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TPI and Indian School of Business (ISB) Complete Benchmark Study of India-Based Captive and Outsource Centers


HOUSTON, July 7, 2008 – TPI, the largest sourcing data and advisory firm in the world and a unit of Information Services Group Inc. (ISG) (NASDAQ:III), a leader in the information-based services industry, has recently completed in conjunction with the Indian School of Business (ISB) a benchmarking study of 25 offshore information technology and business process service centers in India.

To better understand the issues and opportunities facing captive (dedicated operations servicing a single parent company) and outsourced (operations managed by a third-party to service multiple clients) operations, ISB — one of the world’s top business schools, and TPI conducted an operationally oriented benchmarking study across more than 50 key operating and financial parameters. The operating centers of the study respondents ranged in size from 500 to 10,000 employees with a maturity level ranging from less than two years to more than five.

TPI’s advisors will use the benchmark data and findings, as well as their expert insights, to guide clients to uncover meaningful improvement opportunities across their own unique business models, and maximize the efficiency of their offshore operations. TPI will work with clients to develop situation-specific strategic roadmaps that include both immediate actions and longer-term business cases that apply best practices and activities of a client’s marketplace peers. The result will deliver improvements in costs, capabilities and capacity.

“Global companies utilize offshore IT and business process service centers in India and elsewhere to benefit from labor arbitrage and to access highly skilled talent, but oftentimes their objectives are elusive,” said Sid Pai, partner and managing director, TPI India. “These unmet objectives have created a tremendous market demand for a comparison of captive offshore operations against peers and third party outsourcing centers. Our aim with this study was to identify best practices and potential areas for improvement for these operations and provide our clients with the data and advice to help them to advance their business operations.”

Key Findings Indicated in Study

  • The range of cost/full-time equivalency (FTE) is much wider for captive units than for third-party outsourcing service providers, reflecting a more diverse population of experience and expertise among captive operations; outsourced centers tend to achieve more narrow resource classifications
  • Differences in the cost structure of captive units and third party providers are due to experience level of the work force, span of control and number of support staff, compensation policies and facilities and maintenance, among others
  • Attrition challenges are not unique to captives, but captives are at a disadvantage in attracting entry level of talent as the captive centers are perceived to provide a smaller range of projects compared to third parties

Participants in TPI’s benchmark analysis received:

  • Benchmark metrics that cover all relevant areas of operations and help establish internal and external performance benchmarks
  • Prioritized lists of findings across key performance categories that clearly identify improvement opportunities
  • Comparison of current cost structure across key spend categories
  • Plotting of current performance and market commentary for each metric

For more details on the results uncovered in the benchmarking study or to participate as a client and benchmark your company’s captive operations by leveraging TPI’s existing framework and data, please visit http://www.tpi.net/marcom/Benchmark.html.


About TPI
TPI, a unit of Information Services Group, Inc. (ISG) (NASDAQ:III) is the founder and innovator of the sourcing advisory industry, and the largest sourcing data and advisory firm in the world. We are expert at a broad range of business support functions and related research methodologies. Utilizing deep functional domain expertise and extensive practical experience, TPI’s accomplished industry experts collaborate with organizations to help them advance their business operations through the best combination of business process improvement, shared services, outsourcing and offshoring. For additional information, visit www.tpi.net.

About Information Services Group, Inc
Information Services Group, Inc. (ISG) (NASDAQ:III) was founded in 2006 to build an industry-leading, high-growth, information-based services company by acquiring and growing businesses in advisory, data, business and media information services. In November 2007, the company acquired TPI, the largest independent sourcing advisory firm in the world. Based in Stamford, Conn., ISG has a proven leadership team with global experience in information-based services and a track record of creating significant value for shareowners, clients and employees. For more, visit http://www.informationsg.com.