IT outsourcing gets innovative

It has been suggested that IT outsourcing providers are becoming more innovative, says IT Hotdesk.

A recent poll by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals claimed more firms will return to using IT outsourcing to boost flexibility and save money in the difficult economic climate.

Commenting on the findings, Patrick O'Brien, senior analyst at technology market consultancy Ovum, claims vendors are taking a more progressive approach to technology. Providers are aiming to "find the problems that their customers have and think of new ways to employ technology to solve those problems," O'Brien explains.

IBM has announced it will increase its business process outsourcing (BPO) resources in India during 2010 by at least 5 000 people, reports Information Age.

The company currently operates BPO facilities in a number of Indian cities and indicates that any expansion will likely take place in existing locations. It hopes to capitalise on an anticipated uptick in demand for BPO services during the coming year.

"We plan to focus more in the services sector by opening more BPO centres in India," said Selby Mascarenhas, IBM Poland's senior advisory consultant. Mascarenhas revealed the company did not hire any new employees in India last year, and neither did it implement redundancies, being that “Indian workers are cost-effective compared to their counterparts abroad”.

SEI is enhancing its bank loan operational outsourcing solution by leveraging new technologies that increase loan processing automation and incorporate in-depth independently-sourced data, according to Melodika.

The new functionality is delivered through Geneva, Advent Software's portfolio management and fund accounting solution. Advent recently entered into an agreement with Virtus Partners to integrate Geneva with Virtus' bank loan data offering.

Through this relationship, SEI clients gain access to automated loan data feeds from Virtus, which can be electronically posted directly into Geneva via a standard integration tool developed by Advent and Virtus. This helps SEI maximise efficiency and utilise straight through processing of loan data within its operations.