Outsourcing to India Sees a Twist
Indian technology and call-center companies are setting up operations in North America, driven by a desire to be closer to top clients and by political pressure over the outsourcing of U.S. jobs.
Major Indian companies such as Infosys Technologies Ltd. and Wipro Ltd. have made a push into the U.S. and Canada in the past year. Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest software company, now has 47 work sites in the U.S. to serve customers that include American Express Co., Citigroup Inc., ChevronTexaco Corp. and Eli Lilly & Co. Yet corporate India's Western shift is little noticed as outsourcing of skilled work from the U.S. to India and other countries has become a big issue in the U.S. presidential race.
As Indian companies do more elaborate work for U.S. clients, proximity becomes vital, Indian executives say, which outweighs the often higher costs of operating in North America. Tata's U.S. subsidiary, for example, helps customers set up software applications, develop Internet security systems and manage digital information. Most Indian concerns derive 60% to 70% of their revenue from business with American companies.
Politics, too, is behind the trend. Some U.S. lawmakers want to set up legal barriers to job outsourcing, assuming that U.S. workers in their constituencies can't compete with low-cost workers in India and elsewhere. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has made this argument part of his campaign. Many Indian businessmen believe they need to assuage outsourcing critics in the U.S.
Bangalore-based MphasiS BFL Ltd., which has a Spanish-language call center in Tijuana, Mexico, that does work for U.S. credit-card companies, says it wants to establish a call-center business in the U.S. "Our moves are strategic as well as tactical," says K.N. Vaidyanathan, director of strategic initiatives at MphasiS. A move to the U.S., he says, would help address concerns among the company's clients about outsourcing and the politics involved.
Last month, two other technology companies with call-center operations based in India, vCustomer Corp. and Allserve Systems PLC of the United Kingdom, said they were looking to buy call-center businesses in the U.S.
Not all Indian companies embrace the idea of setting up shop in North America. Many technology companies say India's low-cost labor is their main competitive advantage. Expanding operations in the U.S. "makes no economic sense at this time," says Vikram Talwar, chief executive of Exlservice Inc., a call-center operator based in the U.S. but whose 3,400 workers are nearly all in India. An Indian call-center worker earns about $200 to $300 a month, about a tenth of the comparable U.S. wage.
But for companies such as Datamatics Technologies Ltd., moving closer to American clients is a natural step. Bombay-based Datamatics derives much of its $100 million in revenue from doing back-office work for U.S. car makers and publishing houses, processing car payments and other information. Among its biggest clients is Cadmus Communications Corp., of Richmond, Va.
In October, Datamatics purchased Detroit-based CorPay Solutions Inc. for an undisclosed amount to get closer to the car companies it serves. CorPay's business focuses on processing financial transactions and accounting procedures for big U.S. companies. Combined, the two companies have more than 2,000 employees.
"We can now cross-sell many of our services" and share technologies, says Lalit Kanodia, chairman of Datamatics. He says the company also has opened an office in Toronto to serve its U.S. clients.
A number of Indian companies are choosing to establish a base in Canada, which offers proximity to the U.S. but cheaper skilled labor and tax rebates that can help Indian companies limit costs. And Indian executives say U.S. clients appear more at ease with shifting work to Canada than to India, which has become a magnet for political attacks against outsourcing.
But opponents of U.S. companies' outsourcing practices say that setting up shop in Canada instead of India shouldn't shield companies from criticism. "We should be just as concerned about jobs moving to Canada as jobs moving to India, especially when the private sector hasn't created jobs" in the U.S., says Marcus Courtney, president of the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, a local of the 700,000-member Communications Workers of America union.
Already, Tata Consultancy Services, Satyam Computer Services Ltd., and Wipro have begun operations in Canadian cities that are easy to access from the Northeastern U.S. Tata says its new development center in Mississauga, Ontario, will give it a foothold in case U.S. sentiment against outsourcing prompts more U.S. companies to stop shipping work to India.
Until last year, Satyam had only 10 employees working in Canada, all of whom worked onsite with Canadian clients. Satyam recently inaugurated a development center in a technology park in Mississauga, outside Toronto, where it plans to house 50 developers by the end of September, says Sanjay Tugnait, who set up Satyam's Toronto office in early 2003. In the next few weeks he plans to visit Satyam clients in the U.S. to sell them on contracting work to Satyam's Canadian facility.
外包"逆流"--印度公司悄然西行
印度科技公司和呼叫中心开始在北美地区设点经营，这一举动一方面是因为其希望接近高端客户，另一方面也是受到美国有关外包的政治压力的影响。
Infosys Technologies Ltd.以及Wipro Ltd.等大型印度公司过去一年已经进入美国和加拿大。印度最大软件公司Tata Consultancy Services目前在美国有47处办公场所，为美国运通公司(American Express Co.)、花旗集团(Citigroup Inc.)、雪佛龙德士古(ChevronTexaco Corp.)和礼来公司(Eli Lilly & Co.)等美国客户服务。然而，几乎没有人注意到印度公司的"西进"，因为现在美国技能性工作外包到印度等国家这一议题已成为总统选战的一个焦点。
印度公司高层人士称，由于印度公司为美国客户做的工作比较复杂细致，因此接近客户就变得至关重要，而由此带来的好处常常能抵销在北美运营成本增加产生的不便影响。比如，Tata美国子公司的工作是帮助客户创立应用软件、开发互联网安全系统以及管理数字信息。大多数印度公司60%-70%的收入都来自于与美国公司的业务。
政治因素也是这一趋势背后的一股推动力量。一些美国议员认为在他们选区的美国工人无力与印度等地的工人竞争，因此希望藉法律手段阻止外包。民主党总统候选人克里(John Kerry)将此作为其当选承诺的一部分。许多印度商人相信，他们需要平息美国国内对外包的批评之声。
总部位于印度班加罗尔的MphasiS BFL Ltd.在墨西哥提华纳有一个西班牙语呼叫中心，为美国的信用卡公司提供服务，该公司表示希望在美国建立一个呼叫中心。MphasiS策略计划总监K.N. Vaidyanathan说，"我们的举措既是战略性的也是战术性的。"他说，在美国设立呼叫中心将帮助消除客户对外包和相关政治问题的担忧。
上个月，另外两家在印度拥有呼叫中心的科技公司－vCustomer Corp.和英国Allserve Systems PLC of the United Kingdom称，他们都打算在美国收购呼叫中心业务。
并不是所有的印度公司都赞同在北美设立业务机构的想法。许多科技公司称，印度的低成本劳动力是他们的主要竞争优势。美国呼叫中心运营商Exlservice Inc.的首席执行长Vikram Talwar说，在美国扩张业务"目前没有任何经济意义"，该公司3,400名工人几乎全部都在印度工作。在印度呼叫中心上班的工人每月平均收入大约为200-300美元，是美国从事同等工作工人的十分之一。
但是对Datamatics Technologies Ltd.这样的公司来说，接近美国客户是一个自然的举动。总部位于孟买的Datamatics的1亿美元收入中有相当一部分来自于为美国汽车制造商和出版行提供后勤服务、处理车款支付以及其他信息。Cadmus Communications Corp.是该公司最大的客户之一。
去年10月，Datamatics以数目不详的金额收购了底特律的CorPay Solutions Inc.，以接近它的汽车公司客户。CorPay的业务主要是为美国大公司处理财务交易和会计手续。完成收购后的公司共拥有2,000名员工。
Datamatics董事长Lalit Kanodia说，"我们现在可以交叉出售我们的许多服务"并分享技术。他说，公司还在多伦多设立了办公室以服务美国的客户。
许多印度公司选择在加拿大设点经营，这既可以接近美国客户，同时较便宜的劳动力和税收优惠政策则帮助印度公司限制了成本。一位印度公司高层人士称，美国客户对工作移至加拿大而不是印度更感到坦然，美国对外包的政治攻击已将印度扯进这场旋涡的中心。 但是反对美国公司外包的批评人士称，在加拿大而不是在印度设点经营并不能使这些外包公司免受抨击。Washington Alliance of Technology Workers的总裁Marcus Courtney说，"工作移至加拿大和工作移至印度同样让我们担忧，特别是当前美国私营部门仍没有在创造新工作职位。Washington Alliance of Technology Workers是拥有700,000名会员的Communications Workers of America的一个分支。 Tata Consultancy Services、Satyam Computer Services Ltd.和Wipro已经开始在几个很容易从美国东北部进入的加拿大城市开展业务。Tata称，假如美国对外包的态度导致更多美国公司停止向印度转移工作，它位于安大略省米西索加的新研发中心将成为它的一个立足点。
Satyam去年还只有10名员工在加拿大工作，并且全部都和加拿大客户实地工作。2003年年初在多伦多设立办公室的Sanjay Tugnait说，Satyam最近在米西索加的科技园设立了一个开发中心，计划到9月底时将那里的开发人员增加至50人。未来几周，他计划拜访Satyam在美国的客户，游说他们与Satyam加拿大工厂缔结合同。
