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Why did you change from Progeon to Infosys BPO?
When we started Progeon, it was a very different business for Infosys. It was not into BPO and they saw the potential of BPO and IT coming together. But the value proposition at that time was very vague. They wanted to attract the management from outside. That is why Progeon got venture capital investment, because they thought that by getting someone from outside, they will be able to create the right kind of company that attracts the right kind of management. At that time, the drivers of a separate name, separate brand identify were quite clear. Infosys BPO was a simple name to choose but it captures what we do.

Using technology innovativeness is not the realization of today. It has been there. What has changed then?
It did not change dramatically. But over a period of time, people used to talk about it but did not understand the power of it. When we talk about technology we were using it at a very micro level. The thinking at that time was to make the process better by using some technology tools. But now the whole proposition is coming at a much macro level.

You had piggybacked on Infosys earlier as a part of your marketing activities on the client side.
We did leverage Infosys brand. But 40% of our clients are not Infosys clients today. Infosys had a very important role to play. There are several clients who worked with us first and then started working with Infosys. There are many clients who still are not clients of Infosys. The outsourcing decisions are taken by a different set of people not necessarily the CIO. We had our independent sales force and wherever it made sense we worked with the Infosys team.

Are you trying to create a platform?
Yes we are already working on it. There are two ways to go about it. First, develop ourselves which will take some time. The best way to actually start with is to take platforms which are available in the market. The idea is to work with some of these companies in alliance, as they are also willing to work with us. It also makes more value proposition of selling better. We are looking at procurement, F&A, data management and HR. 

Shyamanuja Das and Sudesh Prasad
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in