Barclays sets up Indian BPO

British banking giant Barclays is setting up a 5 000-seat captive BPO unit in India, at a time when the global financial turmoil is forcing many companies to defer their outsourcing decisions, says The Economic Times.

The bank, which sold its 50% stake in BPO firm Intelenet Global Services last year, had earlier asked the BPO firm to set up a 1 000-seat BPO facility under the build-operate-transfer model. However, it has now decided to go on its own.

Barclays has brought in Sameer Chadha from Lehman Brothers' Mumbai office as COO of the offshoring unit. "As a matter of policy, Intelenet cannot comment on client engagements or project timelines. Intelenet will continue working with key Barclays accounts as usual. Barclays will continue to be a critical customer for Intelenet," an Intelenet spokesperson said.

According to company president for the Greater China operation, Jackson Wu, telecom-equipment supplier Nortel Networks will buy US$266 million worth of equipment in Taiwan this year, 15% to 20% more relative to last year, reports CENS.com.

Globally, the Toronto, Canada-headquartered company has increased outsourcing at an annual rate of 10% to 15%, to US$7 billion last year. The company's Taiwan branch said the company procured around US$200 million of products in Taiwan last year.

Its Taiwan-based contract suppliers include Zyxel Communications, Delta Electronics, GemTek Technology, Accton Technology, Quanta Microsystems and Hon Hai Precision Industry.

According to the results of a new report by Advanced Technology Services conducted with Nielsen Research, manufacturers in the US are looking to outsource the maintenance of their factory assets to bolster their plant operations against recession, states MRO.

In the survey of 100 US senior manufacturing executives, a majority of those surveyed - about two-thirds - say they would outsource maintenance as a hedge against a downturn in the economy.

Bellwether manufacturers such as Caterpillar, Eaton, Honeywell and others have already adopted this recession-hedging strategy in many plants. While staying focused on their core competencies, these companies have outsourced the care and maintenance of their factory assets to ATS.