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Here in the US, any issue that makes
its way into the mainstream media is guaranteed to become
controversial and thus debated to no end. Why? Because,
in a free society there are two sides to every story.
Prosecutors and defendants, liberals and conservatives,
men and women, young and old, and the “haves”
and “have nots” are all out their pressing
their sides to every story, leaving us to absorb all
of the prevailing points of view and make a decision
as to where we stand as individuals. When it comes to
debating the value and the merits of IT Outsourcing
however, most tend to hear only one side of the story.
Regardless of which cross-section of our society we
belong to as individuals, we are all earners and consumers.
And when it comes to the health and welfare of our economy,
we are all in this thing together.
The perception, and to some extent
the reality, is that the rapid growth of the IT Outsourcing
industry in this country is resulting in the loss of
American jobs, and that companies seeking higher profits
through outsourcing are doing so at the expense of the
American worker. While no one is suggesting that the
loss of any job to outsourcing is a trivial event, the
reality is that the number of IT jobs going oversees,
in comparison with the total number of jobs lost each
year due to other circumstances, is almost insignificant.
In fact, the American worker is far more likely to lose
his/her job due to factors such as domestic competition,
advances in technology, and the fickle buying habits
of the American consumer. Consider the switchboard operators
and receptionists who have lost their jobs to automated
call handling systems and voicemail, or the continued
downsizing of the US Postal Service due to email, unlimited
long distance calling plans, and storefront packing
and shipping services. How about the film manufacturing
and processing jobs that have been lost while we print
our own digital photographs in the comfort of our home
offices? Does anyone remember the hundreds of thousands
of jobs lost during the dotcom burst? According to a
Forrester Research report, 220,000 jobs will be lost
to outsourcing each year through the year 2015. In stark
contrast, the US Labor department estimates that an
average of 13 million to 15 million jobs in this country
are lost and created each and every month. Even when
the unemployment rate is at its lowest, an estimated
350,000 people file for unemployment insurance each
week.
The “other side” of this
story, which hasn’t made its way to the forefront,
is that we are merely seeing the principals of international
trade being applied to Information Technology. As was
the case in the manufacturing and textile industries,
certain tasks in IT are being commoditized and American
companies are seeking to manage them more cost effectively
in an effort to contain costs, reinvest savings in new
product development, and remain competitive in a global
market. The relatively small numbers of jobs lost to
outsourcing is an indication that most American companies
are successful in redeploying workers in higher paying
jobs that are more focused on tasks that are vital to
the growth and prosperity of the business. The 50% -
60% percent savings that can be realized by outsourcing
routine tasks become significant when companies are
in need of capital for research and development, marketing,
retooling, and expansion. Keeping those tasks in house
will at some point contribute to an inability to compete
and respond swiftly to changing market conditions.
ZSL has signed a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) with BCS Information Systems Private Limited (BCSIS)
to market, sell, implement and integrate real-time gross
settlement (RTGS) payment interface and intra-day liquidity
management system in India.
We shall increase our infrastructure
by building our own facility in the two acres that we
have acquired in the IT corridor as we see an increasing
success work being outsourcing to India" said Sudarshan
Venkatraman, Chairman and CEO, ZSL. The investment for
the expansion will be funded mostly from internal accruals.
RTGS PayWare offers banks the capability
to regulate and optimise funds for RTGS transactions
before releasing transactions to Reserve Bank of India
(RBI). It provides real-time position for all incoming
and outgoing payment instructions.
"We see a greater adoption of
RTGS in two to five years, already the RBI has initiated
RTGS implementation, use of IT has increased by both
private and public sector banks and greater awareness
about the benefits of RTGS is spreading," said
Venkatraman.
ZSL's banking clients include State
Bank of India, State Bank of Hyderabad, ING Vysya Bank,
Corporation Bank, Canara Bank, UTI Bank Ltd and Allahabad
Bank.
"ZSL's marketing reach and domain
knowledge of the banking industry makes them an ideal
partner for us and going forward there will be a transfer
of technology and maybe even dual product building.
We also foresee ZSL playing the role of a global implementation
and integrator partner for our RTGS suite of products,"
said Kannan Krishnan, regional business director, BCSIS.
The company is a subsidiary of Overseas Chinese Banking
Corporation (OCBC).
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