what might be the biggest immigration frauds with student [...]
iGate acquires Patni
iGate announced its acquisition of a majority stake in Patni. iGate with Apax Partners, will acquire 63% of the company for the final price of Rs. 503.50 effectively valuing Patni, the company at $1.5 Billion. By Indian law, iGate will have to make an open offer to acquire an additional 21% of the company. With [...]
Another Trip to the Cookie Jar
In August Congress passed a bill to fund enhanced border security which is now Public Law 111-230. The funding for this bill was achieved by increasing the visa fees for H-1B and L-1 visas by $2,000. The fees apply selectively to companies who employ more than 50 employees in the US and if 50% or [...]
Infosys: On and Offshore, Long-Time Procurement BPO Contender Ups the Spend Management Game (Part 1)
In recent years, many Indian-based procurement BPO providers have made significant strides in building a global value proposition that extends beyond labor cost arbitrage. Some firms have been more successful than others, even tho…
India’s $65 Billion Infrastructure Mess
For anyone who has spent time in India traveling a longer distance that it takes to get from an airport into a city or office complex, it quickly becomes abundantly clear that the country’s infrastructure is not up to the task of …
