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Late but steady, Salient’s opportunity gained
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Late but steady, Salient’s opportunity gained
BPO services company, Salient Business Solutions, is part of the US$ 3 billion Avantha Group (erstwhile Thapar Group) and specializes in the vertical and horizontal streams of healthcare, financial services, HR services and knowledge process outsourcing.
The company has impending acquisitions in the US and by the end of Q1 2009 is expected to be 1000 people strong. We talked to its CEO Manoj Malhotra on the late entry of the company into the BPO space and its future plans.
As, CEO Salient Business Solutions, Manoj leads a team of young, like-minded professions who are working together to make Salient one of the leading BPO companies in India.
In his previous assignments, Malhotra has worked with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) investment banking business and also led consulting teams at PWC for strategizing BPO sector entry/ consolidation plays for large corporates and MNCs in India. He is a chartered accountant and a cost accountant by qualification.
...On the latest developments at Salient BPO and optimization of services and capabilities
While Salient remains focused on the healthcare and financial services industries in the US, our primary market, we continue to add niche value added service segments to our portfolio. These include telecom expense management, life insurance, wholesale mortgage banking, etc. We have recently set up our European operations in the healthcare, data management and F&A space.
We have also strengthened our focus on the Indian sub-continent with our gamut of CRM and finance and accounting, the latter in the shared services mode.
...On being a late entrant in to the BPO space
Our entry in to the BPO space in 2005 has actually been an advantage for us. Salient has benefited owing to a “later mover” advantage. We came into the industry with the knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.
Further, our strategy has been – and remains – to focus on niche vertical and horizontal plays in geographies of preference like, the US, and now India & Europe.
...On the impact of the US driven recession
Recession brings with it a lot of cost pressures and therefore the benefits of outsourcing come to the fore during such times. We have also seen these trends being manifested in the responses we are getting from potential leads as well as from existing clients in the US. More and more client managements are already bought in to the outsourcing concept and its benefits.
We are now actively discussing pricing and roll-outs in a number of cases where traction was lacking earlier. Having said that, client expectations have become aggressive where it comes to pricing and gestation period for cost benefits.
...On `best practices` that companies could focus on in the slowdown period
Best practices, per say, need to be followed at all time and not just during a slowdown in business. Consolidation of administrative functions is a must. Also performance-based compensation structures offering value additions to customers beyond the call of service level agreements, strategic focus on core services and delivery strengths also gain heightened importance.
Mining existing customer relationships for cross sales is another practice that can be adopted to achieve maximum results during a downturn.
...On the growth plans of Salient
Salient is looking to become the service provider of choice within its focused verticals of healthcare and financial services in the US and Europe. We are further looking at consolidating our bundled solutions offerings in CRM, F&A horizontals to clients in Europe and India.
Inorganic growth through acquisitions, and joint ventures/ strategic partnerships with strong marketing and front-end entities in geographies like the US and Europe will play a significant role in achieving this goal.
MANOJ MALHOTRA: THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE
I feel strongly about: Terrorist insurgency in India from POK and inability of the government to proactively respond
My biggest strength: My family and the foundation that I have received by working in organizations like PWC
Favorite book: Too many to name, but am fascinated by books on history, especially European and Asian history
Holiday destination: Any beach, where you can put up your legs and forget about work
A must have: My mobile and Blackberry
I cannot forgive...: Lack of effort and commitment
My ‘gyan’ statement: “This too shall pass"
Source:
http://www.bpowatchindia.com/bpo_interviews/salient_bpo/january-12-2009/late_but
The company has impending acquisitions in the US and by the end of Q1 2009 is expected to be 1000 people strong. We talked to its CEO Manoj Malhotra on the late entry of the company into the BPO space and its future plans.
As, CEO Salient Business Solutions, Manoj leads a team of young, like-minded professions who are working together to make Salient one of the leading BPO companies in India.
In his previous assignments, Malhotra has worked with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) investment banking business and also led consulting teams at PWC for strategizing BPO sector entry/ consolidation plays for large corporates and MNCs in India. He is a chartered accountant and a cost accountant by qualification.
...On the latest developments at Salient BPO and optimization of services and capabilities
While Salient remains focused on the healthcare and financial services industries in the US, our primary market, we continue to add niche value added service segments to our portfolio. These include telecom expense management, life insurance, wholesale mortgage banking, etc. We have recently set up our European operations in the healthcare, data management and F&A space.
We have also strengthened our focus on the Indian sub-continent with our gamut of CRM and finance and accounting, the latter in the shared services mode.
...On being a late entrant in to the BPO space
Our entry in to the BPO space in 2005 has actually been an advantage for us. Salient has benefited owing to a “later mover” advantage. We came into the industry with the knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.
Further, our strategy has been – and remains – to focus on niche vertical and horizontal plays in geographies of preference like, the US, and now India & Europe.
...On the impact of the US driven recession
Recession brings with it a lot of cost pressures and therefore the benefits of outsourcing come to the fore during such times. We have also seen these trends being manifested in the responses we are getting from potential leads as well as from existing clients in the US. More and more client managements are already bought in to the outsourcing concept and its benefits.
We are now actively discussing pricing and roll-outs in a number of cases where traction was lacking earlier. Having said that, client expectations have become aggressive where it comes to pricing and gestation period for cost benefits.
...On `best practices` that companies could focus on in the slowdown period
Best practices, per say, need to be followed at all time and not just during a slowdown in business. Consolidation of administrative functions is a must. Also performance-based compensation structures offering value additions to customers beyond the call of service level agreements, strategic focus on core services and delivery strengths also gain heightened importance.
Mining existing customer relationships for cross sales is another practice that can be adopted to achieve maximum results during a downturn.
...On the growth plans of Salient
Salient is looking to become the service provider of choice within its focused verticals of healthcare and financial services in the US and Europe. We are further looking at consolidating our bundled solutions offerings in CRM, F&A horizontals to clients in Europe and India.
Inorganic growth through acquisitions, and joint ventures/ strategic partnerships with strong marketing and front-end entities in geographies like the US and Europe will play a significant role in achieving this goal.
MANOJ MALHOTRA: THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE
I feel strongly about: Terrorist insurgency in India from POK and inability of the government to proactively respond
My biggest strength: My family and the foundation that I have received by working in organizations like PWC
Favorite book: Too many to name, but am fascinated by books on history, especially European and Asian history
Holiday destination: Any beach, where you can put up your legs and forget about work
A must have: My mobile and Blackberry
I cannot forgive...: Lack of effort and commitment
My ‘gyan’ statement: “This too shall pass"
Source:
http://www.bpowatchindia.com/bpo_interviews/salient_bpo/january-12-2009/late_but
