Dun & Bradstreet India is pleased to release the fourth edition of its premium publication ‘India’s Top ITeS and BPO Companies 2008’. The heartening response to the previous three years’ publication, coupled with the strong growth that the Indian ITeS/BPO sector achieved, is reflected in this edition. The 2008 edition features 228 companies, encompassing captive and third party organisations. While our selection criteria remains unchanged, the number of companies profiled has increased.

The robust growth of the Indian ITeS/BPO industry started with basic low-end work, and has come a long way today - offering high end knowledge services to clients across the world, and employing more than 0.7 mn people. As per NASSCOM, the ITeS/BPO industry recorded revenue growth of 31.6%, amounting to USD12.5 bn in FY08, of which export revenue accounted for over 87%. Consequently, the ITeS/BPO industry’s share of the country’s services sector has also increased to around 2.2% in FY08.

However, while India’s economy is expected to continue to grow at a reasonably healthy rate in FY09, given the current global scenario, the Indian economy is expected to slow down too. Likewise, a few advanced economies such as the US, Germany, Italy, France and Spain would report de-growth by 2009 according to the IMF. With this in mind, it is expected that the sector will be impacted - especially the BFSI vertical (in the short term) which had borne the brunt of the credit crisis in the West.

At the same time, opportunities do exist in the form of emerging verticals such as KPOs, LPOs and EPS’s. Indian outsourcing companies are increasingly focusing on innovation, exploring new geographies, new products and services, and hence moving up the value chain. Globally, outsourcing is now a critical part of a company’s strategy for cost saving, flexibility, operational excellence and reliability for achieving higher growth and profitability. Given their operational maturity, Indian firms are best placed to take advantage of these requirements.

Dun & Bradstreet is confident that the publication will serve as reliable and a ready reference tool on India’s leading ITeS/BPO companies. I hope you enjoy reading India’s Top ITeS and BPO Companies 2008 and look forward to receiving your suggestions.

Dr Manoj Vaish
President & CEO - India
Dun & Bradstreet