iseva Leveraging the Offshore Model for Improving Multi-channel Customer Care

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1 iseva Leveraging the Offshore Model for Improving Multi-channel Care - 1 -

2 Table of Contents Executive Summary... 3 Overview of iseva... 4 Business Model... 4 Telecommunications Infrastructure... 4 Technology Expertise... 4 Quality Certifications... 5 Current State of Offshore Care... 5 The Business Pressures... 5 The Market Opportunity for Offshore Call Centers... 7 The ROI from Offshore Care... 7 iseva s Services... 7 Relationship Management Services... 8 Service Consulting... 8 Systems Integration... 9 iseva s Offshore Transition and Project Management... 9 Knowledge Transfer Between Organizations... 9 Quality Management During the Transition... 9 Offshore Project Management... 9 iseva s Case Studies...10 Financial Services Industry: Optimizing the Mortgage Process High-Tech Technical Support E-Business Strategies Analysis and Conclusions...13 E-Business Strategies, Inc. E-Business Strategies (EBS) is a technology research and management consulting practice. The company offers cutting-edge research, customized consulting services, white papers, and innovative educational programs. E-Business Strategies services are designed to give companies the ability to sense, adapt, and respond quickly to changes in the marketplace

3 The Market Opportunity for Offshore Call Centers While a contact center s function is critical, its location is not. If a customer has a question about a product, does the call center agent answering the telephone or e- mail query have to work for the company that sold the product or even be in the same country? In today s global economy, the answer is no. Technology has reduced the importance of location and has succeeded in fueling a mega-trend the offshoring of customer care. The number of companies outsourcing and/or offshoring their contact centers is rising steadily, as are the number of vendors taking advantage of this dynamic, among them iseva. Enterprising vendors can handle almost every aspect of customer care, from closing a sale and answering customer queries, to recapturing lost customers and performing customer analytics. Figure 1 highlights some of the specific customer care processes that companies frequently offshore. Within the expansive area of customer care, iseva chooses to target two key verticals: financial services and technical support. The ROI from Offshore Care The most tangible advantage of offshoring customer care is the cost savings. Tables 1 and 2 quantify the possible savings in labor costs from offshoring contact centers. For simplicity s sake, we assumed that: A U.S. call center agents earn $12 per hour, Offshore agents based in India earn a base pay of $1.50 per hour, and An agent typically works 2,000 hours per year (40 hours per week; 50 weeks in a year; with 2 weeks vacation). This means that the yearly salary of a U.S. call center agent before benefits and incentives works out to be $24,000 while an Indian agent s yearly salary is $3,000. With the base pay rate of around $0.65 per hour, iseva can afford to reward its top performers with hefty incentives and benefits. According to iseva President, Vaibhav Tewari, agents can make as much as $120 $150 extra each month through incentives for remaining with the company, meeting or exceeding targets, or working night shifts. Tewari estimates overhead (medical insurance, free transportation, subsidized cafeteria) for each employee runs around $60 per month. E-Business Strategies estimates total annual compensation for an iseva top performer would be around $5,000, while the fully loaded cost of a U.S. call center agent would be approximately $40,000. iseva s Services A high-quality workforce. Operational expertise. An intimate knowledge of technology. These tools enable iseva to deliver a range of superior customer care services. The business can tailor services to companies exact needs across channels and customer segments. Number of Call Center Jobs Total Annual Salary in U.S. Total Annual Salary in India Total Annual Savings 1 $24,000 $3,000 $21, $1,200,000 $150,000 $1,050, $2,400,000 $300,000 $2,100, $12,000,000 $1,500,000 $10,500,000 1,000 $24,000,000 $3,000,000 $21,000,000 Table 1: The Labor Savings from Offshore Care Centers (Yearly Salary without Benefits or Incentives) Source: E-Business Strategies - 3 -

4 Executive Summary care. Companies know it s important, but sometimes the resources simply aren t there to provide satisfactory service. To solve this inadequate resource problem, offshore customer care (in Canada, India, and Philippines) is emerging as one solution. In this company profile we examine the business trend and focus on iseva, which is emerging as a leading provider of offshore customer care. Today, iseva s reference customers include: A leading security software company, which depends on iseva for voice- and e- mail-based customer care and technical support. One of the largest financial institutions in the world, which relies on iseva for complete mortgage origination support including customer handling, document preparation, vendor management and closing support, phone-based customer support. The biggest consumer Internet service provider (ISP) in the United States, which engages iseva for inbound phone-based technical support, telemarketing, and outbound customer acquisition. Why have they selected iseva? More value for less the universal cry of customers and the goal of companies. With customers refusing to pay higher prices, companies have resorted to squeezing their cost structures typically by reducing sales, general, E-Business Strategies Perspective Offshore customer care presents costreduction opportunities that companies need to weigh against a variety of operational risks. Planning for these risks beforehand will help companies avoid the inevitable problems that follow the deployment of new processes. Partnering with an experienced vendor like iseva on offshore customer care can minimize the overall risks for U.S. and European corporations. and administrative (SG&A) costs. Many businesses, however, have exhausted traditional cost-cutting methods and are turning to offshore outsourcing strategies, which are slowly but surely becoming an entrenched part of modern management. Along with the intense pressure to cut costs, the Internet and an abundant supply of educated, welltrained employees located in lower-cost foreign countries are the other underlying reasons why customer care offshore outsourcing is becoming a widespread business practice. Initially, companies tended only to outsource manufacturing and IT application development and maintenance. In the last three years, their focus has broadened to include business processes such as customer care and backoffice transaction processing. care offshore outsourcing is feasible for most processes that are standardized, easily measured (in terms of service levels), centralized, and, in many cases, highvolume. Still not sure about whether offshore customer care is right for your business? Read on as we discuss it in depth and highlight the business model, products, and services of iseva, a pioneer in offshore customer care. For a comprehensive discussion of offshore customer care, please see: Offshore Outsourcing: Business Models, ROI and Best Practices (Mivar Press, 2004) by Marcia Robinson and Ravi Kalakota

5 iseva: Company Overview Billing itself as a complete partner for electronic customer relations management, or ecrm, iseva has been competing in the burgeoning outsourcing industry since Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with offices in the Silicon Valley and operations in Bangalore, iseva has strictly focused on companies in the financial services and consumer high-tech markets. To these markets, iseva offers customer care and acquisition services, transaction processing, and technology support. Engaging iseva allows companies to concentrate on other aspects of their core business while the outsourcer assumes primary responsibility for customer service. Regular investments in a college-educated workforce, enterprise-grade infrastructure, and globally benchmarked delivery processes help iseva s clients dramatically decrease their operational costs and improve the quality of their customer service. iseva gives companies the power to leverage outsourcing as a long-term competitive advantage. Business Model Operating fluidly across several countries, iseva has adopted a global or multishore delivery model to best serve clients. With headquarters in the United States, operations and delivery centers in India, and partnerships in Ireland and the Philippines, iseva can innovatively distribute and manage engagements across multiple locations. If disaster strikes any of iseva: A Global Presence Headquarters: Dallas, Texas Delivery centers: Bangalore, India (50,000 sq ft campus in Koramangala, Bangalore) Alliances: the Philippines and Ireland the company s locations, it can immediately shift work to other locations with no interruption in business processes. The multishore model adapts to the changing requirements of clients and frees them from investing in a huge team of employees. If there is a sudden need for more resources, iseva can supply them at once and later relocate them to other, more convenient locations. Telecommunications Infrastructure Modern customer care and telecommunications infrastructure are inextricably linked. care centers that are not supported by redundant and scalable telecommunications infrastructure have little value. When iseva first acquires a client, the first step it takes is to reroute the new client s telephone and data communications to its contact centers in India. Its wide area network (WAN) between India and the United States has multiple, redundant private lines from established telecom providers such as AT&T. Technology Expertise On the technology side, iseva relies on best-of-breed CRM solutions such as egain and Clarify to help it provide clients with the best possible customer service. The company uses productivity-enhancing tools in its contact centers to help manage the workforce. It also routinely invests in technology that enables it to continuously monitor and improve the quality of customer service it delivers. Fast Facts Description: BPO firm specializing in customer care for financial services and consumer high-tech industries Founded: 1999 (Delaware C Corporation); offshore operations in India started in March 2000 Employees: 800 Web Site: Ownership: Private; e4e is a major shareholder Origin of Name: The word seva means service in Hindi

6 Quality Certifications Quality assurance is of paramount importance to all companies, and iseva s clients are no exception. The service provider addresses these concerns by performing a quality assessment for 100% of projects, defining and documenting process flows for each project, monitoring agents performances to ensure they meet SLA stipulations, and certifying all iseva processes as compliant with ISO 9001:2000. Current State of Offshore Care At some point, all customers must deal with a contact center. The size of the contact center industry underscores the broad role it has played in modern business and in the rise of companies like iseva. Contact centers have a variety of names including service centers, customer care centers, support centers, and multi-channel support centers. All are used interchangeably to describe the support aspect of the customer care industry. According to E-Business Strategies research, organizations spend an estimated $160 $180 billion annually in direct expenditures to run contact centers. Included in this figure are ongoing staff and telecom costs, as well as capital expenditures on technology and facilities. Finding, targeting, supporting, and retaining customers, the core themes of customer care, is a large and expensive business. That expense is one key reason why companies have begun outsourcing their contact centers to offshore third-party providers. Why Do Companies Offshore Care? Reduce operating expenses (wages, healthcare costs, facilities) Expand hours of service Improve quality and processes Support global operations The Business Pressures When you listen to companies explain why they have chosen to outsource customer care three reasons always surface: cost, flexibility, and quality. The greatest expense of customer care centers is labor. Companies become interested in offshoring business processes to lower-wage countries such as India because talent is available for a fraction of the price it is available for in the United States. ISeva hires only college-educated agents and has a recruitment ratio of 1:20, a number that has doubled with the rapid growth of industry in India. The By managing your business processes so you can focus on core competencies How Can a Care Provider Help You? By streamlining and improving your processes so you can realize significant cost savings By helping you to adopt to the ever-changing needs of your business By ensuring control so that the service seems like it s being delivered from facilities across the street - 6 -

7 average monthly base salary of these agents is about 5,000 rupees, or $110. Top performers at iseva receive incentives on top of their base salaries, which can be as much as 5,000 7,000 rupees per month. The salary cost for a U.S. call center agent is around $12 per hour, or $2,000 per month. The cost difference is substantial, especially if you factor in several thousand agents. iseva can easily handle large volumes of incoming customer requests voice and data at peak times. iseva s agents can serve as a release valve for companies whose in-house centers may experience an overflow, such as when a company rolls out a new marketing campaign or product. Staffing for peak times translates directly to costs. With offshore resources more flexible and available, handling these special situations becomes easier. In countries such as the United States, filling call center positions with university graduates is a difficult, costly feat. However, in many countries, a highly educated labor force is readily available. If properly trained (iseva s new hires undergo 128 hours of induction training and 70 hours of product training) these high-caliber workforces can be a powerful advantage in improving overall service quality. One of the major problems contact centers regularly encounter is turnover. People are the largest component in a contact center, and retaining the best people is key. Bringing a new agent up to speed can take many weeks of costly training. In the United States, many people perceive call center jobs as dead-end, and turnover is high. Attrition rates in India are rising as the offshore industry there grows, so companies interested in offshore customer care should pay particular attention to vendor s employee turnover rates and the steps they take to retain valuable employees. iseva takes pains to retain star employees by rewarding them with frequent incentives and by cultivating a rewarding, innovative, stimulating workplace. Offshore Care Categories Support Support Marketing Marketing Sales Sales Technical Technical Support Support Analytics Analytics self-service Billing query resolution Order taking Account activation New customer registration Complaints Outbound Telemarketing Surveys and polling Inbound Campaign management winback Inbound sales Outbound sales Web chat and Web callback Co-browsing Data verification Application processing Address updates Help desk Problem resolution Profitability analysis Quality auditing Reporting Complaint analysis Figure 1: Offshore Care Processes Source: Offshore Outsourcing: Business Models, ROI and Best Practices - 7 -

8 Relationship Management Services Outbound Phone Services help iseva s clients take advantage of telesales and collection opportunities. As part of induction, all iseva s college-educated representatives undergo rigorous training in telesales. The company also relies on technologies such as predictive dialing for efficiency, and sophisticated data capture and analysis capabilities for a thorough understanding of end customers. Typically, companies sign up for outbound phone services when they want assistance with customer acquisition, retention, winback, and satisfaction surveys; fund raising; collection calling and billing; telesales; and telemarketing. Inbound Phone Services are available 24/7 and handle a spectrum of inbound customer needs such as billing inquiries, technical support, and order taking. Adopting technologies such as screen-pop, computer telephony integration (CTI), and customer relationship management (CRM) software ensures that customers receive prompt, accurate, and personalized attention. iseva s reps also try to take advantage of cross-selling and upselling opportunities. -Based Service is an inbound e- mail response service that iseva developed to help its clients customers use assistance effectively, thereby reducing the need for costly investments in other customer service channels. In Most of the players in India that includes Daksh, that includes everybody have gone for the scale game. They are everything for everyone. They will provide support to any and every company. We have focused on two verticals: financial services and consumer high-tech support. Our domain expertise is a key differentiator. addition, outbound campaigning and analysis capabilities help target offers for effective customer acquisition and retention. - Vaibhav Tewari President, iseva Inc. Web Chat and Collaboration Services assist customers in completing forms and placing orders in real time. Web chat reduces the load on overburdened call centers while offering customers fast, personalized service. Clients have used iseva s Webbased contact services to provide general Web site assistance or to close hot sales by checking out customers with full shopping carts or. Self-Service helps customers help themselves. iseva s systems integration capabilities ensure that customers can find the answers to common questions through Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Web-based FAQs, thereby reducing the load on contact centers and enhancing customer satisfaction through immediate access. iseva s self-service applications work well in a variety of situations such as customer account information, Web site usage and navigation, and service request logging. Service Consulting iseva has a dedicated client services group consisting of professionals with experience from some of the top IT consulting firms in the field of CRM. iseva s consulting group, which has worked on some of the largest CRM consulting engagements, recommends, designs, and integrates a technology solution to Number of Call Center Jobs Total Compensation in U.S. Total Compensation in India Total Annual Savings 1 $40,000 $5,000 $35, $2,000,000 $250,000 $1,750, $4,000,000 $500,000 $3,500, $20,000,000 $2,500,000 $17,500,000 1,000 $40,000,000 $5,000,000 $35,000,000 Table 2: The Labor Savings from Offshore Care Centers (Yearly Salary with Benefits and Incentives) Source: E-Business Strategies - 8 -

9 deliver effective CRM services. The company also has logged considerable experience in CRM program and project management. Systems Integration Once the CRM requirements are well defined, iseva will determine how to incorporate the new technology solution into the client s business. iseva s client services group manages the design and implementation of the technology solution and is well versed in leading CRM technology such as Siebel, Clarify, and egain. During this phase, iseva s process and operations group works closely with clients to ensure that customer service processes are mapped to the technology solution identified and a gap analysis for the identified solution is performed. iseva documents relevant policies and guidelines for training purposes, and works with clients to identify quality and efficiency parameters important to them. Offering all these services has transformed iseva into a one-stop shop for customer care. Its clients don t have to worry about losing knowledge to different vendors during each phase of a major offshore CRM project. iseva s Offshore Transition and Project Management The real work for iseva and its clients begins once the contract is signed. Transition management is a critical factor in the success of offshore initiatives. Transition management is defined as the detailed, desk-level knowledge transfer and documentation of all relevant tasks, technologies, workflows, and functions slated for offshore outsourcing. The transition period is perhaps the most difficult stage of an offshore endeavor, taking anywhere from three months to a year to complete, so it s important that the vendor has established methods for transition and project management. Knowledge Transfer Between Organizations Knowledge transfer is the tricky task of bringing the vendor s employees up to speed on the internal procedures and processes it will handle for the client. It also involves technology transfer and documentation. For example, if iseva assumes What Do iseva s Service Consultants Offer? Horizontal and vertical domain expertise Onshore, nearshore, and offshore strategy Process mapping and re-engineering Project management and process migration licenses or operations of client-owned applications or infrastructure, then all in-scope systems must be identified and documented. Licenses, maintenance agreements, hosting, and telecom infrastructure may be part of the transition. Documentation, such as training manuals and escalation procedures for recurring problems, also figures prominently in knowledge transfer. Quality Management During the Transition Quality management describes the processes required for making sure that the contract is fulfilling the business objectives for which it was undertaken. It consists of quality planning, assurance, and control. To guarantee quality, iseva received its ISO 9001 certification. Possessing this certification puts many of iseva s clients at ease because they know that iseva will deploy a consistent, high-quality process for analysis, design, development, quality assurance, reporting, and project monitoring and management. Offshore Project Management Building an offshore partnership requires much effort and delicate handling by management. Any - 9 -

10 business model that distributes work across multiple locations and involves many hand-offs requires close coordination to manage service levels. It s difficult enough managing a project onsite; that problem is amplified when a project is undertaken on another continent. The distance between iseva and its clients puts a greater importance on project management to ensure deadlines are being met and reporting is timely and accurate. iseva has instituted the project management process in Figure 3 in order to eliminate confusion and guarantee clear communications with the client. Clients and third-party offshore providers that don t pay attention to project management organizational changes, complex cultural dynamics, and inertia towards status quo will struggle to benefit from offshore outsourcing. Established, well-thought project management process flows like the one in Figure 3 are a necessity, not a luxury. iseva s Quality Certifications iseva received ISO 9001:2000 certification in July 2001 and was the first call center company in India to achieve it. Let s see how iseva has fared in managing the two engagements that are described in the following customer case study section. iseva s Case Studies In stark contrast to offshore outsourcing giants such as Daksh or Wipro Spectramind that claim broad industry knowledge, iseva prefers to differentiate itself based on its considerable expertise in providing end consumer technical support for software, as well as financial services such as mortgage sourcing, servicing, and processing. Clients such as a Fortune 10 global financial services company, a leading security software product company, and the largest consumer Internet service provider in the United States can attest to iseva s experience in both of these domains. The two short case studies, one from the financial services industry Program Management Business Process Migration Outsourcing Platform Design and Implementation System Integration Design Web-based Care Requirements Analysis Business Analysis iseva System Integration Voice-based Care Transaction Processing Table 2: Figure 2: iseva s Services Source: iseva Value Added Services Acquisition Technical Support

11 and the other from the high-tech industry, help explain why businesses seeking assistance with projects in either of these areas often turn to iseva. Financial Services Industry: Optimizing the Mortgage Process Cracking the top ten of the Fortune 500 list is an occurrence that most companies can t imagine. One reason why ten lucky companies attain these coveted spots is their willingness to hand off their back rooms to other organizations that make them their front rooms, as Peter Drucker and GE s Jack Welch have noted. These corporate giants aren t afraid to rely on trusted third-party providers such as iseva to get the job done in the most cost-effective, qualitycontrolled manner possible. Such is the relationship between iseva and a Fortune 10 global financial services company. The two signed a contract in which iseva agreed to provide customer support and acquisition services in subprime lending for the financial services company. Financial Services Client A household name and a full-service financial services company. Project Profile: iseva entrusted with handling inbound customer support calls and telesales for multiple divisions in North America. Project Highlights: 1. iseva handles more than 100,000 customer interactions a month. 2. Inbound customer care and help desk call volumes exceed 50,000 monthly. 3. iseva also handles about 30% of sales and customer acquisition for one of the divisions. Client Support Mgmt. Relationship Manager iseva Contact Center Head iseva Quality Manager Client Support Supervisors iseva Operations Manager Client Support Group Client iseva Shift Supervisor iseva iseva, Application, and Infrastructure Support Teams Figure 3: Project Management at iseva

12 For more than two years, iseva has managed one of the longest running financial services marketing campaigns for its client s consumer finance mortgage division. In particular, iseva is responsible for acquiring new customers and cross-selling through outbound telemarketing; handling inbound inquires that arise with mailers and other marketing activities; completing loan applications according to federal Form 1033; managing the lead list and compliance; and sending warm transfers to the client s loan officers. iseva s responsibilities add up to 5,000 hours of outbound services and 1,000 hours of inbound services each month. Since the engagement began, iseva has helped the financial services company realize impressive gains. The cost per $1,000 of loans booked has dropped by 50% in 12 months. The lead management process is optimized with iseva maximizing the 100,000 contacts it makes each month and efficiently distributing the 2,700 leads generated monthly among branches. iseva has also had a chance to prove to its client its ability to scale quickly: The BPO company added 100 hours per day in four weeks and inbound support in six weeks, more than meeting the requirements of the service level agreement, or SLA. High-Tech Technical Support: Increasing Satisfaction with Better Service No technology company is complete without help desk support for panicked, confused customers. Failing to provide fast, friendly, knowledgeable customer support guarantees technology companies angry customers and, eventually, decreased revenues and market share as word spreads. Technology businesses, however, often don t consider customer support a core competency and will look outside company walls for an experienced third-party vendor who is able to support their products or services in a cost-effective, efficient manner. That was the case when a leading small office and home office (SOHO) networking product company engaged iseva to provide voice and support for its connectivity solutions. High-Tech Client A leading SOHO networking product company. Project Profile: The goal is to provide inbound support to North American and European customers over the phone. Project Highlights: 1. iseva handles approximately 40,000 customer interactions on average per month. 2. More than 80% of interactions are complex and last more than 12 minutes. 3. iseva helped its client to achieve a 40% cost reduction. 4. End customer satisfaction has exceeded the initial target of 90%. List of Mortgage Processing Tasks that can be offshored: Sales and Marketing Support Mortgage Origination Support Document Preparation and Verification Appraisal Follow-up for Credit, Title and Property Closing and Funding Management Status and Management Underwriter Support Compliance and Audit Lead List Management

13 When the networking company s residential and corporate customers across the United States reach for the phone or send to report a problem with their router, wireless modem, wireless local area network (LAN) hubs, or dial-up modem, an iseva representative often is waiting on the other end. iseva handles 60% of the networking company s technical support during the week and 100% on the weekend. During these customer exchanges, iseva reps strive to increase customer satisfaction by resolving issues on the first call. First-call resolution is an important metric to monitor in addition to average handle time. (See Table 3 for the definitions of some commonly used metrics in the call center industry.) If an issue isn t handled on the first call, the customer will keep phoning until it is, and ten thirty-second customer calls quickly add up in contrast to one thorough two-minute call. The networking company s decision to enlist iseva s help with customer support has paid off. Since the company hired iseva, it has reported a 40% cost reduction, call abandons have decreased by onethird, and customer satisfaction has risen above the company s target of 90%. The technology company also benefits from iseva s product feedback, which it gathers during customer interactions and periodically relays to the company s development team. In addition, iseva has proven its ability to handle multiple product launches and promotions, which allows its networking client to bring more products to market faster and free of worry about its ability to provide the necessary customer support. E-Business Strategies Analysis and Conclusions E-Business Strategies research indicates that, for most companies, multi-channel customer contact management is an area ripe for optimization. Currently, most organizations contact centers are so wrought with inefficiency that they don t know how much they spend on customer care. Savvy businesses are turning to offshore customer care to eliminate the unnecessary costs related to inefficient enterprise CRM processes and reduce total costs through systematic, strategic sourcing of customer care services. Based on discussions with Fortune 1000 companies deploying some level of offshore customer care solution, E-Business Strategies identified five criteria for choosing an offshore customer care vendor: business health, references, operational expertise, technology, and project management expertise. Let s evaluate iseva along these dimensions. Business Health. Few corporations are willing to partner with a vendor whose future may be in jeopardy. Several consecutive quarters of generating cash flow add to iseva s reputation as a stable, financially viable company. iseva s primary investor is e4e Inc., a $250 million, full-service technology holding company. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, e4e also has a Bangalore-based subsidiary called e4eindia. Metric Average handle time First call resolution Transfer rate Sales percentage Attempt percentage Quality Monthly call volume Definition Total talk time + transfer time + hold time + total wrap time / total calls handled Number of calls that can be handled without escalation Total calls transferred / total calls handled Total sales / total sales calls offered Number of attempts to sell / total sales calls offered Percentage score obtained on scoreboard used for daily call monitoring Agreed-upon call volumes for the month Table 3: Defining Common Call Center Metrics Source: E-Business Strategies

14 References. care dealing with customer and technical help desk support is a front-line process. Unfortunately, from the outside looking in, it is often difficult to assess the quality of a vendor s support standards. E-Business Strategies urges corporations shopping for offshore customer care solutions to obtain references. It is also important to ask about historical customer retention rates. A vendor that loses a few customers owing to market consolidation or bankruptcy is not outside the norm, but retention rates below 95% deserve attention. iseva possesses a solid, easily referenced client list. Operational Expertise. Corporations have to understand that they will need to rely on vendor actions for day-today customer care functions. As a result, corporations should partner with vendors who demonstrate domain-specific business process management expertise. iseva has several analysts dedicated to understanding how processes work so that changes can happen quickly. iseva also provides Web-based reporting interfaces so that worried clients can monitor the operational metrics at any time. iseva Market Opportunity Industries Adopting Insurance Equity research firms Benefits and retirement plan administrators Retail Travel and transportation Banking and finance Pharmaceuticals Telecom Technology Expertise. The offshore customer care market has evolved to become more technology based; underlying service quality still relies on the experience and methodologies of the technology staff. A sample of what expertise companies need to consider in an offshore vendor includes technology specialists who maintain an in-depth knowledge of networks, servers, and applications. Project Management Expertise. Offshore customer care requires extremely detailed project managers who constantly monitor the nittygritty details of day-to-day actions. iseva maintains a tight information loop with the customer s staff, offshore teams, and general project management teams. The people behind the offshore customer care solution make this relationship a virtual extension of the corporation, eliminating the communications gap between the organizations. After closing 2003 with 200% growth in revenues and a strong pipeline of prospective clients, it s apparent that iseva has successfully delivered exceptional offshore customer care to the financial services and consumer high-tech support markets and will strive to do so in the future. The information contained in this report represents the current view of E-Business Strategies (EBS) on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. It should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of EBS or Sun Microsystems, Inc. and EBS cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. E-Business Strategies (EBS) is a technology research and management consulting practice. E-Business Strategies, Inc McGinnis Ferry Road Suite 603 Alpharetta, GA Phone: (00-1) Fax: (00-1) contact@ebstrategy.com Visit us on the Web: Since its inception, the company s focus has been on the 3C's Conceptualize, Communicate and Create. Known for our real-world experience, consultative style, and pragmatic approach, EBS provides strategic guidance to clients by delivering analysis, market research, white papers, and consulting services. EBS is committed to helping its clients overcome market challenges and improve their business practices. EBS specializes in e-business, mobile solutions, business process outsourcing (BPO), offshore outsourcing, CRM, and Supply Chain processes and technology architecture. Focused on information technology enabled solutions, the company offers cuttingedge research, customized ROI consulting services, and innovative educational programs. EBS services are designed to give companies the ability to sense, adapt and respond quickly to changes in the marketplace