Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
Unexplored potential
|
Call centre business and ITES are yet to `catch up' in the city. Properly exploited, the city can emerge as the ITES hub in the future
|
FROM INFORMATION Technology (IT) to IT-Enabled Services (ITES) — it has been a journey with quite some twists and turns for the Indian IT sector. When the `great' IT bubble finally burst, many companies in the field diversified into ITES.
Now, ITES is the in-thing and its huge market potential has made it a truly attractive option. And, India has become the most favoured destination for ITES and Business Process Sutsourcing (BPO). What are the reasons for this success? Simple. The country has the second largest English-speaking population in the world. Coimbatore, an educational hub, could easily be the ideal choice for ITES firms.
Despite these advantages, the call centre business and ITES, which are at its crescendo now, are yet to `call the shots' here.
Why is it so? "Coimbatore is an ideal destination for call centre business. The availability of skilled manpower and the required bandwidth are its advantages. But, its potential has not been projected properly," says Gopakumar G Nair, Senior Officer, Franchise Development, Godrej Lawkim, which has started a call centre training solutions unit in the city in association with Maze Net Solutions. "After the recession in the IT sector, ITES has grown in a big way. Most of the non-core activities are being outsourced to India and we need to capitalise on this," says K Mani, Managing Director, Maze Net Solutions.
"Even Indian companies have started to do this now."
What prompted Lawkim to start a unit here? "Our aim is to train the available manpower. We are also planning to enter into a tie-up with colleges. Students lack soft skills and our aim is to hone them," Gopakumar explains.
But, this is also some kind of `outsourcing'. Students will be trained and placed in call centres in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
But, the future holds promise, he says. "Once the call centre businesses realise the city's potential, they might start their units here. Actually, the cost of setting up a call centre here is less when compared to other cities," he observes.
"Outsourcing has become an absolute necessity now. Companies in the West will continue to outsource to cut costs," Gopakumar states.
M. ALLIRAJAN
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
|
