IT/ITeS Certification Presentation at World Bank SSLEV Mumbai, 9 th February,2008

1. IT/ITeS Certification Presentation at World Bank SSLEV Mumbai, 9th February,2008

2. About us India’s Largest Skills Assessment Company Investee Company of Manipal Education Group • Over 3 Million candidates tested | Assessing 125,000 candidates/month • 350+ Clients across IT, BPO, Engineering, Banking, Healthcare, etc. • Tests in over 300 areas | Item bank of 75,000+ questions • Web based Testing Engine – OnTrac • MeritTrac Assessment Zones : 16 cities, 1300 terminals • 400+ Employees | 1000+ MeritTrac Certified Test Administrators • Exclusive Global Assessment Partners to NASSCOM for NAC-Tech & NAC-BPO • Assessment Partner to Govt. of Gujarat for Gujarat Knowledge Society • Online Tests delivered in Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Mauritius & Philippines • Winner of the NASSCOM Innovation Award 2007 for Online Testing

4. Partial List of BPO Customers

5. Integrated Talent Engagement Model Alignment Management Creation Acquisition Delivery & Administration School/College Examinations Employability Enhancements Right-fit Recruitment Talent Management Sourcing Intelligence Talent Assessments & Methodologies Recruitment Process Management incl. Test Admin TracSkills: Individual Certifications Education Assessments Talent Pool Analytics & Intelligence Validated Suite of Tests

6. Talent Pool Reports

7. The Demand Side: • Exponential growth across all sectors – including IT & BPO • Future growth is tightly linked to availability of quality manpower • The “War for Talent” – fight for the right profile • Low conversion rates – due to lower input quality and higher customer expectations • Increasing processing loads & pressure to lower costs

8. The Supply Side: • A large Graduate Population spread across Tier 1,2 & 3 cities • Low career orientation & lack of awareness of industry • Myths & misconceptions – esp. about the emerging industry • No structured feedback on skillsets to students to help bridge gaps • Diverging industry-academia requirements • Faculty!!

9. IT Manpower gap (2009) BPO Manpower gap (2009) Number (000s) Number (000s) Shortfall: Shortfall: 262 235 - Source: Institute of Applied Manpower Research. NSSO. NASSCOM. K PMG. 2003. ITeS market demand (current IT services exports 460 1,416 productivity) Industry productivity Domestic IT services 520 enhancement (product mix, 413 structural changes) Products and Technology 140 services Total demand (2009) 1,003 Total demand (2009) 1,120 Current pool 160 Current pool 360 Supply expected (net of attrition 581 Supply expected based on at current levels) 525 current trends Total supply (2009) 741 Total supply (2009) 885 Shortfall in Manpower Supply…

10. D O M A I N 12 100 candidates 10 Interviews Offers Joining Conversion Funnel: Engg Skills 25 (lower threshold) 18 (Technology/Domain Knowledge) ABI L I T I E S

11. C O M M N S K I L L S A B I L I T I E S 6 100 candidates 4 Interviews Offers Joining Conversion Funnel: Comm. Skills 15 (lower, trainable scale) 9 (various abilities & skills parameters)

12. Some Number Crunching… Total number of additions in 2007 BPO Industry: ~ 100,000 agents IT Industry : ~ 125,000 Average Conversions Rates (from Eligible Applicant -> Offer) BPO- Voice-based process : 4-8% IT – Freshers/0-1 years : 10-15% Number of Applicants Required/Annum: BPO Industry : > 2.0 Million IT Industry : > 1.25 Million

13. The State of the Talent Pool : BPO Voice Dec Dec

14. Current Challenges • Selecting the “Right” people • Optimized Assessment tool – proven validity & reliability • Reaching out to the talent pool • On-demand, multi-location presence • Standardizing processes across locations • Predictable quality of hires, reduce cost of bad hire • Improving efficiencies in recruitment processes • Focus on core, build the brand & SLA the rest! • Reaching the next level in Talent Engagement • Continuous Assessments to funnel people into areas of interest

15. The Challenge of Employability! • A Report by NASSCOM-KPMG estimates a short-fall of 500,000 “employable” graduates for the jobs that the IT & the BPO industry will create by 2009 • Several Talent Pool reports, including those by MeritTrac & McKinsey indicates that only 10-25% of graduates in India are “employable” • Awareness of industry requirements, structured feedback on strengths & weaknesses and connecting employable talent to the Industry are some of the key aspects of enhancing employability • Scientific & Structured feedback aids in designing modular training programs • The need for a common definition of skills and create a standardized assessment & index to measure employability

16. Students Ability to identify their strengths and areas of improvement and self-assess training needs A common assessment endorsed by multiple companies, which obviates the need for candidates to appear for multiple tests for the same skill sets. An opportunity to get certified at the national level and get noticed by all endorsing companies Colleges/Universities Helps bridge the gap between academia and industry expectations Provides specific insights for creation of training programs to make students “industry ready” Helps in reaching out to a larger set of companies, beyond the normal placement network Benefits of Employability Certifications The Industry • Creation of a national standard for assessment & recruitment of entry level talent • Significant cost savings on sourcing & assessment costs • Ease of benchmarking for individual processes with industry standards • Ability to create visibility and reach out to a larger audience

17. Partnership with NASSCOM NAC-Tech Exclusive Assessment Partner: MeritTrac

18. Launched in February 2008 Conceived as an industry standard assessment and certification program To ensure the transformation of a “trainable” workforce into an “employable” workforce To create a robust and continuous pipeline of talent for the IT& Engineering Industry. Two forms of NAC-Tech: NAC-Tech Diagnostic: aimed at II/III year Students, mainly for feedback and gap identification. Unproctored, Online, Structured Feedback only on Part A NAC-Tech Certification: at III/Final Year Students for submission of scores to endorsing companies. Proctored, Online, Structured Feedback & Certification based on both Part A & Part B NAC-Tech will identify the level of talent which is available across India, especially in Tier II and Tier III cities & provide feedback on specific areas to enhance employability NAC-Tech for Engineering Industry

19. NAC-Tech: Initiative by NASSCOM

20. NAC-Tech Advisory Council • The NAC Tech Assessment Framework has been designed by NAC-Tech Advisory Council – with representatives from: • TCS • COGNIZANT • INFOSYS • SATYAM • HCL • PATNI • ACCENTURE • MINDTREE • WIPRO • IBM

21. NAC Tech Assessment Framework Part B – Choice of one of the following Tests Part A- Mandatory Tests

22. IT Services: AIG Systems, Convergys, Cognizant, Hexaware ,HSBC Software, Impiger, Logica, Microland, Mphasis, Patni, Polaris, Sasken, Silverline Technologies, Sierra Atlantic, Sundaram Infotech, SunGard, UBS, Tanla Solutions, TESCO, Value Source Technologies IT Products: Core Objects, Delphi, Tata Elxsi Core Engineering: APC(Schneider Electric), Areva, Cable & Wireless, Cambridge Solutions, CCI Valve, Harita TVS, Nokia Siemens Networks, Sundaram Fastners, Weir Minerals Active Endorsers

23. Program Snapshot Objective • 15,000+ candidates have received NAC-Tech certification since Feb 2008 • 159 colleges across 61 towns and cities locations covered • Program Success Parameters: • -1 student out of every 9, who has appeared for the test gets short-listed • -1 student out of every 3 interviewed gets an offer (33% met-to-offer) • Program has received interest from MHRD: Faculty Development Programs and Finishing school Programs are being linked to NAC-Tech • TARGET: 1000 colleges and 1,00,000 engineering graduates by in 2009

24. Summary of Inferences NAC-Tech scores are the most important factors distinguishing offered candidates Academic scores by themselves are very feeble differentiators of employable talent NAC-Tech improves throughput by effectively capturing parameters that influence hiring Difference in average score of Offered vs Non-Offered candidates Academic Scores

25. Summary of Inferences 2. Written English Test & Analytical Ability are the best differentiators amongst NAC-Tech Scores

26. NAC by NASSCOM Assessment Vendor: MeritTrac

27. The Model: NAC for the BPO Aspirants

28. NAC Assessment Framework Our Advisory Board

29. NAC BPO was launched in mid-2006 Since its launch, over 25,000+ Graduates have been assessed in various States MeritTrac has delivered NAC in the following states in India, for NASSCOM: Rajasthan 7 North-East States West Bengal Currently being rolled out in Gujarat & Orissa Total Tested Candidates: 19,000+ NAC & MeritTrac

30. Learnings • Talent is wide-spread and not just restricted to only to Tier I Colleges and to Metros • Exposure to industry (requirements, thinking) is very important • Feedback mechanism is critical to get the focus on gaps • Create Success Stories in Tier II colleges and smaller towns • Colleges and Universities will need to allocate sufficient resources for post-assessment training to help students improve their employability • Training on industry readiness needs to be customized/modularized at individual student/group level, rather than the current “one size fits all” approach • Need to move away from a “Quality Control” mode into “Quality Assurance” mode

31. The Principles • Everyone is “employable” • Play to the strengths • Shortest-distance to employability

32. The Model for Talent Pool Development PRE-TRAINING ASSESSMENTS POST TRAINING ASSESSMENTS SKILLS TRAINING Trainable Students Post-Training Assessment & Certification Diagnostic Tests Training Program Define Objective & criterion measure Define Content Design methods and training material Feedback of Performance and curriculum framework design Employable Students Endorsing Partners Mid-course Assessments

33. Proposed Model Phase I: Awareness & Benchmarking • Initiate a career awareness campaign across colleges in the Country • Identify customization requirements for the test framework and sample groups within existing ITO/BPO companies • Roll out a Nation-wide Assessments to measure skills – for benchmarking

34. Proposed Model Phase II: Training Programs • Initiate specific training programs to bridge gaps and up-skill candidates • Assess skills on a regular basis and classify people into “Recruit-able” & “Trainable” pools • Post-Training Assessments to ensure quality of output from Training • Showcase the talent pool in the Country and provide this to Corporates to recruit

35. Proposed Model Phase III : Curriculum & Certifications • Basic Skills Training programs at the College level • Focussed training programs to cater to each segment of the outsourcing services spectrum • Segment- specific certification programs to continuously funnel candidates into interest areas

36. Thank Youmadan@merittrac.com