Brigade has been recognized as the Best Employer and Fastest Growing companies by national and global agencies.
NASSCOM, the apex industry association of software and service companies in India, has recognized Brigade Corporation as a key player in its annual ranking of third party information technology enabled services (ITES) companies. Brigade is a global provider of business process outsourcing and customer relationship management solutions.
Brigade’s climb is the largest advance by any of the top ten companies (seventh from tenth in 2001) and is one of only two companies that advanced in the rankings this year.
The NASSCOM ranking is based on company revenues reported in accordance with United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) and certified by company auditors as of March 31, 2002. Formed in 1988, NASSCOM is a non-profit organization with over 854 member companies that represent 95 per cent of revenues of the Indian software industry.
“Our rankings reaffirm the fact that the ITES sector and the IT Industry as a whole, are in a phase of sustained development,” said Mr. Kiran Karnik, President, NASSCOM.
This is particularly significant given the challenges of our current economic environment.
“Brigade’s ranking by this respected association further solidifies our position as a significant global business in the ITES market and we look forward to continuing to advance in these rankings,” added Sri Dasari, President of Brigade India. “While our ISO 9001/2000 and Six Sigma regimens are designed to continually improve our work processes, it’s also encouraging to see that we have continually improved our position in this competitive marketplace.”
Brigade Corporation, a global provider of business process outsourcing and customer relationship management solutions, is proud to announce that it has attained ISO 9001:2000 Certification for the provision of business process outsourcing services in the area of customer relationship management. ISO 9001:2000 recognizes companies with a quality management system that consistently provide services that meet customer and regulatory requirements. This certification is awarded to companies that enhance customer satisfaction through quality programs.
“ISO certification is one of the many continuous quality programs we have implemented at Brigade, among them such well known projects as Six Sigma,” Sri Dasari, President of Brigade India, explained. “The program has been a key focus of our overall quality and customer satisfaction efforts. We are proud to be among the very few companies in the ITES segment in India to have earned this certification,” he added.
Brigade’s ISO 9001:2000 certification audit was performed by KPMG and included Management, Production, Quality, Training, Knowledgebase, Human Resources, Administration and Technology Services.
We are pleased to advance in this year’s NASSCOM rankings due to the continued growth of our business through client expansion,” commented Raymond E. Bayley, Chairman and CEO of Brigade. This is particularly significant given the challenges of our current economic environment.”
“Brigade’s ranking by this respected association further solidifies our position as a significant global business in the ITES market and we look forward to continuing to advance in these rankings,” added Sri Dasari, President of Brigade India. “While our ISO 9001/2000 and Six Sigma regimens are designed to continually improve our work processes, it’s also encouraging to see that we have continually improved our position in this competitive marketplace.”
Brigade Corporation, a global provider of business process outsourcing and customer relationship management solutions, is proud to announce that it has attained ISO 9001:2000 Certification for the provision of business process outsourcing services in the area of customer relationship management. ISO 9001:2000 recognizes companies with a quality management system that consistently provide services that meet customer and regulatory requirements. This certification is awarded to companies that enhance customer satisfaction through quality programs.
“ISO 9001:2000 certification recognizes our high quality global service delivery model and success in unlocking the value of our clients’ non-strategic assets,” said Raymond E. Bayley, Chairman and CEO of Brigade. “This certification confirms the quality of our services and operations, and underscores the value we create for our clients.”
“ISO certification is one of the many continuous quality programs we have implemented at Brigade, among them such well known projects as Six Sigma,” Sri Dasari, President of Brigade India, explained. “The program has been a key focus of our overall quality and customer satisfaction efforts. We are proud to be among the very few companies in the ITES segment in India to have earned this certification,” he added.
Brigade’s ISO 9001:2000 certification audit was performed by KPMG and included Management, Production, Quality, Training, Knowledgebase, Human Resources, Administration and Technology Services.
“We are pleased to advance in this year’s NASSCOM rankings due to the continued growth of our business through client expansion,” commented Raymond E. Bayley, Chairman and CEO of Brigade. This is particularly significant given the challenges of our current economic environment.”
“Brigade’s ranking by this respected association further solidifies our position as a significant global business in the ITES market and we look forward to continuing to advance in these rankings,” added Sri Dasari, President of Brigade India. “While our ISO 9001/2000 and Six Sigma regimens are designed to continually improve our work processes, it’s also encouraging to see that we have continually improved our position in this competitive marketplace.”
Brigade Corporation, a global provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing solutions, is proud to announce that Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ), a longstanding Brigade client, was judged by CNET’s “secret shopper” columnist to possess the best customer service of the top desktop computer manufacturers. Compaq bested Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and eMachines in a recent CNET independent, blind customer service evaluation published on their website, proving that Brigade is delivering clear value as a partner in providing quality support to Compaq customers.
“We were thrilled to read the CNET review, and we thank the Brigade team for continuing to help us achieve our customer service goals,” said Maria Martinez, Director, Compaq Consumer Customer Service. “Our partnership with Brigade has produced significant gains in providing top-notch customer service and our relentless pursuit of improving customer satisfaction.”
Steve Young, Vice President, Compaq Worldwide Customer Care added,
“This is further validation that the Brigade team is helping us make a significant contribution in our quest for customer service excellence.”
Compaq received the highest score of all companies reviewed for on-line support by CNET in their recent evaluation and the highest overall customer service score. Two minutes after a question was emailed by CNET about a defective floppy drive, Brigade responded with an automated acknowledgement that the email had been received. Half an hour later, a “well-phrased and thorough troubleshooting e-mail arrived with a link to Microsoft’s Knowledgebase article on fixing my problem,” stated the CNET “secret shopper” columnist. Brigade also impressed the evaluator by suggesting that hardware service might be in order and provided a link to locate the nearest service center.
Adrienne Dale, Brigade Vice President of Account Management remarked,
“This recognition confirms the effectiveness of our Continuous Quality Improvement Programs and reflects the dedication and focus of everyone involved on the joint Compaq / Brigade customer service team. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Compaq to accomplish and surpass their customer service goals.”
“The strong partnership between our companies has enabled Compaq to deliver a higher level of quality to their customers while leveraging a truly global service delivery model which maximizes value and creates additional competitive advantages,”
said Raymond E. Bayley, Chairman and CEO of Brigade. Mr. Bayley, who joined Brigade in June 2001, is the former managing partner for business process outsourcing in North America for PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he oversaw the firm’s fastest growing line of service.
Brigade Corporation, a global provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing solutions, is proud to announce that Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ), a longstanding Brigade client, was judged by CNET’s “secret shopper” columnist to possess the best customer service of the top desktop computer manufacturers. Compaq bested Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and eMachines in a recent CNET independent, blind customer service evaluation published on their website, proving that Brigade is delivering clear value as a partner in providing quality support to Compaq customers.
“We were thrilled to read the CNET review, and we thank the Brigade team for continuing to help us achieve our customer service goals,” said Maria Martinez, Director, Compaq Consumer Customer Service. “Our partnership with Brigade has produced significant gains in providing top-notch customer service and our relentless pursuit of improving customer satisfaction.”
Steve Young, Vice President, Compaq Worldwide Customer Care added,
“This is further validation that the Brigade team is helping us make a significant contribution in our quest for customer service excellence.”
Compaq received the highest score of all companies reviewed for on-line support by CNET in their recent evaluation and the highest overall customer service score. Two minutes after a question was emailed by CNET about a defective floppy drive, Brigade responded with an automated acknowledgement that the email had been received. Half an hour later, a “well-phrased and thorough troubleshooting e-mail arrived with a link to Microsoft’s Knowledgebase article on fixing my problem,” stated the CNET “secret shopper” columnist. Brigade also impressed the evaluator by suggesting that hardware service might be in order and provided a link to locate the nearest service center.
Adrienne Dale, Brigade Vice President of Account Management remarked, “This recognition confirms the effectiveness of our Continuous Quality Improvement Programs and reflects the dedication and focus of everyone involved on the joint Compaq / Brigade customer service team. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Compaq to accomplish and surpass their customer service goals.”
“The strong partnership between our companies has enabled Compaq to deliver a higher level of quality to their customers while leveraging a truly global service delivery model which maximizes value and creates additional competitive advantages,” said Raymond E. Bayley, Chairman and CEO of Brigade. Mr. Bayley, who joined Brigade in June 2001, is the former managing partner for business process outsourcing in North America for PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he oversaw the firm’s fastest growing line of service.
New Brigade Service Reduces Customer Service Costs by up to 40% and Improves Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
Brigade Corporation today unveiled BrigadeMail Rapid Response, a new service offering that provides online customer support responses within one hour. With BrigadeMail Rapid Response, businesses can reduce their customer support costs by transitioning expensive call center inquiries to online support via email. Faster responses increase customer satisfaction by providing timely, accurate information customers can use immediately.
End-users are raving about the service. “I have only used this email service once before and it was a result of the 1-800 service not being able to resolve the problem. I was most impressed by it then and continue to be impressed today.” Another user commented, “There is nothing you can do to improve your service. Frankly, I was surprised at how quickly my problem was resolved!” The BrigadeMail Rapid Response service has already shown proven results, in once case increasing customer satisfaction by 15 percentage points and likelihood to re-purchase by 14 percentage points.
“We’ve seen this service significantly improve our clients’ customer satisfaction and overall customer loyalty,” said Russ Cohn, Chairman and Founder of Brigade. “These kinds of benefits coupled with our service delivery model translate directly to their bottom line.” Brigade links advanced technology with the economic benefits of a global resource model to reduce customer support costs an average of 40% over traditional methods.
The new BrigadeMail Rapid Response offering uses a sophisticated knowledge management system to provide quick responses to virtually every customer support inquiry. Based on the KanaResponseTM platform, it offers pre-qualified responses from the knowledgebase. The advanced nature of the Brigade knowledgebase increases accuracy, and improves first time resolution, a key driver of customer service satisfaction.
“BrigadeMail Rapid Response lets customers avoid long hold times and tracks each customer inquiry, delivering better reporting and customer satisfaction management,” according to Bill Hewitt, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Brigade. “Customers prefer email response since it gives them the flexibility to send questions and receive answers on their schedule — and avoid being stuck on the phone. Our sophisticated tracking and reporting lets clients use this data to provide feedback to other parts of their organization to improve their products and services. This is a critical step in linking customer service and customer relationship management.”
SUNIL RAJANALA. HYDERABAD: Barely 20 months after announcing a $50 million commitment and buying stake in Brigade Corporation, a leading private equity investment firm, General Atlantic Partners, has sold its position in the outsourced customer support provider early this month.
In an interesting development, the management of Brigade Corporation led by its chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors, Sri Dasari, has bought out the entire stake of General Atlantic Partners held in Brigade Corporation for an undisclosed amount. Mr Dasari refused to divulge the amount paid to acquire the stake citing a non-disclosure agreement.
Before the transaction, General Atlantic had 98.6% stake in Brigade Corporation. The buyout also includes the acquisition of Brigade’s Indian operations in Chennai and Hyderabad. Brigade India has 450 employees, with 250 employees in Chennai and the balance in Hyderabad offering customer support for insurance, financial services and technical verticals.
In December 2001, General Atlantic Partners had announced its commitment of $50 million in Brigade Corporation. Prior to the announcement, the investment firm had put in $35 million in mid-2001. Following the announcement, General Atlantic invested $15 million out of the $50 million commitment.
The process of negotiating, which went for nearly three weeks, culminated on August 7, with Mr Dasari buying out the stake of General Atlantic Partners through a separate company IT Gurus, an IT consulting firm. The Chicago-based IT Gurus is a six-year old firm owned by Mr Dasari, who came on to Brigade’s Board during April 2002. Speaking to ET, Mr Dasari said the company would be hiring 250 resources over the next one year, while consolidating the operations through restructuring.
“The entire focus will now move from US centric to India centric. We will leverage on the India delivery centre model to focus entirely on business transaction services and drop the acquired, transformation and leveraged (ATL) business model,” he said.
As a fall out of the development, the US operations will be pruned from 28 employees to eight. The relationship management, sales and business development teams will be based in the US, while the rest of the functions spanning delivery, quality, HR, finance and accounts will be based out of India. Brigade is also moving out its headquarters from San Francisco to Chicago.
General Atlantic is a leading private equity investment firm focused exclusively on information technology, process outsourcing and communications investments. In India, the investment firm has interests in the BPO outfit of Patni and also Daksh.
