24th October, 2007 Microsoft is continually seeking India 's most innovative software companies to work with.
At this year's India is Innovation 2007 event, Epiance was selected as one of ten such Indian software companies to showcase.
As part of the process of widening the strategic reach of Epiplex500 to the truly global customer, Epiance announces its partnership with
SIT, Israel , for the representation of Epiplex500 in the Israeli market, which was hitherto not covered by the marketing and sales
initiatives for Epiplex500.
Israel has emerged as a truly competitive user in terms of complex business applications with a lot of stress on human executed IT-enabled Business processes. Epiance, with its globally acclaimed Business Process Performance Improvement Solutions (BPPS), Epiplex500,
is all set to extend the benefits of this solution to the Israeli market, as it has done with more than 150 Global 2000 customers
worldwide.
Ravi Ramamurthy , President of Epiance expressed his excitement at the initiation of this Partnership and said that "We were very
focused on having a Partner in Israel with an excellent track record in working with global software products and services and with an
in depth knowledge and experience in delivering to customers in the Israeli market. I believe that, with this Partnership, we have a strong, customer oriented merging of advantages founded on Epiance's global experience and SIT's knowledge of the Israeli customer environment and track record. "
Avner Avraham , CEO of SIT said "I see SIT implementing a two-fold approach for Israel . One would be the sector that uses
sophisticated software products and applications where Epiplex500 would help in automating and organizing the business processes
and documentation for users. Secondly, for all the software product and services houses in Israel that develop their own software . The localized to Hebrew version of Epiplex500 would be a great tool in order to create all the required software documentation in no time at
all."
About SIT
SIT Is a subsidiary of TIC (The Israel Corporate) SIT specializes in developing and implementing of business processes based on leading software application. SIT has more than 10 years of experience in implementing QAD ERP in more than 150 sites in Israel .
SIT localizes, markets and implements QAD ERP in specific verticals of the industrial and mercantile markets: production companies
in the electronics, food and beverage, medical supplies and consumer products. SIT implements also the leading solution of MS CRM
in variety sectors in the Israeli market. Amongst SIT customers: IMI (Israeli Military Industry), Applied Materials, hp-Indigo, Alvarion
and many leading electronic manufacturers in the Israeli market.
Attrition: a cancer for Indian BPOs
14th August , 2006 - RRavi has been a pioneer of knowledge management, business process modeling and other software
innovations
for 14 years. He has developed modeling and charting software and led the creation of innovative multi-threading
concepts found in today's relational databases.
Ravi is currently the President of Epiance, the company that provides Business Process Performance solutions
and Human Process
Performance solutions around the globe.
Epiplex, the main product of the company, helps BPO employees to perform to expected levels of SLA (service level agreement).
Founded
in 2001 and headquartered in Milpitas, US, with operations in India and Japan, Epiplex has nearly 180 customers in various industries- insurance, financial services, telecommunications, technology, utilities and government. Its clients' list includes big
names like Morgan Stanley, IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, NEC, Canon, Hitachi etc. Ravi, one of the founding members of Epiance holds a Master
of Science degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
Deccan Herald's Dilip Maitra recently met up with R Ravi to chat about the future, the challenges and the remedies for the BPO industry.
Deccan Herald : Very high attrition is one of the major challenges faced by the BPO industry. What kind of impact will it have on the industry
in the long run?
R Ravi : The BPO industry in India is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. Over the past five years, the Indian BPO/ITES have been growing at a rate of about 50-60 per cent. However, as with the growth come the deterrents. One of the most critical
problems faced by this industry is that of attrition. Attrition will have both short term and long term effects on the industry.
Attrition in BPOs' has multiple effects, unlike in other industries. Though published records say that the attrition rate is at 40-50 per
cent, through informal channels, I believe that in many cases it is as high as 150 percent.
Attrition affects the competitiveness of a BPO in the short term. With faster turnover, it is more difficult for companies to deliver the
same quality of service. All employees take some time to be competent and perform to the prescribed levels of quality. The time
referred to as 'on-boarding time' is very critical for companies.
Currently the 'on-boarding time' varies from three months to six months. A decrease in on-boarding time of even one month drastically increases revenue opportunities, improves the quality of deliverables and gives the extra competitive edge to companies. The cost of
attrition can be broken down into - immediate and short term costs, opportunity loss and competitiveness loss.
DH: How do these costs impact performance differently?
Ravi: Its very interesting. The short terms costs are straightforward. Say an agent draws a salary of Rs.20,000 per month, the
immediate costs are the cost of recruiting (which could be Rs 20K) and the cost of training (approximately two times the salary -
Rs 40K). The opportunity loss is the loss due to lost productivity. An agent takes about three to six months before he/she can
reach the levels of an expert, and this is after the initial three to six months of on boarding time. The loss of a skilled agent
means that the equivalent of one year's business is lost. The competitiveness loss is far larger. The quality of deliverables
suffers and the customer goes to some other company. BPOs' abroad are already using technology aggressively to restructure
these costs.
DH: So what is the long term impact for a country like ours?
Ravi: In the long term, the industry itself will find it more and more difficult to get new recruits. They will also find that their
international clients would get disillusioned with the whole Indian BPO story at large. However, these are serious concerns for
India and the industry. Apart from attrition, security concerns will be another issue that BPOs' would need to address.
As with all industries, a stage will be reached where demand and supply, quality of service would reach an equilibrium point. But remember, this equilibrium is not static. As the numerous BPO companies gain more expertise, the fact that other countries start benefiting from the outsourcing trend does not necessarily mean that India will lose out. We will climb up the value chain, to
specialise more on high value services. Today's mundane work will be converted into tomorrow's smart work.
DH: What should BPOs' do to effectively cope with the attrition problem?
Ravi: Many companies are trying their best to deal with the issue. The good thing is the challenges have forced organisations to be creative. Many of them have come out with progressive and innovative HR schemes. But there is a downside as well. Any action when it reaches a level of hype will ultimately cause more damage and unfortunately that is what has happened. I have visited many BPOs' and some of them outwardly take care of their employees. I have perceived significant negative energy in a few places. This is but natural, since agents are working in adverse environments.
Ultimately we need to solve the problem at its root. In my opinion the best employees are those employees who are happy from inside. Employees who resolve their inner problems, conquered their inner devils tend to be more mature and take things more easily.
In my opinion such employees consistently deliver higher levels of performance. Unfortunately, bringing about a qualitative inner
shift for employees is easier said than done.
Employers have to invest more for the betterment of their employees. They should show deep seated concern for their employees,
take aggressive steps to improve their inner happiness. On the hard side, employers should look at employing technology to reduce
the on boarding time, to train employees and raise their skill levels and create employee satisfaction.
There is no 'sugar pill solution', but organisations which are sincere and genuine about these aspects of their employees will tend to
do better, and will retain people for a longer time.
Epiance announces partnership with BSEEN to expand their footprint in the European and Middle Eastern markets
Mar, 25 2006 - Epiance the leader in Business Process Performance Services (BPPS) an innovative product that helps organizations improve performance of their application-enabled business processes, announces its partnership for European and Middle Eastern
markets with BSEEN International Organization LTD.
With over 150 global 2000 companies as customers, Epiance provides software for enterprises to improve its operational efficiency by reducing cycle time of human executed IT enabled processes.
Ravi Ramamurthy, President of Epiplex said: "Epiance counts leading companies such as Merrill Lynch, Mitsubishi, Microsoft, Aetna, Morgan Stanley etc., as its customers and feels that this partnership would definitely help in promoting its products and increasing its customer base in the above regions with the strong network of partners that BSEEN already has in place."
Mathieu Zamanian Managing Director EMEA "BSEEN is very pleased to have Epiance as a Partner. The services provided by Epiance will be introduced to our current partners who will help ensure the rapid penetration of Epiance s products in to the European and Middle Eastern markets expanding its customer base and helping meet its business".
About BSEEN International Organization Ltd (BSEEN):
BSEEN International Organization Ltd (BSEEN) is a global consulting and services company that is uniquely positioned to deliver Strategic Business Development and Sales and Marketing Services to a selected group of Information Technology and Communications
enterprises that seek growth, in particular outside their home base into key world markets. To meet that objective, BSEEN fulfils a new
and critical need in technology outsourcing by focusing on facilitating the global business expansion and marketing and sales infrastructure process. This is achieved through BSEEN's internationally based high level management team and access to advisors
who are key players in the high tech marketplace in their home countries.
Epiance & Bishop Cavanaugh partner to provide Business Process Improvement Software Product for the Banking Sector
Feb, 10 2006 - Epiance a leading innovator in Business Process Improvement Services (BPIS), has announced its partnership with Bishop Cavanaugh to provide BPI software and Services.
With over 150 global 2000 companies as customers, Epiance provides
software for enterprises to improve its operational efficiency by reducing cycle time of human executed IT enabled processes.
Ravi Ramamurthy, President of Epiplex500 said:"BC delivers high performance banking systems consulting services with its years of
experience in banking and banking technologies. Our products have been used in this industry extensively with very positive results. We welcome
this partnership and foresee immense potential in the group to promote our product along with its solutions in this vertical".
About Bishop Cavanagh Limited:
BC was founded in 1998 to deliver a superior 21st century consulting model to the Banking market that would meet the evolving needs and challenges placed upon 21st century banking clients. After extensive market research involving interviewing clients, vendors and
consultants, BC was launched, delivering high value return best of breed skills, services, products and solutions with true measurable
returns on investments.
BC is head quartered in the UK with further operations in Eastern Europe and has a Satellite office in
South Africa. The company has grown organically from strength to strength through recommendation and has a remarkable 100% referenced client base. BC prides itself on the strong seamless relationships that it forges with its clients and partners, thus 90%
of client relationships span more than 3.5 years.
Epiance signs up Skillset as a non-exclusive partner in the United Kingdom
Jan, 25 2006 - Epiance (Epiance)a leader in Business Process Improvement Services (BPIS),
has announced its partnership with Skillset of UK to provide BPI software and Services in oil and gas, chemicals and agro chemicals.
With over 150 global 2000 companies as customers, Epiance provides software for enterprises to improve its operational efficiency
by reducing cycle time of human executed IT enabled processes.
Ravi Ramamurthy, President of Epiplex said: "Skillset consults in the Knowledge and change management space and is an ideal
partner for Epiance, Skillset will be influential in promoting Epiplex amongst its existing clientele as well as new organizations that
have a need for the same".
About Skillset:
SkillSet is a multi-lingual change management and training consultancy specializing in managing the people side of the
implementation of new processes and systems for corporate clients. Skillset provides user focused solutions which have
measurable success. It provides end-users with the knowledge and tools that are required to improve quality work and
performance.
SkillSet was founded in 1991 and has established a highly focused presence in the market for consultancy and training services
for major change programs in large global organizations.
Skillsets experts help to calm and control the change process by applying a pragmatic approach to ensuring that people welcome
change and are given the appropriate skills and tools to perform well in their new environment. SkillSet delivers value for
money by combining corporate knowledge, management understanding and practical solution
