BPO firms eye next-gen growth

BANGALORE: Like with most other industry segments, the BPO (business process outsourcing) sector too is beginning to look up, after the trough brought on by the global slowdown.

Global deal pipelines are slowly warming up. But there are also worries on account of the European debt crisis. So, is it time for aggression? Or should BPO companies continue to be cautious? Nasscom's BPO Strategy Summit 2010 that begins in Bangalore today will throw some signals on this.

A galaxy of industry experts will also conduct interactive sessions on issues like the future of voice traffic, the emergence of protectionist barriers, cultural challenges of handling mergers and acquisitions in the new global landscape, what the cloud means for the BPO sector, rupee movement and opportunities and threats from the changed political landscape in Europe.

The two-day Summit will be attended by Anand Shah, CEO of Piramal Foundation, Raman Roy, MD, Quatrro, Som Mittal, president, Nasscom, Vikram Talwar, chairman, Nasscom BPO Forum, Ian Marriot, vice president (research), Gartner, Aparup Sengupta, MD, Aegis, Pavan Vaish, CEO, IBM Daksh, and many others.

The ITeS/BPO sector has been a great economic leveller; it fuelled the aspirations of millions of urban and rural youth in the country.

The sector offers employment to around a million people. Some 30% of this is in the age group of 18 to 25 years, 30% are women, and 4% belong to economically backward classes.