Outsourcing to India is
now more about high
quality rather than cost.
Indian companies are fast
scaling up to match or
surpass international
quality standards and are
ensuring that they stay
ahead through stable
quality systems and
continuous quality
improvement.
The Indian BPO industry,
which previously relied
on its cost effectiveness
to attract customers, is
now under an entirely
different dictatorship.
Quality is the new
buzzword and is
dominating business
processes and services
like never before. Ninety
percent of ITES-BPO
companies now have
specialized quality
departments that are
responsible for ensuring
accurate, reliable
services to their
customers. The spotlight
in Indian centers is now
focused on ensuring
standards of quality that
are at par with, if not
superior to their
counterparts abroad.
Defining Quality
Quality departments have
a straightforward
approach to identifying
the areas that require
quality control. The
first step is the
identification of
parameters that are
'critical to quality'.
These parameters almost
always include the
client's requirements and
expectations. Other key
factors like accuracy,
productivity and
turnaround time are also
outlined.
Most companies are now
also following the
process approach. The
process approach is a
description of the
linkages between all the
activities that work
towards meeting the
finest quality standards
that have been identified
by prevalent quality
norms and the client's
expectations.
The Indian Advantage
The Indian advantage lies
primarily in the
educational and technical
qualifications of the
personnel, who are often
more qualified than the
people working in the
parent locations. A
survey conducted in 2002
by NASSCOM (National
Association of Software
and Service Companies)
showed that an India
based ITES-BPO center in
the banking and financial
service sector, performs
better than a UK or US
based facility on
significant factors such
as the number of correct
transactions/total umber
of transactions, total
satisfaction factor,
number of transactions
per hour and the average
speed of answers.
The ITES-BPO industries
are most sensitive to
incorporating
internationally accepted
standards of quality
assurance. The NASSCOM
survey also found that 50
percent of Indian
companies have
implemented varied levels
of ISO (The International
Organisation for
Standardization, which
conceives sets of quality
management standards)
such as ISO 9002, ISO
9001, ISO 9001:2000, ISO
9001:2001.
The survey also says that
45 percent of Indian
service providers have
certifications like Six
Sigma (a disciplined,
statistical quality
control method that
measures the number of
defects compared to the
opportunities to make
defects) and CMMI (
Capabilty Maturity Model
Integration - which is a
process improvement
method that provides a
set of best practices
that address
productivity,
performance, costs, and
customer satisfaction.).
Moreover, a lot of
organizations are
upgrading their quality
standards to from the ISE
9000 to the new ISO
9000:2000, and from the
CMM framework to the new
CMMI framework.
Quality Lapses - People
and Industries
Despite superior
performance levels and
accreditation from
international bodies,
India still remains at a
disadvantage when it
comes to certifications
for quality
professionals. There are
little or no
certifications for
quality professionals in
India, and those that are
available are either US
or UK based. Although
most companies make their
employees undergo the
processes for these
certifications, the lack
of an indigenous
certification body is
being felt, especially
due to the scarcity of
training centres for
quality assurance and
control. The only two
popular certifications in
the ITES industry are the
'Certified Software
Quality Analyst (CSQA)
and the Certified
Software Test Engineer (CSTE).
Both these certifications
are offered by the
Quality Assurance
Institute, which is
again, an international
body. But these too are
largely considered
inadequate by most
authorities.
