Outsourcing: Dr. Shami Khorana of HCL America (Part 3)

By guest author Tony Scott

Tony: Companies have to figure out what their own core competencies are. If you look at the history of artisans, they made everything themselves. Then came industrialization with vertical integration, with ultimate example being Ford’s River Rouge plant. When it was finished, it was the largest integrated industrial plant in the world.  They brought in the raw materials, but everything else – from ore processing to electrical generation to steel making ­– was totally integrated. Raw materials in the front door, finished automobiles out the back door. For many years, companies around the world thought that they needed to mimic that, but obviously things have changed. What do you think are the big drivers that allowed that change to happen? >>>

Outsourcing: Dr. Shami Khorana of HCL America (Part 2)

By guest author Tony Scott

Tony: What do you think are going to be the big changes? Obviously, the pure labor arbitrage model is not going to go away entirely; it is going to continue to move to whatever locale is the lowest cost. The fact is that the “flattening” of the world means I can put people anywhere. From a pure labor arbitrage point, it doesn’t matter where the people are located as long as you can manage the process. >>>

Outsourcing: Dr. Shami Khorana of HCL America (Part 1)

By guest author Tony Scott

This interview, the ninth in Tony’s series, is with Dr. Shami Khorana, who is the president of HCL America, the subsidiary of HCL Technologies, a $3.1 billion business and IT services company with more than 72,000 employees worldwide.

Tony Scott: Shami, thanks for taking the time to talk to me about the future of outsourcing. Before we go into it, would you give me an overview of your past and how you became involved in outsourcing services? >>>

Outsourcing: Naresh Lakhanpal And Hiro Notaney Of Patni Computer Systems (Part 8)

Hiro: I think this concept of empowerment is a really good point. I have not been here so long, but I think that now we are moving toward a more collaborate management style. It’s something that I’ve noticed quite a bit. The leadership takes input, and then they encourage people and try to build consensus. This one of the things that I have noticed even in the short time that I’ve been here. The  hierarchy of the past is being eroded now. >>>

Outsourcing: Naresh Lakhanpal And Hiro Notaney Of Patni Computer Systems (Part 7)

By guest author Tony Scott

Tony: Do you think [this idea of being more about the human touch] is happening now? Because that also changes the way you sell and deliver services overall. Five years in the future, will the mix of delivery people and customer interface people going to change in terms of where they’re located, or do you think it will be similar to what are you looking at now? Most of your delivery capability is still in India, right? >>>

Outsourcing: Naresh Lakhanpal And Hiro Notaney Of Patni Computer Systems (Part 6)

By guest author Tony Scott

Hiro: The dual nature of the cloud is where we spend a lot of time with the customers, saying, Okay, we can deliver in the cloud. Yes, that will create greater efficiency, but there’s also this other side where the technology itself can make you more efficient – it can make a particular process, not just the delivery of it – work in a way that has inherent advantages. So, when we talk to our customers, we try to make it as explicit as possible what they need and how it all works, as opposed to just saying, “Oh, the cloud, we’re right there.” >>>

Outsourcing: Naresh Lakhanpal And Hiro Notaney Of Patni Computer Systems (Part 5)

By guest author Tony Scott

Tony: In terms of the percentage of the business that you have right now, I assume that some is driven primarily by labor rate arbitrage.  Obviously, labor rate arbitrage is a component of everything, but how much do you think of your business now is still more pure labor arbitrage versus the value-added services with value-added pricing, and how has that shifted over the past ten years? >>>

Outsourcing: Naresh Lakhanpal And Hiro Notaney Of Patni Computer Systems (Part 4)

By guest author Tony Scott

Naresh: So, once again, it’s giving people permission to say it’s okay to be different, and it really is because we believe that diversity of thought, diversity of mind is going to get us further in the end.

I would say that it’s the idea of having permission to do these things that is opening up folks, and that’s been interesting. I can tell you for my organization, one of the things that was a shock to me was after they realized I was here, I started getting all these e-mails asking for my approval for all sorts of things that were exceptions. I went back to my people and said, “Wait a second, how many exceptions can I deal with? You have to work with each other to figure these things out. Your peer group is going to help solve more issues for you than if you bring it to me, because I may be on an airplane to India, and if you’re expecting a response right now, it won’t happen.” >>>