BPO backlash: Lehmann Brothers severe ties with Wipro

Hardly six weeks into a contract with Wipro and TCS, Lehmann Brothers decided that they don't want this any more. This New York based financial services firm has stopped outsourcing its IT help-desk, which handles employee reports of computer problems, to Wipro. Sources closed to the matter revealed that there is dissatisfaction over the quality of services provided by the Indian firm. A Lehmann spokesperson confirmed their decision to move the IT help desk, back to in-house. While the Wipro spokesperson declined to comment on the issue, TCS has said that this move will not affect its engagement with Lehmann.

"In terms of the help-desk, Indian firms could not provide the level of quality and services Lehman needs," Miscioscia said, a Lehmann IT services analyst. Though Lehmann continues to outsource its other IT functions. The firm, which uses about 450 workers at Tata and Wipro, has generated savings of about 40-50 per cent. US firms are increasingly using workers in India and other emerging markets to perform back-office tasks and customer services, and this in turn helps them save heavily on costs and helps them focus on their core areas of strength. The main reason why companies save so much is because they pay their overseas workers much less then what they would have to their US employees. But undoubtedly there have been visible signs of backlash in recent months due to political sensitivities, transfer of job opportunities, and concerns about the quality of offshore work.