Offshoring: An edge above the business slowdown

Whenever there is a worldwide economic recession, it is but natural for businesses to show a kind of downward spiral that indicates poor prospects for the future of the concerned country. But, on the other hand, when you look at it from a different angle – a period of economic recession can also be a golden opportunity for many a business, provided you fully utilize resources and convert them into above average outcomes.
When you take a look at the IT industry, the recession is not what you would necessarily call a bad phase for this industry, as this period brings along with it a definite positive change in terms of better business prospects and cost reduction. One such business prospect is indeed offshoring. Whether it is the offshoring of products and services, or whether it is the outsourcing of human resources to provide skilled labor force for the outsourcer – the dynamics of offshoring, especially IT offshoring, is definitely taking a turn for the best.
IT companies that operate on one or more models of offshoring generally do so as per the requirements of their respective clients. Most companies start by evaluating their clients’ needs and requirements, and then they move on to setting the wheel for offshore services in motion. Location is one of the most important criteria when it comes to offshoring services and cutting costs. Many organizations undergo major makeovers as they set out looking to revive and transform their businesses. When choosing a location that is ideal for your business, the offshore location offers many advantages that are based on specific attributes like language, skills, culture, socio-political system, and so on.
So whether you are talking about bigwigs like Microsoft or IBM, many big as well as small organizations have made their presence felt in a number of countries by offering the best in offshoring products and services. Many of the Indian IT companies like TCS and Infosys have established permanent bases in the United States and Canada so as to offer the best in terms of services. Undoubtedly, India has emerged as one of the top hottest IT destinations for offshore outsourcing.
1. Study the location – Whenever a client is in need of your offshoring services, it is very important to do some research before you offer your services. Understand the organization right from its management to its complete structure, and make it a point to find out about the assets and how you could benefit from them.2. Offer reduced prices – Being an offshore outsourcer, this would be a customary approach. Only if you offer valued services at reasonable costs will you be able to achieve success.3. Emphasize on efficient services and quality delivery – Delivering quality services at reduced costs is the solution to your problem. Always offer the best in terms of services and quality, and you will experience success in the long run.4. Build your own HR capital – By including the best in terms of brains and hiring the best foreign nationals, the chances of enticing offshore location organizations are stronger.
While the financial and banking sectors were probably the worst hit during the period of recessions, the IT industry on the other hand had a very good start in the past and still maintains a good growth rate. On very occasions has the IT industry witnessed a cut in the budget where offshoring is concerned. India has emerged as the leader in terms of organization culture and talented resources, while other countries like Japan have just begun to explore the option of offshoring.

Advantage LPO!

In the last couple of years, the legal industry has experienced a paradigm shift globally where the delivery model for all legal services is concerned. This delivery model, better known to most as Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO), involves transferring legal processes from developed nations to offshore low-wage markets.

Yes, Legal Process Outsourcing in India is indeed growing tremendously in popularity as established law firms all over the world seek to minimize costs, expand in-house capabilities and increase flexibility. Legal process outsourcing joint ventures have sprung up all over the country. Initially, the concept of LPO appealed largely to the mammoth multinational companies and law firms because of the various opportunities it offered. However today, small as well as mid-size legal markets have also begun to capitalize on the LPO rage.
LPO services in India range from data entry and legal transcription, to pre-litigation documentation, due diligence, legal research, intellectual property services and contract management. LPO is a very complex process and is perhaps not the best solution for every organization. But it has many advantages to it, which include:

• Cost Savings
• Round-the-Clock Operations
• Access to the Global labor pool
• Flexibility

The Indian LPO services are efficient, affordable and skilled. Outsourcing legal work to India cuts a great amount in the costs (almost 80%), which is definitely less than the cost of using the services of International law firms.

But it isn’t all about the cost savings. LPO’s make attractive business prospects for Global law firms and larger companies for a number of reasons. LPO users can also avail a range of different benefits in the least possible time. What’s more, LPO users can gain a lot of operational efficiencies by focusing on certain core business activities while at the same time having access to a full scale of skills, service offerings and technologies, at a much reduced cost.

It goes without saying that LPO’s offer great advantages.

Choosing the Right KPO Service Provider

The success of any Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) project depends entirely on the vendor assigned to it. Any KPO business calls for highly specialized domain expertise, advanced analytical skills, high level domain-based processes, business proficiency and experience.

It is indeed a very challenging task to select just the right KPO service provider, especially if you are looking for various KPO services for the very first time. And although choosing the right services is definitely a good thing, the wrong choice could potentially ruin your business in the long run. As far as KPO services are concerned, India has always been (and perhaps always will be) the ultimate outsourcing destination for many overseas companies.

What with the Indian KPO scenario being so much in demand, there is no dearth of KPO service providers in the country, making it very difficult to choose just the right one. Most providers claim to deliver quality services at reasonable rates, but do they really live up to their commitments? When it comes to finding the right KPO service provider, the things you need to look out for in your prospects are: quality, price and time. A good service provider will always deliver quality, at a reasonable cost and within the assigned timeframe. Thus, it is of utmost importance to consider certain factors when hiring a KPO provider.

The biggest factor to consider is that different KPO service providers have expertise in different processes. For example, you have service providers that have expertise in telemedicine or in research. Depending on the nature of the KPO, you can contact any KPO provider with the concerned expertise and experience for your projects. Apart from this, other factors that need to be considered when searching the right KPO provider would include:

• Experience
• Quality of Services
• Additional Costs
• Data Privacy
• Risk Management
• Honest Dealing
• Work Ethics & Culture
• Skilled Staff

With so many established KPO providers already in business, and many new players joining every year, choosing the right KPO provider can be very challenging for overseas KPO companies. Since there are many risks involved in doing this, it would be very wise to consider the above mentioned points when choosing your vendor.

Cartoon Animation Outsourcing

A new outsourcing fever has taken over the whole Indian subcontinent. On the one hand, global giants in the media and entertainment space like Warner Brothers, Walt Disney, Sony and Imax have been signing up projects with many of the Indian animation companies. On the other hand, other companies have also started outsourcing commercials and computer games to India.

Indian animation studios are cropping up all over the country right along with call centers and software firms. And although they might not seem like the most obvious outsourcing candidates, cute cartoon characters and hi-fi special effects are also being outsourced to Indian studios. Off late, India has been winning many animation contracts for a number of reasons. Yes India is becoming the next biggest animation hotspot for the very same reasons that it is a big outsourcing destination for other types of industries. Low working costs, a workforce that is fluent in English and a record in meeting standards makes India a preferred cartoon animation outsourcing destination.

Specializing in different types of computer animation that range from flash animation and architectural animation to 2D and 3D animation, the number of professionals in this field continues to increase. Yes indeed cartoon animation outsourcing continues to grow and the future for India in this field promises to be bright.

Animation Outsourcing to India: Animating our way to the Top!

As compared to the rest of the world, the Indian animation industry was initially what most critics would call a “late starter”. In India, for a very long period of time, the animation scene was considered to be a very expensive proposition, and something that would not draw the Indian audience. Furthermore, with the ever-evolving Indian film industry taking the front seat with regards to issues like piracy and quality control, the animation industry took a back seat. It isn’t that animation was non-existent; it did exist but was rather primitive. But today, India has become the biggest animation outsourcing destination in the world! So whether its 3D modeling or 2D animation, take a look at what India has to offer.

Currently pegged at over 15 billion rupees, the animation and visual FX segments in India have experienced a tremendous upsurge over the past three years. Taking into consideration the speed at which this industry is growing within the country, our nation will probably need thousands and thousands of professionals in the coming year to take care of this ‘techno savvy’ field.

Yes, India’s animation sector is indeed witnessing a boom. Many of the overseas giants like Sony, Walt Disney, Pixar and Imax have been increasingly outsourcing special effects projects and cartoon characters to India. Apart from this, other companies all over the world have also been outsourcing projects to India for game development and commercials.

So what makes India so special? Why is the animation sector experiencing such drastic growth? Let’s take a look at what makes India so special!

Here are some of the reasons why India is such a hot animation outsourcing destination:

India has a vast English speaking workforce base and animation is a field that requires fluency in the English language. This is perhaps the biggest reason why animation is outsourced to India.
Many of the top-notch animation studios in the country are now creating skilled manpower for the industry through various kinds of training programs.
India has the second largest film and entertainment industry in the world today. And, many of the animation studios supply overseas companies with a large number of high quality, low cost software engineers.
Most of the Indian animation studios come replete with hi-tech setups, which are fully equipped with state-of-the-art software and hardware to execute overseas projects.
The main reason why many of the overseas entertainment companies have started outsourcing animation to India is due to the cost advantage offered by this country. For example, in the United States, animators charge about $125 per hour, while in India they charge a mere $25 per hour.
The estimated net cost for making a full-length animated movie is somewhere around $100 million to about $200 million in the US. But, in India, a movie can be made for anywhere between $15 million to $ 25 million.

Walt Disney has outsourced many of its major projects to various studios within India. Cartoon Network is in the process of buying films that are made in India. MTV has also added India to its list of hot animation outsourcing hubs, along with South Korea and the Philippines.

Cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Trivandrum have fast emerged as India’s major animation spots. A number of companies across the country have been wholly and completely involved in the outsourced world of special effects and animation. Some of these companies include, Crest Communications, Toonz Animation, UTV Toons, Maya Entertainment, and Zee Institute of Creative Animation, to name a few. All of these animation firms have large studios that are fully equipped with state-of-the-art technologies and software’s like 3D Max, SFX, SGI, and Softimage and motion capture facilities.

Slick special effects, skilled 3D modeling, cute cartoon characters and classic 2D animation services are the results of outsourcing to India. Like call centers and software firms, Indian animation studios are popping up all over the country and that are specialized in working for overseas projects. Yes, when it comes to television shows, films and even gaming, India (although she is a latecomer) has strated to gain remarkable recognition over some of her more established competitors like Taiwan, Korea, Philippines and Singapore.

After all, multimedia outsourcing and animation outsourcing is what we call the media equivalent of perhaps business process outsourcing. The dynamics are more or less the same – it is too expensive to animate in the West. So bring it on to India.