Q: The acquisition of Aviva was to give you entry into larger deals. Is that happening?
A: I think the Aviva acquisition has been one of the most important one so far. More than cross-selling, which is one of the strategies to take the business to other clients, I think the Aviva account is still under-penetrated. There is huge potential to expand that one single account. I have told the team that they have to focus only on increasing this account presently.

Q: With clear recovery in the US economy, what are clients saying? And is the pricing pressure now a thing of the past?
A: For us as a company, the pipeline is looking strong. Clients are much more comfortable in terms of outsourcing and off-shoringThe original panic that was evident among clients has passed and they realise that they need to walk on this routeBut the BPO pipeline takes much longer to convert and the decision-making cycle is slower. Some of these things take as long as nine to 12 months. So, if IT firms are talking about hiring and growth, that is happening as the decisions that were on hold have started to move now.

The IT and BPO need not grow at the same pace. But, when BPO takes off, relationships become much stronger, giving much more sticky business. But things are much better than what they were last year. I track the number of visits that clients make to our office, and I must say that this has gone up compared to last year.

As for pricing, we have been able to renew contracts with the top-10 clients — they account for 60-65 per cent of our revenue. And the pricing has been stable or, in some cases, better.