Some time back, eBay launched Paypal Access – a universal login system for the web, and the first of its kind for ecommerce websites. Popular ecommerce web sites, as of now, have their own registration process that every new user must go through. They manage and maintain all the information provided by users, including credit card and SSN numbers. Paypal Access has been launched with a vision to change this and increase the number of sales for small ecommerce store owners.

The Product
Paypal users can now log into any ecommerce website that supports Paypal Access, and make purchases without the need of for going through a separate registration process at the website. Paypal Access can be integrated either through OpenID 2.0 specification or OAuth protocol. The feature can also be implemented for mobile versions.

Let’s see how Paypal Access integration can contribute to increased sales for a web store.

1. Professional reputation for your website: As an established company having more than 100 million accounts, Paypal has earned sufficient reputation in the Internet, which is evident from its steep growth in the online payments sector during the past decade. People who trust Paypal will trust your website. The yellow Paypal icon on any website has come to be the symbol of reputation.

2. Secure transactions for the user: Most prospective buyers are hesitant to provide confidential information to ‘not-so-popular’ websites. With the increase in the number of cyber fraud activities, it is only natural for users to double check before providing credit card/ debit card numbers. They would prefer to buy from ecommerce giants like Amazon, who they know can protect their information, rather than risk buying from smaller providers. With Paypal integrated into your website, there will be no need for users to share confidential information anymore. They can be rest assured that they are making purchases safely and securely.

3. No registration hassles for the user: Research says that 80% of users are reluctant to continue shopping for a product when faced with a multi-step registration process. Though a tedious registration process is essential to help ship purchased products, it is by no way a pleasant experience to shoppers. However, a Paypal Access integrated website can forego this uncomfortable process since the website already has access to the user’s information from the Paypal server. The user only needs to authenticate his information which is as simple as authenticating apps for Twitter/Facebook. This greatly saves on any purchasing hassles for the user.

4. Mobile access: The m-commerce market seems to be slowly but steadily increasing, although it is yet to catch the fancy of most online shoppers as it should. This could mainly be due to the difficulty faced by buyers in determining if a website is credible or not from their mobile devices. However, it really doesn’t matter whether the website is accessed through PC or mobile with Paypal Access integration.

5. Easy auto creation of profiles: Most ecommerce websites have individual profiles for all users with their interests and wish lists. When a website is authenticated by Paypal Access, it is possible to auto create profiles and make the buyer feel at home in the website.

We can soon expect competition for Paypal in this domain. Google and Facebook will definitely look to take the top spot. At QBurst, we have been offering ecommerce solutions using the latest technologies. Reach out to us if you are looking for an ecommerce solution.

An idea or information represented in visual form is an infographic. It may contain graphics, images, charts (pie, bar, column, etc.), graphs, Venn diagrams or familiar icons. An ideal infographic may scroll to at least two web pages in length. Recently, the use of infographics in the Internet has significantly increased. Research companies like Forrester release data as infographics. The best internet companies like Webs, Volusion use infographics either to communicate company information or to explain their products.

This sample infographic explains activities on the internet in 60 seconds.


The Secret Behind Infographics
Pictures convey more than words: Infographics is the applied engineering of the old Chinese adage ‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’ A picture can convey more than words. Our human mind is capable of absorbing more from images rather than from words.

Information is made interesting: By a mix of data and images, and attractive colors, complex information is broken down and easily conveyed in infographics. Business milestones, company revenue information are boring reading stuff unless the reader is interested. Here is a company that has used infographics and made it interesting for its readers.

Can be quickly read: One infographic is equivalent to an article of at least 1000 words. Our human brain takes less time to go through an infographic than it takes to read 1000 words. The various histograms and graphics in the infographic provides an overview of the entire information almost immediately.

Infographics Helps Businesses
Improves the company website’s SEO ranking: Back links are close friends of search engine bots. When infographics get shared on the Internet. they generate back links to the parent website. The title can also be used as a target keyword. Another method is to educate the target audience on industry trends and best practices using infographics to make clients/customers keep coming back to the website often. This can be done in the company blog.

Company activities will reach clients/customers: Unless the business is among the top players in the market, we cannot expect clients / customers to eagerly look for the developments in the company. Latest developments in the company, when communicated as Infographics will reach many.

Improvised marketing strategy: Email communication becomes more effective with infographics. This is a good method to bring in more leads. An attractive infographic can allure more business prospects than a dull one with only words.

Expertise Is Required
Just like infographics can deliver more, infographics demands more dedication and hard work for its creation. There are many automated tools available on the Internet. However, we need a designer’s touch to make the infographic a hit. Infographics can be a mess if careful attention is not given to details. A bad infographic will not only devalue the information but also spoil the reputation of the company producing it.

1. Color scheme and layouts are the backbone of any design. A designer geek alone can choose the right color combination for the content of the infographic.
2. Typography may not be important in articles but they certainly play a vital role in infographics. There must be different typography for different sub-titles and all of them need to be catchy. Too much of variety could reduce the professionalism in the infographic. Only a web expert will be able to strike a balance between variety and professionalism.
3. Right words must be used. Words used in infographics are few. Conveying information in few words is complicated. Even the title must be crisp and to the point. Unless a content specialist works with the designer, producing an effective infographic will be difficult.

Explore some of the best infographics in the web and reach out to us for customized solutions.

A few days back, Apple’s ‘Let’s Talk iPhone’ event was held at its head quarters in Cupertino, California. Disappointment struck gadget enthusiasts as expectations for iPhone 5 were laid to rest. Now, with the passing away of Steve Jobs, the company may continue to lose its stock value. The event, however, witnessed the unveiling of more than 200 new features for iOS 5 along with iPod updates, iCloud and iPhone 4S.The iPhone 4S will be available on October 14, 2011 in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan. The smart phone comes in two colors – black and white. At first glance, although it looks exactly like the iPhone, it isn’t the same. Apple’s phone will feature the company’s new A5 dual-core processor. Apple boasts that the A5 is seven times faster than the previous processor. Reviewers say graphics are super detailed. Updates aside, there is one feature which differentiates iPhone 4S from its predecessors – the Siri. We will be analyzing this feature in detail here.

Siri – A Voice Based Assistant
Siri is a voice based intelligence assistant. It has a robotic female voice (like Small Wonder Vicki) and can be launched by holding down the home button for a few seconds. Siri is in Beta to start with. It supports English, French and German, that’s three major languages. Unlike the other voice assistants we are familiar with, Siri brings a conversational interface to the iPhone.

Apple has partnered with Yelp, a local business listing service, to give Siri, the access to businesses in the local area. Another key partnership is with Wolfram Alpha. Wolfram Alpha is a new service that provides meaningful answers based on every known model, method and algorithm. Siri also makes the best use of Wikipedia and location based services that are available for free.

Siri’s Intelligence
Siri is intelligent enough to combine your information and your current location with that of your contacts and tools like Yelp, Wolfram Alpha, and Wikipedia to efficiently communicate with you. Here’s an example of what Siri can do. Suppose you ask “Any burger joints around here?” Siri would locate your current position using Maps or other location services, check the local listings in Yelp for burger joints and respond, “I have found a number of burger joints for you”, by displaying the list on the screen. Siri can give you directions, the day’s weather, exchange rates, flight details and even the latest stock quotes. It can play songs from iCloud, set up meetings, alarms and reminders. Siri can also compose or read messages for you.

We know that some of these features are already available in other smart phones. What makes Siri unique is its ability to interpret natural language and respond back in the same way. iPad/iPhone users know the perfection of the touch feature in Apple’s products – in fact, the perfection is no match with any other. Imagine such perfection in voice. This will definitely make iPhone 4S a revolutionary phone. Anyway, we will have to wait and see.

Other Features
Antenna Switching: There is an efficient wireless system in place now. This one can intelligently switch between two antennas to transmit and also receive signals. The switching can happen even in the middle of a call – this is to improve call quality. According to Apple’s test results, the download rate is now twice as fast as before (14.4 Mbps down and 5.8 Mbps up).

Image/ Video Capturing: The new camera has an 8 mega pixel sensor that allows to take photos at a resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels. There is also a hybrid IR filter and five-element lens (there were four in the iPhone 4). Video recording is still a challenge for smart phones but iPhone 4S enables to take a 1080p HD video with real-time video image stabilization.

AirPlay: This feature is a plus for Apple TV users. Photos and videos can be streamed straight to Apple TV setup. There is also AirPlay mirroring. For those who do not use Apple TV, any HDMI cable can be plugged to do wired mirroring.

Our mobile development team at QBurst is excited about iPhone 4S. Get in touch with us if you are planning for an iPhone App for your business.

For at least some of us, ad messages popping up on the mobile can be irksome. So how about the “50% off your meal now” offer that pops up on your iPhone as you walk past your favorite pizza outlet at lunchtime. Hmm… maybe not so annoying after all!

What if you come to know your buddy is already in there taking advantage of the offer? You could join and have a great time too – at half the price.

Wait! Get a few more of your friends to drop in to make it a group of 10 and your meal will cost only one-fourth.

That is possibly what a combination of Where app, Facebook and Groupon could do – give you a ‘happy meal’!

Way back in 2000, businesses were just starting to realize the benefits of being online. In those days, online success was synonymous with having a website with a .COM name. Soon, as the number of websites grew, it became necessary to stand out in the crowd. This realization brought forth a brand of online marketers armed with tools such as SEO, PPC ads. etc. Man being a social animal, realized before long that ‘being online’ meant ‘being on social networks’. Social media sites, Facebook and the likes, appeared and with it bloomed the era of social media advertising.

According to Wikipedia, the term social commerce was coined by Yahoo in 2005 to describe collaborative shopping tools. The term was rarely discussed until Groupon with its “cents-off coupon married to a Friday-after-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy” came into the scene. The astounding growth of this technology start-up prompted a lot of clones to come up. Not to be left out, Facebook also added ‘Groupon features’ to its offerings. Of course, the social networking giant has an advantage. While Groupon and similar sites rely on deal sharing through social networks, for Facebook sharing is the default.

So, that brings us all the way from e-commerce to social commerce to f-commerce. And now what?

Location based mobile apps seems likely to take it forward from here. Services like Gowalla, DeHood and Loopt are becoming increasingly popular. The social commerce field will continue to explode and we will see the convergence of social and mobile commerce. The recent eBay acquisitions of Milo (for real-time inventory management) and Where.com (for location based mobile ads) seem to be in line with these trends. Moreover, Google is in it too with its mobile payment app and the most recent Google+. The future definitely seems promising and it waits to be seen who will be the king of e-commerce.

Right from the time Facebook took over the as the king of social market, drowning Myspace, there has been no real fight for the throne. It’s time we saw a good competitor for Facebook.

Google has attempted to break the Facebook wall many times before, only to bruise itself. Google Waves had to be shut down and Google Buzz doesn’t seem to be picking up. After these failed attempts Google has now come up with another weapon to breach the great wall of Facebook. This is Google Plus (+1). Let’s see what this product has in store.

1. Circles: Circles are groups that can be created for restricted communication and sharing. This is like having separate communities for your friends, family, colleagues, etc. You can create any number of circles.

2. Sparks: Sparks track the latest and the most relevant of your interests. You can create sparks and have them listed on your home page. Google provides live search results when you click on them.

3. Hangouts: Hangouts are for collaborating and planning with buddies in your circle. You can have on-screen video chat with up to 10 people simultaneously.

4. Huddles: Huddles are for the mobile freaks. This is a group messaging system to update those in a circle.

The look and feel is exactly Facebook replicate. Techcrunch says you need two extensions to clone Google Plus into Facebook. Unfortunately Facebook has most of the features also. The multi video chat could be one that’s missing and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO) would have already started working on it now. Yakity, TinyChat already offer them. All these have made the mood among Google investors go pessimistic.

So is it any good for businesses? We cannot answer this now since the product is still in trial field. There is nothing specific like Facebook pages that we can find right now. But we can take it for granted that Google guarantees higher positioning of your business in its search results if you get more +1s.

Simply put, Google Plus has nothing spectacular for Facebookers to turn into +1ers.

A Brief History on Yesterday’s Social Networking King – Myspace

In 2003, eUniverse launched a new platform that enabled individuals to interact with each other over the Internet. Within a short span of time, the platform allured millions. Internet users were already beginning to get bored with the traditional email and chat. This platform named Myspace managed to move to the top of the list even though similar ones like Friendster were already in the market. Years rolled by and in 2007, Myspace clearly became the king of social networking with more than 100 million users.

Today’s Critical Care Unit Patient – Myspace

Myspace (Now My_____) was dethroned by Facebook in 2009. Furthermore, Myspace is now in the ventilator. With losses of around $150M a quarter, its immediate owner Rupert Murdoch is looking left and right to get rid of this dying patient. Below is Hitwise data that shows the rise of Facebook (blue line) and the decline of Myspace (green line) over the years 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The main source of revenue for Myspace was from ads. The eMarketer data released in Jan 2011 shows the decline of ad revenues for Myspace and increase of ad revenues for Facebook.

What Went Wrong For MySpace?

A Competitive Intelligence analyst would be able to find the reasons for this decline of Myspace. Let’s list some of them here and learn from the mistakes of this one-time king of Social Networking.

Did not track its reputation

Users of Myspace always had the freedom to go beyond limits inside and outside Internet. When limits were crossed, the media was on the toe to spoil the reputation Myspace had earned. Unfortunately News Corp, the then owner of Myspace did not respond well to set right its loss in reputation. This resulted in reduction in traffic to the site and hence the revenue. Legal issues arose that had to be settled. The settlement with Universal Music Group was in millions. If the management had tracked their brand periodically, the damage could have been avoided or at least reduced.

Did not track new trends

Trends in market were changing the perspectives of social networking. Separate platforms began to emerge for different communities. Youtube for videos, Linkedin for professionals, Picassa for photos; Myspace did very little to convince its users with its features. It did very little to stay ahead of any new trends that rocked the market. Even though the site had the finest of the codes, there was lack of renovation in user interactivity which made Myspace look dull. Renovation would have been part of core team’s activity if latest trends in the market were periodically tracked.

Lack of in-depth analysis of its competitors

When there was a need to do something to stay alive, Myspace announced a complete redesign to its website. Any redesign requires comprehensive analyses before implementation so that there would be user acceptance. Unfortunately Myspace had to be moved to the ventilator when media hyped the redesign as a copy of Facebook. This copycatting image of Myspace completely spoiled the reputation of the one-time king. Another area where there was lack of in-depth analyses could be identified in the customization freedom given to its users. Too much customization options made the site look scrambled under many profiles. Both these instances were result of lack of proper analyses before implementing a strategy.

Sleeping while others were awake at night

There were many new players in the social media market in 2006. Facebook’s growth in traffic was witnessed by the entire world. Pioneers of social networking like Friendster and leaders of the web like Yahoo, tried to acquire Facebook. This clearly sent signal about a rising rival to Myspace. But those who had to respond to the signals were sleeping. Had they been awake, they would have sensed the danger to their throne.

Management’s pessimistic approach

Other than the Google – MySpace partnership, we have to admit that Myspace has not dealt with its issues in an optimistic way. Since Rupert Murdoch had profit in his other businesses, he had been deliberately looking to sell Myspace right from the time he faced threat from Facebook. He removed top guys like Tom Anderson who were very instrumental in bringing Myspace to the top. Myspace had never been given to young hands who could probably match to the brilliance of Mark Zuckerberg. The age factor is evident in the website for any analyst. Had the approach of Murdoch and team been different, Myspace would have still remained competitive to its rivals.

What’s The Urgent Need For Your Business?

Myspace is one example. There are many companies which have collapsed. Giants like Lehmann Brothers, Daewoo may have been in news. But there are thousands of small businesses that have collapsed in the last decade. So what must a small business do to continuously grow without experiencing catastrophes? The role of Competitive Intelligence team answers this question. Periodic reports produced by this team are vital for the existence and growth of any business. Below are few basic reports that are prepared by this analysis team.

Competitor News Report

The competitor news report can be prepared weekly or monthly depending on the frequency in which competitors make their move in your market. The report tracks every move of your direct competitors. Any mile stone achieved or any financial progress announced by them will be traced. The report will also identify new players in your market and their growth tracked in further reports.

Market Trends Report

The market trends report keeps you informed of the latest happenings in your market. The report tracks the value of your market periodically. The report also collects relevant information that forecasts the future of your product market. It also keeps you updated with different strategic changes that get accepted and rejected in the market.

Product Analysis Report

The product analysis report is the most important of all. It is a comprehensive feature by feature analysis of your product. This report will identify the major players in your market and also give an idea of how the leaders present the product to its prospects.

For more information on these reports and the complete role of Competitive Intelligence team in a business, contact QBurst team.

mCommerce

Mobile commerce or m-Commerce is creating a lot of buzz in the web space and is poised for further growth. It has never been easy to shop online any time, anywhere from the comfort of our palm. According to a study by ABI Research, it is estimated that people around the world will spend around $119 billion shopping online. There’s a massive opportunity for not only improving the way mobile purchasing works but also for inventing new ways to sharing and promoting services and merchandises.

Strategies for mCommerce

Even though e-commerce has flourished into a billion dollar market, most of the e-commerce retailers are not willing to cater to this ever growing market of net savy mobile shoppers. “Let’s develop an app” seems to be the game plan for many vendors – which is not enough. Below are some of the online marketing strategies that all the online vendors need to consider if they are looking to unleash the power of mCommerce.

• Search Engine Optimisation & Search Engine Marketing
• Affiliate tracking tools
• Mobile web analytics
• Social media presence and compatibility

Mobile web has the power to implement a complete m-Commerce portal. The above listed strategies work on mobile web pages. But it’s quite impossible to fully accomplish these in native apps. Native apps have to be discovered, purchased & downloaded prior to use.

According to market share data published by AdMob earlier this year, iOS makes up 50% of the worldwide smartphone market, with the next-highest OS on the list being Android at 24%. We can still create robust, native-looking web applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Even though Safari on iPhone OS does not support flash, we have to agree that it is still a really great browser. It is also one of the most efficient browsers with its out of the box slick interface elements, which at times may vary between the iPhone and iPad.

Web Apps

Not everyone out there are aware of the fact that Apple has a section called “web apps” featured on its website, which is dedicated to showcasing optimized websites. Web applications or “web apps” as apple calls it - amalgamates the power of the Internet with the simplicity of multi-touch technology, all on a minuscule 3.5-inch screen. Visit the tApple website to check the 1700+ web apps featured in .

Below are the advantages of building a web app instead of a native app.

Advantages:

• No Apple approval process or red tape, which is especially important given the terms of service dispute going on right now.
• Optimizing the app for other popular platforms like Android, Blackberry, etc with the same code is comparatively easier and cost effective.
• Don’t have to learn Objective-C or download iPhone SDK.
• Don’t have to share any revenue with Apple.
• 100% control over the means of payment, promotion and distribution to the user.

If you haven’t spotted this niche yet, it’s time to dive in and familiarize yourself with the tools required to optimize websites and web applications for this OS, because it’s going to be very exciting to watch this space unfold in 2011.

QBurst has an excellent track record in developing web apps for iPhone, iPads, iPod touch and other major mobile operating systems including Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile. QBurst have all the tools needed to create a great web experience on the platform that’s currently dominating the mobile space are out there. Visit QBurst Mobile Apps page for more information.

The latest news about Apple launching an app store for Macs is creating waves in all the tech circles. A few days back, the company unveiled the eighth version of its operating system, OS X. The OS is dubbed  ‘Lion‘. During this function, Steve Jobs also spoke about the Mac App Store. This move by Apple is supportive to developers who are ‘objective C’ nerds.

Just a year back, Apple introduced the app store for iPhones. The introduction was made by an upgrade through iTunes. Applications were developed in iPhone SDK and put in the app store. The store was a hit and the developers were allowed to take away 70% of the revenue the app generated. Following this success, Apple is now attempting to bring the same into the Macs. OS X is scheduled to be available only next year. However app developers may not need to wait for such a long period for Mac App Store. The store will be ready to kick off in 90 days.

The Mac App Store is similar to the app store for iPhones. The app store will be first available in the current OS X 10.6, Snow Leopard. From the user’s point of view, there is no need for a separate account to use the app store. With the same iTunes credentials, one can browse through various apps that are listed categorically, scan a few screenshots and make a preferred order. There will also be free apps which can be installed immediately. Apple says, the installation will happen in one step. The apps, when installed will update automatically allowing the user to use the latest of the app.

For developers, it’s the same 70 – 30 proportion on revenue as it is with iPhone apps. Apple has listed various guidelines for developers to adhere with. These guidelines are accessible only after registration. A few to list:

• No betas
• No duplicates
• No frequent updates
• No third party installers. Only XCode
• No location based APIs
• No complex UI
• No change to the native UI element and behaviour of the OS
• No stores inside the app
• No pornography

Developers will be able to learn more about the store in Apple website. Apple will start to accept apps from next month. Jobs is striving to move things faster and to get the store fully functional before 3 months. QBurst has good experience in developing apps for iPhones and iPads. After dropping many apps into the iPhone App store, QBurst developers are all set to deliver apps for the Mac.

According to eMarketer forecasts, the mobile ad market is expected to double itself, growing from $7 billion in 2009 to $14 billion in 2011. By the end of 2010, mobile multimedia ad spending alone is projected to increase by 67%. Little wonder computer giant Apple is hoping to reap benefits out of this ‘billion dollar opportunity’. The company has come up with its own mobile advertising network and says it will take nearly a 50% share of mobile ads in the second half of 2010!

The story began with Apple’s acquisition of mobile ad platform, Quattro Wireless, back in Jan 2010. Soon after in April, the company announced iAd, a new interactive ad network for iOS devices. The network went live just last month. Interestingly, there have already been reports of the iAd platform generating as much as $1400 in a single day.

“The emotion of TV, the interactivity of the web, the power of mobility” – this is how Apple defines the iAd. iAds can delivers interactive and video content ads without taking viewers out of the application they are currently using. The Toy Story 3 and other demo ads built by Apple beautifully illustrate the variety of interactive options possible.

Having said that, let’s look at the major ‘takeaways’ for the different segments.

For the average iPhone user:

• Mobile ads can be more enjoyable and less frustrating. Unlike in browser-ads, the user is not taken to a different web page; he can always get back to his current app. easily and quickly.
• An iAd ad. opens up in a app-like environment and taps into all major OS features of the ‘ phone. Users can therefore buy iTunes content from within the ad., share branded content across social networks or save branded images as wallpaper.

For the app. developer:

• With 60% of the advertising revenue coming to them, developers might find it an interesting way to monetize their apps. while keeping them free.
• Moreover, developers can purchase iAd advertising to promote their own apps. to millions of users across the iAd Network. iAd JS and supporting documentation available through the iPhone Dev Center will aid developers in designing and creating high-impact, motion-rich ads.

For the advertiser:

• iAd holds immense marketing potential with its reach of over millions of iPhone and iPod touch users around the world.
• The kind of integrated experience the iAd promises could result in significantly enhanced viewer-ship and more effective advertising.
• Standard targeting options like demographics, movie and television genre interests, location, application preferences, etc., could mean the ad. is delivered to consumers most likely to be motivated by the message.

And finally for Apple:

• As the company that hosts and sells this new kind of ads., it is definitely a source of revenue.
• It is also a novel approach to providing incentives for App. store development.

However, the biggest truth of all is that iAd is a subtle attack on Flash and a more direct strike at Google’s AdSense from the house of iOS devices.

‘A Blessing in disguise’ – This is exactly what the IT/ITeS industry has to say about the recent recession. The 2008-2009 recession, followed by the collapse of the financial services bellwether, Lehman Brothers, has transformed the total dynamics of the industry. New business models evolved as customers squeezed their IT spend and demanded more work. They were perhaps right; the credit crunch had hit hard on their businesses and they were left with no choices apart from shoe-string budgets for IT-ITES needs. Vendors or outsourcing providers also responded in a similar fashion. But, the employees felt the heat most. Salaries were reduced, lot of employees were laid off and company budgets were reduced across the globe.  By adopting such life-saving measures, most businesses were able to withstand the pressure. However, life hasn’t been the same ever since.

Top vendors confirm that clients were asking for more services to be provided for lesser money. How could that be possible in an industry with a growth rate of more than 15% per annum? How could vendors sustain their growth momentum and, more importantly, their profit margin under the circumstances? It was hard for companies to sustain their growth margin solely by reducing their capital expenditures. Instead, they had to look for ways to increase revenue simultaneously. That, actually led to the evolution of the business model where billing would be based on the business outcome rather than the employees work or time. Cloud Computing came into limelight as a result of acceptance of this new model.

In Cloud Computing, you needed to pay only for the services you availed of and didn’t have to bother about the hardware and other expenses. This was more than acceptable to clients because they had to pay more only if they were getting more. The disadvantage though, for the vendors, was the low margins. Vendors now looked for multiple contracts from the same client to sustain their revenues. They proposed a complete outsourcing package to clients by beefing up their portfolio and this happened through acquisition of niche players also. Clients too, were looking for a similar alternative and they awarded bulk contracts to the same vendor reducing the number of vendors drastically. By this, clients could negotiate more and concentrate on fewer vendors.

This new trend has forced outsourcing companies to integrate IT and BPO services to win more contracts. Many top IT-services players have added BPO to their portfolio to provide end-to-end service to their clients. Conforming to this model oil giant, British Petroleum, has reduced their number of vendors from 40 to 6. BPO players are also striving to add IT services to their portfolio. To this end, they are partnering up with small IT companies to create simplified systems that make life easier for their clients.  So the recession has helped clients to get more work done at a lesser cost. As for vendors, it has aided in the expansion of their portfolio and area of expertise.For the employees, it has been an opportunity to expand their skill-set and hence demand bigger salaries. A burst in the economy is inevitable after a boom and our economy is slowly gearing up for another boom. This is a natural cycle and will prevail until the expiration of earth!!