Signs of maturity in Indian LPO industry

Pune, Nov 27: The US$146 million legal services offshoring industry in India is growing at a tremendous pace. Even as other segments in the KPO space such as publishing, media services, analytics services are growing at 30% to 35% per annum, legal services takes the lead and is growing at over 40% per annum.

It has been revealed in a report “Offshoring Legal Services to India: An Update", released by the Value Notes, which is an Outsourcing Practice and one of the largest information providers on the outsourcing industries.

A press release from the Value Notes stated that a several large, mid-size and small companies are entering the legal process outsourcing (LPO) space, and the industry is progressing towards more innovative business models and offerings by the earlier entrants, in an attempt to differentiate themselves from the pack.

The formation of an LPO Trade Association in India is a significant move towards strengthening the industry. Vendors are jointly organizing conferences and events in the US to showcase their abilities and portray India as the top LPO destination. Funding from VC/PE firms has also started coming in, the release added.

Having reached a certain maturity level in terms of service offerings, most players in this space are developing scale and widening their scope of offerings. At the same time they are fighting challenges such as rising wages, training and depreciating dollar revenues. The race to acquire capabilities and clients will trigger several inorganic growth actions by ambitious vendors.

Recent developments are an indication of a maturing industry. The current growth rates are also promising and provide significant opportunity for future growth. However, cautions analyst Neeraja Kandala, “to sustain growth and profitability, in a sector with almost no entry barriers, every LPO vendor needs to implement a well-defined strategy. The winners will be those who can build the tallest and most imaginable barriers to entry in their respective niches", the release said.

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