Executive Changes: Firstsource Announces North American Leadership Team

MUMBAI, INDIA and NEW YORK -- Firstsource Solutions, a global provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) services, today announced the appointment of a North American leadership team for its three industry verticals – healthcare; banking, financial services & insurance (BFSI) and; telecommunications and media.  Firstsource named Michael Shea as CEO of North America and global head of healthcare and Matthew Vallance as CEO of Europe and global head of BFSI and telecommunications & media.  With U.S. revenues of $250 million and 3,000 US-based employees, these appointments reflects Firstsource’s focus on growth and delivery in the U.S. market.  

Through the direction of Shea and Vallance, Firstsource will strengthen the breadth and depth of its industry offerings and its distinctive “rightshoring” model, which provides a blend of global and local customized BPO solutions.  This approach allows U.S. businesses to be more competitive by providing operational flexibility, scalability, process efficiency and specialized customer service management.  

“Our leadership and industry knowledge will be critical assets as we support companies’ efforts to streamline their business processes.  Having a specialist service provider running elements of operations allows companies to focus on their core businesses,” said Ananda Mukerji, Managing Director and CEO, Firstsource.  “U.S. companies are facing a completely new set of rules. The ability to reduce costs and increase productivity in non-core areas through rightshoring has gone from being an option to an absolute imperative.”

Firstsource has delivered customized business process management services to U.S. companies since 2001 and established its onshore U.S. operations in 2004 with 300 employees.  Today, Firstsource has 3,000 U.S. employees and a significant infrastructure and operations base with major operations centers in the U.S., including Louisville, KY; Belleville, IL; Columbus, OH; Amherst, NY; Colorado Springs, CO; Salt Lake, UT; Kingston, NY; and Miami, FL.

Healthcare

Firstsource’s healthcare business encompasses BPO services to payors (insurance companies) and providers (hospitals). As head of healthcare, Michael Shea will be responsible for the business strategy for both lines of business. Tom Watters will be COO, global healthcare solutions and Joseph Fazzini will be president, business development and provider services. Firstsource’s clients in the U.S. healthcare industry include Fortune 100 health insurers and over 800 hospitals.

Michael Shea commented: “Amid healthcare reform and budget uncertainty in Washington, our goal remains helping organizations streamline operations and cut administrative costs so they can focus on what really matters --  serving their patients.”

Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI)

Matthew Vallance, along with Sanjeev Sinha, senior vice president, will lead Firstsource’s U.S. delivery of an extensive range of back-office, customer management and collections services for the BFSI industry spanning retail banking, mortgage, bank cards, insurance and custody.  Firstsource’s clients in the BFSI industry include several U.S. money centers and regional banks, as well as some of the largest credit card companies in the U.S.   

Telecommunications & Media

Matthew Vallance, along with Santanu Nandi, executive vice president, will lead Firstsource’s U.S. delivery of services to telecommunications and media companies. Firstsource partners with wire-line, wireless, DTH and broadband companies for retail and enterprise customers.  Firstsource’s clients include several of the world’s largest telecommunications and media companies.

“As companies navigate the new realities, our ability to increase operational efficiency, decrease costs, and help provide customer management through consolidation and business as usual will help our clients remain competitive in today’s environment,” said Matthew Vallance.

About Firstsource
Firstsource is a leading global BPO (business process outsourcing) service provider headquartered in India. Firstsource provides customized business process management to global leaders in the Banking & Financial Services, Telecom & Media and Healthcare sectors. Its clients include Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies. Firstsource has a global delivery model with operations in India, U.S., UK, Argentina and Philippines. (www.firstsource.com).