Introduction to the IT-ITeS Industry and IT Enabled Services
What the industry actually is
The IT-ITeS sector has two halves. IT services covers designing, building, testing, deploying and maintaining software and infrastructure - application development, maintenance, testing, infrastructure management, and engineering R&D. IT-enabled services (ITeS), now usually called BPM (business process management), covers processes delivered using IT: customer support, finance and accounting, HR, payroll, procurement, back-office data processing and knowledge services.
Useful labels: BPO (business process outsourcing), KPO (knowledge process outsourcing - research, analytics), LPO (legal process outsourcing). A captive centre serves only its parent company; a third-party vendor serves many clients. Offshore work is delivered from India for a foreign client; onshore is delivered in the client's country; nearshore is a nearby country.
In India the sector is represented by NASSCOM and its Sector Skill Council (SSC NASSCOM), which defines NSQF-aligned qualifications and job roles at different levels.
Worked example
A UK retailer outsources payroll processing to a Noida vendor, which runs it on the vendor's own HR software. Classify the work. Payroll is a business process, not software built for the client, so it is ITeS/BPM - specifically HR/F&A back office - delivered offshore by a third-party vendor. If the retailer set up its own Noida centre, the same work would be captive offshore.
Traps
- Calling all ITeS work IT services. Data entry is ITeS even though it uses computers.
- Assuming BPM means voice calls; most of it is non-voice.
- Mixing offshore (location) with third-party (ownership) - they are independent.