BPOs not worried over Democrat win
Cos belive Indo-US business momentum, irrespective of the Americans' political preferences, will continue.
By Mini Joseph Tejaswi, TNN |
BANGALORE: Two years ago, US Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry created a scare in the Indian IT industry with his anti-outsourcing rhetoric. To the relief of the industry, Kerry lost that election. Now, Democrats have taken control of the US Congress and Senate. Is the industry worried? Not much. The general sentiment in the tech community is that Indo-US business momentum, irrespective of the Americans’ political preferences, will continue.
The outsourcing industry is seen to have evolved and grown since the presidential elections in 2004. “Outsourcing today is a sector of higher visibility and acceptance. The emergence of the global delivery model has taken away the focus from an India-only offshore model to a multi-geography model that has further enhanced the acceptance of outsourcing,” said S Nagarajan, co-founder & COO, 24/7Customer, one of India’s biggest call-centre operators.
Sankalp Saxena, MD, Moveo Systems, said: ‘‘Resistance will be there only till a mutual economic feasibility point is met. After that, it’s a matter of sustaining that relationship. That’s what is happening between India and America now.’’
What happened to the resistance against moving jobs in manufacturing and textiles to China, Taiwan and HongKong is seen to be happening now in IT/BPO. ‘‘That resistance died out with all stakeholders realising the cost benefits,’’ said CEO of a BPO firm. “Democrats are expected to be busy making policies on combating terrorism and handling issues of Iraq and Afghanistan rather than worrying about Indo-US economic relations,” said Atul Jalan, CEO, Manthan Systems.
Patni V-P Tony Viola said: ‘‘What’s predominantly eating into the mindshare of Americans today are issues of war on Iraq, quality and affordable healthcare and easy access to higher education.’’
However, some are less optimistic. ‘‘Democrats may restart their anti-outsourcing campaign, but it will happen only towards the end of 2007, as they will not gain anything from raising the bogey at this point of time,’’ said Ravi Venkitachalam, an Indo-US trade expert. The Democrats recently opposed the government’s plan to increase the number of H1 visas. ‘‘Therefore, immigration quotas will again be a hot button issue in the months to come,’’ said Jessica MacKenzie, director, Tholons, an investment, advisory and management firm.
The outsourcing industry is seen to have evolved and grown since the presidential elections in 2004. “Outsourcing today is a sector of higher visibility and acceptance. The emergence of the global delivery model has taken away the focus from an India-only offshore model to a multi-geography model that has further enhanced the acceptance of outsourcing,” said S Nagarajan, co-founder & COO, 24/7Customer, one of India’s biggest call-centre operators.
Sankalp Saxena, MD, Moveo Systems, said: ‘‘Resistance will be there only till a mutual economic feasibility point is met. After that, it’s a matter of sustaining that relationship. That’s what is happening between India and America now.’’
What happened to the resistance against moving jobs in manufacturing and textiles to China, Taiwan and HongKong is seen to be happening now in IT/BPO. ‘‘That resistance died out with all stakeholders realising the cost benefits,’’ said CEO of a BPO firm. “Democrats are expected to be busy making policies on combating terrorism and handling issues of Iraq and Afghanistan rather than worrying about Indo-US economic relations,” said Atul Jalan, CEO, Manthan Systems.
Patni V-P Tony Viola said: ‘‘What’s predominantly eating into the mindshare of Americans today are issues of war on Iraq, quality and affordable healthcare and easy access to higher education.’’
However, some are less optimistic. ‘‘Democrats may restart their anti-outsourcing campaign, but it will happen only towards the end of 2007, as they will not gain anything from raising the bogey at this point of time,’’ said Ravi Venkitachalam, an Indo-US trade expert. The Democrats recently opposed the government’s plan to increase the number of H1 visas. ‘‘Therefore, immigration quotas will again be a hot button issue in the months to come,’’ said Jessica MacKenzie, director, Tholons, an investment, advisory and management firm.
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