'India safe for BPO sector' survey grants 'no risk' status

Amidst ongoing concerns on security and data protection that have surfaced in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) space, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai have emerged as "no-risk" locations in a recently conducted survey by Hill & Associates.

Hill & Associates is a leading independent enterprise security and risk management consultancy firm. The firm has addressed a wide range of business risks including those of regulatory and compliance issues. The firm is 70-strong in India.

According to Ashish Sonal, country manager, Hill and Associates (India) Pvt Ltd, "Business environments are changing rapidly and India is part of this change.

It is no longer about cost advantage. However, the interdependencies created by outsourcing has resulted in multifarious vulnerabilities where risk arising from mere local disruptions can severely impact operations, reputations and bottomline of a company on a global scale.

In a survey, we found that India is definitely not a high risk environment. Also, we found that Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad have emerged as key no-risk locations."

Other cities that were considered in the survey include Kolkota, Cochin, Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Lucknow. Referring to the survey, Sonal added that Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai are also better in terms of the cost required to mitigate risks. In simple terms, a company stands a better chance to mitigate risk in a cost-effective manner if it is located in these cities.

Having rated the cities as per the survey, Sonal cautioned that despite being completely equipped with contingency planning and crisis management capabilities, the outsourcing industry is not making a 'cohesive' attempt to prioritise and address the issue of data protection.

"It is only then that the international community can develop trust," Sonal added.

Detailing the findings of the survey on information security, Sonal said, "Globally, 60-70 per cent of corporate frauds are estimated to have been committed within the organisation. These include factors like security breaches, loss of information and damage to reputation."

Infact, we have a seperate programme for pre-employment screening to address this issue."

Stating that focus needs to be given on data protection, he said that data moves out of the company as and when an employee moves out of the organisation.

"Today, nearly 20 per cent of the security concerns are on falsification of resumes, especially when an employee moves to another organisation. If this cannot be addressed in a cohesive manner, it becomes market knowledge and people will stop applying for jobs in such companies."

Safe haven

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• Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad have emerged as key no-risk locations
• Kolkota, Cochin, Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Lucknow were also considered in the survey
• Despite being equipped with contingency planning capabilities, the BPO industry is not making a "cohesive" attempt to address the issue of data protection