Future: Offshore Research and Analytics Centers

With the kind of work that service providers are now able to execute, it’s hardly surprising that companies in the U.S., Europe or Japan have dedicated offshore centers doing research and analytics. These could be larger companies, say, 1,500–2,000 employee firms that run dedicated 10–20 people centers for clients or put together teams of specialists as and when required.

For instance in a recent case, a U.S.-based hotel chain asked a provider in India to analyze data on hotel-room pricing across North America and sought business models to offer discounts. The research and analytics provider sitting in India put together a dedicated team to study historical data, buying patterns and used statistical tools to develop those business models.

Given this, don’t be surprised if you are traveling from Stockholm to Singapore and check in at a hotel that knows your preference for a particular wine and low cal items. The vital information could have been part of a report that an analyst generated from work that was wired to a provider in far away Santiago, Chile! It’s time that buyers of high-end research check the provider menu as they can now serve pretty much anything.

Phil Bird, Director, GfK, NOP