Me...And Then Manila

Also, Indian call centre agents require 24 days of training in a year on an average, which is 33 per cent above the Asian average of 18. The number for China, despite its supposed language handicap, is 11. Also, the average Indian call centre operator takes sick leave for 15 days a year, the highest among the four countries studied. The Koreans appear to be the healthiest, with only three days off. Filipinos take to bed for eight days a year, and the Chinese six.

The Indian call centre industry, though, feels it will take the Philippines or any other country a long time to catch up with the kind of expertise and spread that India has. Says Debasish Das, V-P, Keane WorldZen, which operates call centres in India: "We have moved up the value chain from pure labour arbitrage. Clients today see value in Indian companies. Today there's a lot of value addition in India, which is not the case in other countries. Earlier, we did what our clients gave us. Now we develop processes for them."

Prashant Sahni, CEO, Technovate, which runs a large call centre facility, agrees: "India has some fundamental edges over the Philippines and scores in its position on the learning curve. Outsourcing companies today look not only at number of seats and infrastructure but the capability to provide total solutions through a mix of IT and BPO. India with its superior software capability is miles ahead of any other country in this regard. Add to this the domain expertise in areas like finance and insurance that we have developed over the years, which puts us on top of the BPO market." There is also the fact that India has the second largest English-speaking workforce in the world outside the US.

Analysts also point out that political instability in the Philippines could negate most of the advantages of that country as multinational corporations would be wary of putting their money there. This is not the case with India as business is never fundamentally affected by political upheavals.

In all probability, India will remain the favourite of overseas companies. A recent Gartner survey revealed that the three main considerations for outsourcers were size, quality and cost. On all three counts, India is a clear leader. And with help from the software sector, the going could perhaps only get better.