Insights into the ITES BPO Industry – A talk by Mr. Anil Joseph from Sutherland Global Services.
On Tuesday, 22nd July, TAPMI proudly played host to Mr. Anil Joseph, Vice President and Head of Service Delivery – Insurance at Sutherland Global Services. With a diverse experience across sectors like Financial Services, Hospitality and Concept Sales, over 19 years, Mr Joseph has indeed accomplished a great deal in a relatively short span. He was here to give the students an overview in general about what Sutherland does and in particular talk about careers in the ITES BPO Sector.
The session kicked off with Mr. Joseph sharing the story of his own entrepreneurial venture started by him at the age of twenty three that offered the services to a large customer base in the city, which later has emerged in similar concepts like “Ask Me” and “Just Dial”. Although the venture did take off for three years, he had to wind it up for lack of scope and expansion possibilities in the location. Mr. Joseph used the reference to stress the importance of pursuing ones passion.
Talking about Sutherland as a company, Mr. Joseph spoke about the different services offered by Sutherland namely – front office, back office and the knowledge services. The current strategy of Sutherland is pursuant on a transition from contact center services to a truly integrated BPO, essentially meaning that it would strive for non-linear growth – one where the firm does not merely grow proportionately the number of people but rather by building assets in technology, platforms and tools that generate revenues. Mr. Joseph also spoke about how the choices of office locations of Sutherland across the globe, was more due to the client preference than any other reason. While referring to the newly added Bangalore location, he mentioned the underlying reason being the acquisition of a business line managed by an existing client and the desire to retain the knowledge and experience of people working in it. He also walked the students through the various employee-benefits and employee connect programmes offered to the employees at Sutherland Global.
Stressing on the importance of adaptability – especially at the post B School stage, Mr. Joseph emphasized the importance of accepting change the way it comes. He encouraged the students to go the extra mile and communicate with the right people during the initial years in the industry and reap the benefits as they progress in their professional lives. As Mr. Joseph offered a peek in to the ITES/BPO profession, the audience were able to get a clear picture dispelling quite a few misconceptions built in their minds so far. Towards the end, Mr. Joseph entertained numerous questions from the audience who were curious about various aspects of the ITES BPO industry and in particular about the culture and processes at Sutherland Global.
Overall, it was an excellent opportunity for the students to obtain an overview of the business and operations of Sutherland Global Services and gain insights into careers in the ITES BPO industry.