Valdar's Blog

Next time, when a client’s transaction is forwarded to a BPO in India, he might actually end up getting more value on the service offered than he ever expected.

The Indian BPO industry is undergoing a shift in its revenue-generation model to spur more efficiency among the service providers.

From the input-based pricing or FTE (full-time equivalent) model based on per person on hourly basis, the sector is embracing outcome (a client pays a vendor based on the output or outcome) and transaction (vendor will be paid on the number of transactions performed) based pricing models.

“Gauging productivity of providers based on the FTE format was becoming quite difficult. In the new output based model, the effort and success is out in the open for everyone to see. It shall have positive impacts in revenue generation,” said Sameer Chopra, president, Business Process Industry Association of India (BPIAI).

The industry believes that outsourcing is not strictly a cost-cutting exercise; it’s a business-value creator. The new pricing model based on the output delivered to a client would help in achieving the latter role.

Outcome or transaction based pricing provides incentives for the vendor to invest in improving process performance and efficiency on an ongoing basis.

“At present, about 40-50 per cent of our revenues are generated by the transaction model and helped us in aligning revenue utilisation to clients’ variable cost. However, a derived outcome model from the FTE model without proper domain knowledge, might imply negative impact,” said Aparup Sengupta, MD and CEO, Aegis BPO.

The much-touted transaction-based pricing model is the result of a series of improvements such as process simplification, application of technology and standardization. Transaction-based pricing offers significant advantages over the FTE based pricing where service providers charge for manpower employed per unit of time. In transaction-based pricing, since the service provider is paid for quantity of work, it breeds efficiency and helps clients to easily compare the service providers.

“We have embraced the outcome based model along with the existing FTE model since it is performance based and promises to outperform our customers’ best centre by 10 per cent or more. Apart from the fact that the clients need not pay on flat basis, it provides comfort to clients, as they need not bear the entire risk. We have incorporated the operational efficiency platform for the outcome-based model,” said 24/7 Customer chief marketing officer Vivek Bharathwaj.

Besides, it can bring close alignment of objectives and incentives of the client and the vendor, to achieve value-addition in the transaction process. In case of transaction based pricing, clients would need to pay only for the results achieved and not the unutilised FTEs.

The highest paying occupations demand leadership. Are you a leader? Leaders are not born. They are developed over a period of time.

Learning, growing and developing are some of the hallmarks of success. They are the blood, sweat and tears that all developing people must experience.

When you learn, grow and develop, the fact of whether you succeed or fail comes with the total package. Mind you, we all pursue success, but we all don’t attain it.

Get Rich Quick Schemes

The important ingredient here is the journey. Your growth and development are far more important and richer than success. In fact, they are priceless. Get that under your belt and success will eventually be yours for the taking.

This is the price to be paid for success. Are you beginning to see why get rich quick schemes have no place among the highest paying occupations?

Position Is The Art Of Gunnery

How you position yourself in your chosen area of expertise is critical. Position yourself as an expert and they’ll beat a path to your door. That’s what this article is about.

Be Focused

Fedex initially focused on overnight, 2-day and 3-day delivery. As a result of this shotgun approach, they lost millions. The problem was they cast their net broad and wide, trying to snare the many.

As soon as they shifted their focus to overnight delivery things began to change. They began to market themselves as overnight experts. Their tightly focused overnight theme made a big impact on those who needed that type of service.

Become An Expert

How do you get them to come to your corner of the World Wide Web? Simple, be an expert. Show them that you are number one when it comes to overcoming acne, setting up a website or writing a relationship email. Show them that you are the expert and they’ll come. This is the way you become an expert in the highest paying occupations

It’s time to put speculations at rest, software giant Microsoft has confirmed that its next operating system Windows 7, successor to Windows Vista, will be unveiled next month (28 October) at its Professional Developers Conference (PDC).

Earlier this week, Microsoft technology evangelist Mike Swanson had posted that PDC 2008 attendees will receive USB 2.0 based 160GB external HD with Windows 7 pre-beta build.

The company is also known to have added more than a dozen Windows 7-specific sessions to the PDC agenda. These include: New APIs to Find, Visualise and Organise; Integrate with the Windows 7 Desktop Taskbar and Best Practices for Developing for Windows Standard User.

In May, Microsoft publicly demoed Windows 7 at a news conference. The high point of the new OS is its “multi-touch” interface.

Other than, the touchy feely look, the demo also showed a user manipulating photos, browsing a map and playing an onscreen piano with simple one and two-finger taps and gestures.

However, the company did not confirm when it plans to ship Beta 1 of Windows 7. Microsoft plans to unveil the final version of Windows 7 around January 2010.

Google is turning 10 and has thought of a novel idea to celebrate a decade of its existence. It is working towards changing the world. If you have an idea that could change the world, or at least help a lot of people, the internet giant Google wants you to share it with them. And hold your breath, if the idea rocks and clicks, you get as much as $10 million to make it a reality.

Google has named the project “10 to the 100th” and the initiative will seek input from the public and a panel of judges in choosing up to five winning ideas, to be announced in February.

“These ideas can be big or small, technology-driven or brilliantly simple — but they need to have impact,” Google said in a news release. “We know there are countless brilliant ideas that need funding and support to come to fruition.”

Those are ideas such as the Hippo Water Roller, which Google cited as the kind of concept the company would be interested in rewarding. Developed in Africa, where it is most used, the Hippo Water Roller is a barrel-shaped container, attached to a handle, that holds 24 gallons of water and can be rolled with little effort like a wheelbarrow, making it easier for villagers on foot to transport critically needed fresh water to their homes.

People are encouraged to submit their ideas, in any of 25 languages, at www.project10tothe100.com through October 20. Entrants must briefly describe their idea and answer six questions, including, “If your idea were to become a reality, who would benefit the most and how?”

Micro Mobile Controller System, or Micro MCS. It is meant to enable mobile phone users to not only track their mobile phone, but also back up and delete data.

If you’ve ever lost your mobile phone, you’d understand the agony one has to go through to trying and rescuing your handset. Also, getting your contact numbers back in place can be quite a task. More than the loss of a precious phone, there is an acute possibility of your data — phone numbers, personal multimedia files, and other information – being misused by someone.

As you already know, there are a handful of mobile security solutions available in the Indian market, essentially known as “mobile tracking systems” – also made synonymous by the Samsung brand of phones through intense promotions. These products surely help you get back your mobile phones, but what about your data?

Now, Micro Technologies, a security and life support systems developer, has launched a mobile security solution which aims to offer tracking a lost mobile phone, along with taking care of data that resides on it as well.
The solution is called Micro Mobile Controller System, or Micro MCS. It is meant to enable mobile phone users to not only track their mobile phone, but also back up and delete data.

The Works

To be able to use Micro MCS, a user will need to pay Rs. 499 for years subscription and download the Micro MCS software on their phone (select Nokia phones) through the company’s website. The user can then assign two phone numbers that can be used to send the number of the new SIM card inserted in their phone after it’s lost. It also retrieves the Location Area Code of the place the phone is then being used at.

Further, a user can delete contacts, messages, and even multimedia files from the lost mobile phone so that it does not get misused. Standard SMS rates per step of this procedure are applicable.

Also, a user can make a back-up of their contacts as well as other data on Micro Technologies’ website.

Drawbacks

While the Micro MCS is a clever idea, it is still in its nascent stages. Firstly, at the moment, Micro MCS supports only a limited number of Nokia phones. The company officials inform us that the product should support BlackBerry by next month.

While tracking the phone is standard facility, the back-up provision is basic. Users need to manually update their back-up vault periodically so that they can retrieve their latest data in case of loss.

Availability

The Company plans to make this product available through its retail stores across the country in the next 2-3 months. Micro MCS is available for Rs. 499 for a year’s usage through Micro Technologies website.

Source: Techtree.com

An Indian netizen is hitting the search button on an average 51 times during a month, but this puts them only at the last position among the top 10 countries of Asia-Pacific in terms of intensity of online search.

According to the latest ranking of top internet search figures for Asia-Pacific released by internet traffic tracking firm comScore, Koreans have topped in terms of online search intensity with an average of 102.8 searches per searcher during the month of July.

“Searchers in Korea exhibited the heaviest search intensity with an average of 102.8 searches per searcher during the month, followed by Australia (102 searches per searcher) and Japan (100.8 searches per searcher),” comScore said.

India has ranked after Korea, Australia, Japan, Singapore (91.2), New Zealand (87.2), Hong Kong (81), China (76.6), Taiwan (74.8) and Malaysia (64.2) on search intensity ranking.

India’s score of 51 searches per searcher is even lower than the overall average of 80.7 for the Asia-Pacific region.

However, the figures might increase after taking into account traffic from the public computers. The comScore data has been compiled by taking into account all unique internet users aged 15 and above from their home and work computers and it excludes searches from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

However, India fares much better in terms of the number of people searching something on internet as well as in terms of the number of such searches.

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa today assured the Christian community leaders that all steps will be taken to restore the damaged parts of all the Shrines, Churches and Prayer halls in three districts namely Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Chikmagalur. He met the Christian leaders in the circuit house at Mangalore.

He earlier visited all places that were affected by communal riots and attacks on Churches. Mr.Yeddyurappa who addressed a press conference later said that he had assured the Christian leaders that the government will make good for all the damages inflicted by miscreants on the churches.

Stating that he was pained at the incidents Mr.Yeddyurappa said nobody in this state was authorized to conduct attacks on the minority institutions nor hurt their sentiments. If any group had any grouses about religious conversions it should be brought to the notice of the government and the various agencies that are there for such exigencies. But nobody can take law into their hands and do whatever they want. He also said that he would give the same assurances to all parts of the state wherever there were such attacks. He will go to Chikmagalur on Tuesday.

Mr. Yeddyurappa giving details of the police action said that 153 persons have been arrested during the last two days by the police and some of them have been charged with looting and arson and rioting. They will be punished in accordance with the provisions of the law under they were charged.

Lets look at the issues here:
1. The Bajrang Dal resorts to violence because of something that is printed that they do not agree with.
2. When the Bajrang Dal says that conversions are illegal, (and all the other things they do with tis as their cause) aren’t they infact enforcing that “you cannot worship any God other than a Hindu God”
3. The New Life Church is a relative newcomer, known to be more hardline than most other churches which distance themselves from them. Shouldn’t the Bajrang Dal have at least distinguished that?
4. Even if they did not agree with what was printed by the New Life church in India, couldn’t they try having a dialog with them first, before resorting to violence.
Looks like the hooligans behind these attacks are only interested in breaking bones and getting their adrenaline pumping rather than really trying to sort out any kinds of problems or misunderstandings.

The ruffians broke all the religious statues in the Sisters of Poor Clare’s Adoration Monastery. They threw the Holy Eucharist on the ground and desecrated it.

Is this OK, just because it is being done against Catholics/Christians in India who have historically been as non-violent as the Jains and buddhists (other minorities) in India?

Concerned members of the churches gathered in the church grounds during and after evening mass in a peaceful way to seek assurance and guidance from the priests and other religious. Wasn’t this a peaceful gahtering compared to mobs rampaging and torching buses because of some mud smeared on Meenatai’s statue? or The countrywide riots following a desecration of an Ambedkar statue in Kanpur? The second incident was also of smeared mud. Both the desecrations happened on public roads. This does not make it right, but compare this to religious statues being broken on private property, the Holy Eucharist (which Christians believe is the body of Christ once it is blessed) thrown on the ground. Do not Christians have a right to congregate to discuss their fears following such incidents.

Remember the Christians were gathering in peace outside their place of worship (since the insides of the church were full) not going out and torching buses or hurting other innocent people.

To add fuel to the fire, the police arrived. No issues with their arriving where crowds had gathered, but they started lathi charging the gathered people and seriously injured nuns and women among the crowd and threw tear bombs inside the church where Sunday evening mass was being held. A religious ceremony, a peaceful ceremony, held everyday inside these churches.

Was this responsible on the part of the police to use force and violence against unarmed, peaceful members of the public?

People present at the scene said that the police themselves were pelting stones at the crowd and caning them, hurting both people and damaging property in the vicinity.

The news channels started to broadcast about this and then completely hushed up. I turned on my India feed of NDTV which promised for 15 minutes to show an update and news about Mangalore city and suddenly it stopped showing those banners without showing any news about what had happened. Looks like someone high in the political chain, got to them and yanked the news off the air.

Now take 2-3 other incidents into perspective.
On 29th August over 40,000 Christian Educational Institutions across India stayed closed to register a peaceful protest against the continuing violence against Christians in Orissa which has now spread to 13 out of 30 districts.

On the same day, the government of Karnataka announced its decision to take action against Christian schools in the state for closing without prior permission.

This same government has yet to take action against the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat and RSS workers, who had launched violent protests when the JD (S) failed to hand over the state reins to the BJP last year.

Is it any surprise that both Karnataka and Orissa currently have the BJP in power?

New Delhi: The escalating life insurance business is creating opportunities for software and outsourcing companies, as insurers are giving out their back-office functions. Through this outsourcing, while companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and International Business Machines (IBM), are roping in more business, the insurance firms are able to strengthen their foothold on the main business.

This is helping the insurance business to be more focused despite the lack of trained employees and it also helps in slashing off a certain amount of work costs. “To build scalability and speed up our entry in the market, we have outsourced all our non-core activities to different providers. TCS is one of them,” said Kapil Mehta, CEO of DLF Pramerica Life Insurance. As reported by Live Mint, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA)’s report has shown that fresh business, or first-year premiums, in the life insurance sector jumped 23.31 percent to Rs.92,989 crore in 2007-08 from a year ago. In the two preceding fiscals, business had grown even faster at 94.96 percent and 47.94 percent, respectively. The increase is triggered by the Indian middle-classes new inclination for long-term saving plans, as there is an absence of proper security measures in the society. 

Assessing the advantage, even the BPOs are greatly benefiting from the scenario as its providing new business opportunity. Sanjiv Kapur, Senior VP and Head of Patni Computer Systems says, “With insurance in India one of the fastest growing businesses, outsourcing of operational work by life insurers is a very positive industry.” Max New York Life Insurance this month entered an outsourcing agreement with IBM India for Max Vijay, a new life insurance policy in which a policyholder can invest as little as Rs.10 every day. For this, IBM shall provide complete services from policy set-up to claims processing and customer service.

The definite impact of the insurance business is felt in the country, as it is the home for 21 life insurance companies. The number of firms opting for the business swelled with India opening the platform for private sector in 2000.