It was left to no ones imagination which direction Infosys BPO division was going to take when in the beginning of FY 07 (April 06), the company decided to buy back Citigroups 23% holding in the subsidiary. In August, the name was changed to Infosys BPO, reiterating the strategic direction.

While Infosys BPO had started leveraging the Infy brand name and relationship earlier, the thrust last year was to actually leverage Infosys experience and skills to build integrated solutions. The first tangible step in that direction was the creation of a procure-to-pay platform on SAP. It actually used Infosys expertise to create solutions and customize them. The customers will buy an integrated solution that will combine BPO services, customization solutions, and SAP license on a single contract.

While its long-term strategy is centered on a solution-led approach, Infosys BPO took a number of tactical steps to address different immediate opportunities. One such area, which had started a year back, was offering customer interaction services. Initially, Infosys BPO had shied away from voice but soon realized the customers expected that as part of the total service offering. Last year, this contributed to 17% of its total revenue. It tied up with HVS International, a consultancy firm in the hospitality industry, to address that opportunity. It also tied up with leading SaaS player in the spend management area, Ketera, to strengthen the order management practice, which already contributes close to 20% of its revenue.

Infosys BPO added twenty-two clients, taking the total base to seventy-four. Though the company did not reveal client names, service providers such as BT, Verizon and Bell Canada are believed to be its major clients in telecomthe vertical that contributes more than one-third of its revenue. The contract with Philips is likely to give annualized revenues of more than $30 mn, which may well take Infosys BPOs revenue to $240-250 mn range in FY 08. DQ

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