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i-flex writes program for big BPO play N Shivapriya,Jan 02, 2007  MUMBAI: After products and services, i-flex Solutions, is now drawing up plans for a big BPO play. The software major has incorporated a new firm, i-flex Processing Services (IPSL), that will serve as the umbrella for all its BPO service offerings. Currently, BPO accounts for less 5% of its revenues, while its products and services contribute about equally to the total revenue.  The company recently recruited Mahesh Rao as chief executive officer of the new entity. Mr Rao was earlier with Progeon, the BPO subsidiary of Infosys Technologies, heading its banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) vertical. Formerly with Citbank in India and overseas, Mr Rao was with the sales team of i-flex before he left to join the Infosys BPO.  Unlike its peers, i-flex has not been very aggressive in the BPO space. After its acquisition of Equinox, in the mortgage services segment in 2004, it has not expanded its range of services to include other offerings.  Equinox has products such as SmartAcquisition and StopLeakage is positioned as a KPO rather than a BPO. It is likely to be maintained as a separate entity and IPSL will serve as the holding company for it.  When contacted, Mr Rao told ET: “At this point, there are no plans to merge Equinox with IPSL. IPSL will serve as the holding company for any other acquisitions that i-flex may make in niche BPO areas.” It will continue to be headed by the current CEO, Don Ganguly, although there will be people working across both organisations.  Apart from exploring inorganic growth opportunities and holding stake in niche KPO firms, IPSL will grow organically by bundling its services along with Flexcube and offering standalone KPO services.  It will use the existing I-flex facilities to expand its footprint in cities such as Pune and Bangalore, in addition to Gurgaon where Equinox has operations.  However, unlike broad-based BPO services offered by players such as Infosys and Wipro, IPSL will stay focused on the BFSI vertical. “As of now, we have tapped only mortgage services.  BFSI is a very large vertical. Within banking itself, we can focus on a number of areas such as capital markets, retail and wholesale banking, and credit cards. Similarly, there are a number of areas in insurance too,” Mr Rao said.