Firstsource lines up bigger Asia play

Business process outsourcer Firstsource has charted out a three-pronged strategy to expand its presence in the emerging markets in Asia.

Sanjay Venkataraman, executive vice-president (Asia business unit head), said Firstsource will expand vertically, by catering to more sectors, as well as horizontally, by offering diverse services.

The company’s Asia business unit brings in 12% of its total revenues and has about 15,000 employees servicing clients in India and Sri Lanka.

“Today, for the Asia region, which primarily consists of India and Sri Lanka for us, we are predominantly catering to the telecom sector. We started servicing the banking, financial services, insurance sector from last year and this would be a key area going ahead,” said Venkataraman.

He said Firstsource would also look at the healthcare sector at an appropriate time period. “The government is another segment providing tremendous opportunity with the various citizen services that are being doled out.”

According to a director at a consulting firm, domestic clients, especially the government, help reduce risks and uncertainties in the BPO business, where most clients are based in the US and other developed markets.

For the horizontal spread, the firm will offer more services like back-office data analysis.

Firstsource, which is mainly into customer relations, will use its strength and experience in this area to do data analysis. “We will start focusing on converting data that is gathered into information and further processing that information into knowledge,” said Venkataraman.

The third part of the strategy entails going into newer territories in the Middle East and South East Asia.

The Asia business unit, which has been servicing clients in India since its inception four years ago, forayed into the Sri Lankan market in May through a joint venture with Sri Lankan telecom service provider Dialog Axiata. Firstsource holds 74% in the venture, called Firstsource-Dialog Solutions.

“We will continue investing in sales and marketing in the Mid East and South East Asia. The telecom sector, which has been our stronghold, is big in the Mid East, which also has a sizeable South Asian population. Thus, vernacular Indian languages will be required for that region and we see a natural fit there,” said Venkataraman.

South East Asia, on the other hand, is a mature region for doing business, he said.

The company will also look at markets in Africa, such as Kenya and Nigeria, as part of its expansion strategy. The locals there are qualified to carry out BPO services and also have a sound English speaking ability, believes Venkataraman. “The governments there are also supportive.”