Increased pharma outsourcing to thrive Indian KPO firms

EmPower Research Knowledge Services (P) Ltd is an initiator of Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) in India. The Bangalore-based firm is an offshore operation of the US-based EmPower Research Services. With a significant focus on the life sciences sector, the company tracks and forecasts strategies to transform operating models. Heading the Media Services Division of EmPower Research is D R. Sudhakar. In an interview with Nandita Vijay of Chronicle Pharmabiz, he provides an overview of the KPO sector which is brimming with career opportunities. Excerpts: 

How would you describe the scene for KPO in pharma, biotech space in India? 
Pharma outsourcing has been acknowledged as a promising segment and India will stand to benefit as the trend is here to stay. From networked R&D and contract research to data management, the opportunities are aplenty. A KPO can position itself to provide a range of services like providing decision support solutions, including business intelligence applications, analytic and reporting capabilities, analytic database development, data warehousing, data mining and analysis, financial analysis, consulting and custom research. 

What are the factors driving the growth of this segment? 
Outsourcing collaborations wherever possible, from discovery and development to gathering real-time market intelligence are helping to drive growth in this segment. Successful business relationships must manage priorities, costs and time. 

How are cos open to the concept of KPO in India? 
India has become a preferred KPO destination. Companies worldwide are increasing their capacity and profitability with the use of KPO outsourcing, thereby leveraging good quality and talented workforce. 

Can KPO business in India align into a vertical business structure and repeat a BPO performance? 
While KPO can indeed repeat the BPO example and perhaps align itself into a vertical business structure, it will be worthwhile to spread across at least a few specialisations. The initial part of the lifecycle is when an enterprise makes its value proposition and as it evolves this is refined as per clients' needs. At this stage the enterprise can leverage the strength of its relationship with clients and when working with large and diversified corporations, lessons learnt can be applied across other verticals. 

What are the challenges for this sector in the country as business model represents high-end consulting and not just cheap labour outsourcing? 
Managing clients' expectations would rank pretty high among challenges that we have faced. With some of the strongest and biggest relationships coming about with strong word-of-mouth and referrals, expectations are usually high. Setting these in right perspective at the beginning assumes a lot of importance. Extensive interaction between the client teams and the delivery teams usually helps in ensuring a sense of proportion. 

Custom research and high-end consulting demands the creative best at all times and it is necessary to keep the monotony out. A good report needs to have rich insights; the optimal amount of depth and most importantly it needs to be crafted with a lot of care. Working under the pressure of steep deadlines all the time can easily lead to monotony and we constantly keep altering the teams and their composition to keep mental fatigue at bay. 

How easy is it to get people for KPO sector? 
We read about attrition all the time and that perhaps is a problem faced-industry wide. The KPO sector is learning this and trying to come to grips with it. While people are available, it is important to get the employable kind. Strong language and communication skills are the basics that are needed and good trainers build on that. 

Much has been talked about the quality of talent available and that there is a dearth of employable candidates. Taking on people who are less suitable exerts a lot of strain on the system by creating unhappiness from the word 'go.' A supervisor has to put in that extra effort with such people that it becomes difficult to do justice to the entire team. This pressure is counter-productive. 

We take a lot of care while screening candidates, initially trying to understand their aspirations, while providing them with an understanding of what to expect. 

What are the jobs open for candidates in this sector? 
Jobs in this sector involve a lot of reading and then compiling reports in formats as defined by clients. On one side, we have people compiling information on clinical trials that are being conducted on specific indications, or at times it involves looking at safety related information with a particular class of drugs, it could mean we gather information on all the presentations made at specific events. This includes existing products as well as those in the pipeline to looking at news and gathering market intelligence at the other end. 

How has EmPower geared up to attract international pharma, biotech majors to provide services? 
EmPower has a basket of offerings that range from media analytics, custom research and information services to support decisions. All our services are customized and we work actively with client teams in order to reach the desired output. 

What are the future initiatives by the co in this space of life sciences? 
EmPower Research already has a high degree of specialization in the field of media services for pharmaceutical and life sciences firms. We also do work in competitive intelligence gathering. 

One related area that suits our competencies is in the area of prospecting research for possible alliances that pharma companies are looking out for, in order to build their pipeline. 

How do you see the KPO sector growing in the coming years? 
The KPO sector is already growing at a healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45% from 2007-2010. The trends already visible currently, of the value proposition changing from cheaper labour, to better/more expertise related work in non-core competence areas will continue. This will mean more high-end work being off shored across verticals, including pharma and life sciences. In media research, EmPower Research already sees higher focus on analytics; similarly, in contract research work, a shift to higher degrees of phase III and later stages of clinical trials, and even drug registration will be seen.