BANGALORE; Aug. 13, 2008 — Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will jointly develop a diploma programme designed to help grow India’s outsourcing industry by providing comprehensive training and career opportunities in business process outsourcing (BPO).
The curriculum of the IGNOU–Accenture BPO diploma programme will cover cross-industry BPO services including finance and accounting, human resources, corporate learning, sourcing and category management, customer contact, order management and technical writing, as well as industry-specific BPO services in insurance, banking, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, engineering, equity research and capital markets.
The one-year programme, which will be available to more than 1 million students across India via IGNOU’s extensive network, will provide students with an understanding of a range of BPO services while helping them develop personal computing and communication skills. Accenture will provide the subject matter expertise and work closely with the IGNOU team to develop the courseware.
The IGNOU–Accenture BPO diploma programme is targeted towards undergraduate and graduate students from Tier I to Tier IV cities. The minimum eligibility criterion for an applicant is CBSE 10+2 or equivalent. Applicants will need to have passed the IGNOU certificate course in Communications skills or an equivalent program as deemed by IGNOU. Candidates who have not undergone the prescribed certificate course will be screened through a communication evaluation test before they are enrolled for the programme.
The courses will be delivered through a mix of channels including print, CD and Web-based materials, and lab-based contact sessions and simulated exercises.
“Accenture recognizes the need to proactively create a new, well-trained BPO workforce in India as the immense growth of the BPO industry has put tremendous pressure on the availability of talent at all levels,” said Pankaj Vaish, managing director of Accenture’s Delivery Centre Network for BPO. “We are honoured to be associated with a leading university like IGNOU to help build BPO capabilities and develop employable skills across the country – both of which are part of the national agenda to sustain growth.”
Som Mittal, president of NASSCOM, said, "This type of initiative is very critical to sustain the growth curve of the BPO industry in India. A recent NASSCOM Everest report indicated that India’s BPO sector has the potential to grow five fold to US$50 billion by 2012, and an adequately skilled workforce is an integral part of achieving this goal. Proactive programmes by companies such as Accenture, along with NASSCOM's efforts and support from the Government, should help us reach this revenue target by leveraging India's biggest advantage, which is the availability of talented, skilled workers."
V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, the Vice-Chancellor of IGNOU said, “BPO is a growing industry and the trained manpower required for continued growth is huge. We are planning to leverage the expertise of Accenture to develop course content and train the teachers, with IGNOU owning the delivery of content and Accenture assessing the quality of delivery on an on-going basis. We are confident that the talent pool created through this programme will further catalyze the growth of the BPO industry in India.”
PG Raghuraman, lead executive of Accenture’s Delivery Centre Network for BPO in India, said, “This is the first time in India that a company and a university are offering on a national basis a jointly branded diploma specifically for the BPO industry, and we are confident that this programme will provide the market with much-needed high-quality talent.”
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With more than 180,000 people in 49 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$19.70 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2007. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
About IGNOU
IGNOU is a Central University established by an Act of Parliament with a view to democratize education. The University disseminates knowledge through a wide network of student support services using print, multimedia and ICT. It caters to a large student clientele of varying socio-economic status and particularly for professional development of those already in the work force. The University transacts approximately 150 programmes ranging from Certificate to Doctoral levels. It has been recognized as a “mega university” by the Commonwealth of Learning and conferred the award for excellence in study material production. Its home page is www.ignou.ac.in
Contacts:
Rajesh Dube
Accenture
+91 80 4106 0000