The information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITeS) industry continues to contribute significantly to the growth and development of the Indian economy. The sector’s contribution to the country’s gross domestic product increased from 1.2 per cent in 1998 to 8 per cent in 2013. Further, at the end of 2013, the IT services and business process outsourcing (BPO) segment was estimated to have provided direct employment to about 3 million people and indirect employment to about 9.5 million.

For a long time, the ITeS and BPO sectors have been using IT and telecommunications as an effective tool to help businesses lower costs. However, with the rapid evolution in technology and the emergence of new concepts such as cloud computing and bring-your-own-device (BYOD), the industry is now faced with the challenge of using IT and telecom tools to help their clients generate additional revenue. According to Accenture, high performing BPOs are using technology as a source of innovation and advantage rather than just facilitating infrastructure delivery.

Further, Accenture emphasises that the deployment of cutting-edge technologies and introduction of new-age architectures enable cost reductions and more efficient operations by streamlining the systems environment and reducing the number of systems within BPOs. Increasingly, a large number of players in the industry are adopting unified, centralised technology platforms to reduce costs. Further, with customers wanting to cut down on additional back-office costs due to budgetary constraints, the adoption of tools such as cloud computing, business analytics software, social media platforms and process automation software across the ITeS and BPO sectors is on the rise.

Going forward, the growing scale of the ITeS and BPO markets requires greater levels of automation through IT. A number of companies in this space view IT as a way of achieving non-linear growth.

With a view to change the business process service value for clients, companies in the ITeS and BPO segment are increasingly integrating their internal business processes with technology. Within the industry, new business process services are emerging, which are integrating human expertise with collaboration and automation tools. At present, data analytics and virtualisation are redefining the business models for the industry. Players are increasingly adopting next-generation technologies like cloud computing, social media and analytics to connect people and interpret data more effectively. ITeS and BPO companies are no longer just involved in the processing of large volumes of data; instead, they are playing a key role in the interpretation of data and adding tangible business value for their clients. Large IT companies and BPOs are effectively using data analytics to gain expertise and insights into consumer behaviour and to pass these on to their clients to help them run their businesses better. The analysis of transactional data is helping organisations in the ITeS and BPOs sectors provide their clients with actionable insights into their business operations.

The use of business automation tools is also on the rise in ITeS and BPO companies. These companies are using software that automates processes, thereby lowering human resource costs. Automated processes are being widely used for financing and accounting functions within the industry. Further, irrespective of the size or scale of their operations, a large number of IT, ITeS and BPO companies are adopting a multichannel customer relationship management (CRM) strategy, including web chat and social media. The emergence of online communication channels has changed the way conversations take place, including those between organisations and their customers. In such a scenario, IT companies and BPOs are supporting enterprises to build meaningful customer conversations by customising client and company relationships. Further, companies are banking on response management systems to help address customer concerns in real time. In fact, Gartner forecasts that about 50 per cent of contact centres will employ social media as a mainstream communication channel by 2015.

The adoption of cloud computing is also increasing at a greater pace in the ITeS and the BPO sectors. The cloud computing platform allows these companies to deliver their services through flexible, cost-effective, subscription-based packages. Cloud computing has paved the way for BPOs and ITeS companies to deliver services to a large number of small- and medium-sized enterprises that lack extensive infrastructure. In addition, cloud-based platforms provide secure data access and  scalable infrastructure for CRM processes, including customer services and technical support.

According to the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines, globally, the BPO industry is expected to sustain its growth momentum, with revenues reaching $18 billion in 2014. In addition, the association states that the revenues of the BPO industry could grow by 16 per cent year on year due to the emergence of new growth areas. The growth areas for the industry will be in the back-office, finance and accounting services and health care sectors. With a strong IT and telecom backbone in place, Indian players are equipped to tap these emerging opportunities, leveraging emerging technologies such as big data, cloud computing and virtualisation.

tele.net conducted a survey among various companies in the call centre, BPO, IT and ITeS segments to assess their telecom requirements, the challenges faced by them and solutions deployed by the organisations to tackle these challenges.

The following questions were asked in the survey:

•             What are the organisation’s main technology requirements?

•             What mix of service providers and vendors is being used?

•             What are the biggest concerns with respect to telecom infrastructure?

•             What are some of the mobility and enterprise applications implemented by the organisation?

•             Which network security tools has the organisation adopted?

•             What redundancy tools are being used?

•             Which new product or service holds the most interest and relevance for the organisation?

Key technology requirements

The results of the survey highlight that the key requirements for companies in this segment are processing and managing large volumes of data, disaster recovery, data security and the deployment of mobility solutions to enhance productivity.

Call centres and BPOs are responsible for timely service delivery and ITeS is responsible for providing cutting–edge technology solutions to clients. Therefore, these companies have to stay a step ahead of other industries in adopting advanced technology solutions to strengthen their own telecom and IT networks. The majority of companies in this segment use a mix of wireless and wireline technologies to meet their day-to-day business requirements. By and large, call centres, BPOs and ITeS companies set up telecom infrastructure that comprises multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) and virtual private networks (VPNs). In addition, these companies deploy technologies such as leased lines, ISDN and Ethernet. Ethernet offers the companies the option to upgrade their networks in a cost-effective manner in the future. MPLS is used to link the main office with other smaller centres or facilities. A large number of companies have established MPLS-based networks to take advantage of reduced costs compared to setting up an ATM and deploying frame relay technologies. Other benefits of opting for an MPLS-based network include enhanced disaster recovery and future-proofing of the network. Further, companies also use leased lines to source bandwidth from multiple service providers. To meet their voice connectivity requirements, companies opt for voice over internet protocol (VoIP).

To enhance their communication systems, companies are increasingly adding new mediums to their existing infrastructure. With the rapid evolution in technologies, large organisations have opted for unified contact centre solutions, which integrate voice, video, chat, email and social media applications. With the advent of cloud computing, call centres, BPOs and ITeS have migrated to the cloud platform, which is capable of supporting applications like big data and bring your own devices.

In this segment, Infosys BPO has been in the forefront of establishing a robust telecom system by upgrading its legacy system from time to time and adopting new technologies. The company’s current infrastructure set-up comprises a private cloud, which has been deployed to consolidate AD and application infrastructure. It has also strengthened its wide area network by adopting a managed MPLS service with six classes of service configured to differentiate voice, video, enterprise applications and other non-critical traffic. The BPO has deployed Ethernet for establishing last mile access connecting service provider nodes.

Service providers and vendors

Players in this segment utilise the services of IT and telecom service providers such as Tata Communications, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Bharti Airtel, Tata Teleservices Limited, Reliance Communications (RCOM), Vodafone India and Aircel. In addition, organisations also deploy various IT- and enterprise-led solutions offered by companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Oracle, RSA, Microsoft, IBM, Wipro, Nokia Solutions and Networks, HP, Dell, McAfee, Avaya and Juniper Networks.

Key issues and concerns

With rapid advancements in technology, keeping pace with emerging trends without overstretching budgets is the key challenge for companies. Other challenges include frequent upgradation and migration to new systems, integration of new applications, management of network downtime, ensuring network security and selection of appropriate vendors for procurement of equipment. Further, a few small- and mid-sized companies within the vertical are also faced with challenges such as high bandwidth costs and the need to retrain staff to adopt new technologies. For Infotech Enterprises Limited, the key issues involved in upgrading its communication infrastructure included migration of services from one internet service provider to another and changing the internet protocol address scheme.

Popular applications

The growing scale of the IT, BPO and ITeS industry requires greater levels of automation through IT and telecommunication services. Organisations in this space are using enterprise and mobility applications within the company to encourage collaboration between employees and increase productivity. The most widely used tools include chat and audio and video-conferencing to facilitate regular communication between employees. Other enterprise applications deployed by companies include web hosting, VoIP, corporate intranet, push alerts and mobile access to supply chain management and CRM. For example, Unique Infoways, a leading provider of technology solutions, including hardware and software, to public sector companies and corporate houses, manages its employee count and payroll through an enterprise resource planning module.

Another IT company, Antec Inc. uses an intranet system for faster data sharing and access to operational systems as well as a host of other computing services.

Network redundancy

For players in this segment, the collection, processing and dissemination of data to clients is the topmost priority. To achieve this, companies need to ensure adequate network backup. Organisations deploy various tools to address issues regarding uptime and response time. For backup and data recovery, the majority of companies deploy leased lines, ISDN lines, data archiving, firewalls, storage area network systems, security audits and security operation control systems. A number of companies also use a parallel MPLS network along with their VPN set-up to overcome issues regarding patchy connectivity and downtime. For network redundancy, PC Solutions Limited has opted for the services of RCOM and Bharti Airtel. It has also deployed switches with built-in redundancy in its telecom system.

Network security

Given that organisations in this segment need to handle huge volumes of highly sensitive data, security is of utmost importance. The majority of the organisations set up a multi-tiered security system to protect their infrastructure from external as well as internal threats. The most commonly used security tools include built-in server security, firewalls, antivirus packages, password protection, and intrusion-prevention systems. Further, in order to ensure security within their premises, a large number of organisations track emails and store crucial data on password-protected servers. For example, Infosys BPO uses security, incident and event management solutions to get an overview of the company’s IT infrastructure security through log correlation and analytics.

The way forward

Srimathi K. Swamy, assistant vice-president and practice head for technology services, Infosys BPO, identifies four broad technology trends that are expected to dominate the call centre, BPO and ITeS verticals. According to her, the proliferation of software defined networks (SDNs) in the industry is a key trend. SDN is gaining traction among players as it helps them simplify the IT infrastructure by moving hardware-based network appliance solutions to software-based solutions hosted on a private cloud. Increasingly, organisations are moving towards enterprise unified communication solutions for real-time collaboration within the enterprise. Players are also opting for proactive call centre technologies that enable a virtual agent to resolve most customer chat queries, reducing the volume of queries directed to human agents and thereby improving revenue productivity.  Another big trend in this segment is the growing usage of self-healing technologies. At present, incident management is being handled by service desk L1/L2 engineers. With the introduction of self-healing technologies, the troubleshooting of IT infrastructure issues can be automated.

Since IT, BPO and ITeS companies have to handle a significant volume of data and analyse this to help clients take informed decisions, these players are making significant investments in big data. Most of the data handled by employees in this segment is in unstructured, raw forms (such as audio, video and messages on social networks). Processing large volumes of data using traditional data processing applications is becoming increasingly difficult for companies. However, big data applications enable companies to structure and analyse data and pass it on to their clients to help them make informed decisions.

Recognising the benefits of a robust telecom and IT network, players in this segment are expected to invest heavily in new-age technologies such as cloud computing and big data. Going forward, with IT, BPO and ITeS companies expecting affirmative growth, large-as well as mid- and small-sized companies are expected to upgrade and expand their existing infrastructure by investing in new technology platforms.