For years, Sapient, the US-based outsourcing giant, was known as the pioneer of the fixed price/ fixed time system FP/ FT. That is, it delivered projects to clients within a preset timeframe and at a predetermined cost, irrespective of whether the project ended up actually costing more to realise. Now, the company has moved away from this model. It has also launched a new service, which it believes could make up nearly half its operations. Alan Wexler is senior vice-president for Sapient, recently visited India, and along with Soumya Banerjee, managing director for Sapient, India, spoke with BW's Pierre Fitter about the company's moves.

BW: Give us some background on Sapient to help us understand your recent moves
SAPIENT: Sapient is a consulting company that focuses on marketing, business and technology. We are regarded as the pioneers of the fixed time/ fixed cost project. In fact, both Harvard and Yale have published case studies about us. We'd focus on how a client's business was evolving and then add value to it, using our expertise. For example, we helped create a tool for the Times in London, which would help its editors collaborate, irrespective of their location.

We have 5,000 people globally, about 3,000 of whom are in India, mostly in Delhi and Bangalore. Our Indian team focuses mostly on technology, programming and our creative business.

BW: Why did you move away from the Fixed Price/ Fixed time model of delivering projects?
Our focus has always been business results. The value of what clients have been requesting from us has increased over time. We've found that we now have nearly a 90 per cent rate of repeat customers. So we already have projects with them - they trust us. Initially, we did one-off projects with each of these clients, but the relationship and our clients' businesses have evolved. So now, its not so much a project, but a program.

Also, clients are now more concerned about the business side of our work, rather than the technology. This is because technology is getting standardised, so it is no longer the primary concern of clients.