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Aptara, the newer version of Techbooks, expanded its service line last year, like most others. But, unlike others, it decided not to change its very DNA. Instead, it worked on its existing core competence: processing and transforming content.

If processing information for publishers and financial printers has been the traditional focus, it will now do the same for law firms and corporate legal departments. While the process expertise is fairly similar to its earlier services, domain expertise was a major prerequisite. For that, Aptara acquired US-based Whitmont Legal Technologies, a litigation support and eDiscovery services firm.

While legal services is its immediate target, Aptara maintains that its positioning is that of a content transformation services provider. This means it will expand into other verticals as long as its core expertise in content processing can be leveraged. (Healthcare and pharma are its next targets.) That makes Aptara the largest (and the only one in our Top 20 BPO list) offshore BPO provider focusing on horizontals, other than customer interaction (call center) services.

The next thing for it was to play on technology to differentiate, and Aptara did just that. To give it a corporate thrust, it promoted Gurvinder Batra, erstwhile president of publishing, to a newly created position of chief technologist. He will drive Aptaras strategy in building technology as a differentiator.

The year also saw large scale organizational restructuring: Devashish Ghosh was appointed executive vice president, Global Operations; Michael Stacy as VP, Sales; Volker Kunze as director of business development for Germany, Austria and Switzerland; and Brian Nimmo as chief marketing officer.

While legal and litigation support services was the new focus, it grew its traditional area of typesetting, editing, and content processing services for publishing and printing companies. While two of the big three financial printing services firms last year decided to switch to the captive model last year, the fact that the third one remained with Aptara on an outsourced model shows the depth of its client relationship. DQ

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