What is Outsourcing?
BPAP lowers employment growth target
by: Carlo Abadilla
Thursday, March 11, 2010 | Outsourcing News | Comments (0)
The Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP) has said that it will lower its employment target in favor of higher revenues. Having originally targeted an outsourcing employment count of 900,000 for 2011, BPAP has lowered it to 620,000 – diverting focus to its export revenue target of $12 billion, Malaya reported.
Insights into BPAP's 2011 outsourcing industry roadmap were made by BPAP president, Oscar Sanez, during the recent launch of the association's National Competency Test (BNCT).
"Employment is the secondary objective. The main objective is export revenues," Sanez said.
Sanez explained that the industry met its $7.2 billion revenue target last year despite generating only 436,000 workers – well below the 600,000 jobs they deemed was necessary for reaching the revenue target. The $12 billion revenue goal for 2011 was originally marked for 2010 but suffered a setback due to the global financial crisis. Last year's outsourcing revenues registered a 20% growth from the previous year.
Source:
http://www.malaya.com.ph
BPO executives voice concern over upcoming elections
by: Carlo Abadilla
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 | Outsourcing Research / Trends | Comments (0)
An industry survey conducted by TeamAsia for Outsource2Philippines and the Business Process Outsourcing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P) indicates that BPO executives believe credible elections are a critical factor that can shape investors' perception of the country, Manila Bulletin said.
Responding to the statement: “In terms of investor and client perception of the Philippines, it is important that the national election is conducted in a peaceful, credible, and transparent matter”, 90% of executives responded “very significantly” (49%), “significantly” (31%), or “somewhat significantly” (13%), and the remaining six percent responded “somewhat” (4%) or “not at all” (2%).
Many issues currently loom over the upcoming presidential elections as an automated voting process has raised concerns regarding a lack of audit trail, possible hacker intrusion, and reliability of data transmission.
The full results of the survey will reportedly be presented at a CEO Breakfast briefing two weeks before the election. The briefing will gather outsourcing executives and possibly representatives of presidential candidates.
Source:
http://www.mb.com.ph
BPAP Launches National Competency Test
by: Karen Cayamanda
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 | Outsourcing News | Comments (0)
The Business Processing Association of the Philippines launched the BPAP National Competency Test (BNCT) for college students and applicants who wish to enter the BPO workforce.
The BNCT is designed to determine the applicant's proficiency in English, verbal and numerical skills, service orientation, computer literacy, and perceptual speed and accuracy. Outsourcing companies use different ways to gauge applicants so there will be no passing grade.
"The test will streamline the recruitment process of the industry. With the test, companies can now pre-select applicants who do well on the competencies they value and no longer have to do initial testing on so many applicants," said BPAP CEO Oscar Sañez.
The initial rollout of the test will be on April 12. It will be available at BPAP partner universities such as Jose Rizal University, Far Eastern University, Centro Escolar University, and University of Makati, as well as accredited testing centers. Test results will be stored and can be accessed at a BPAP-hosted site.
Source:
http://www.bworldonline.com
Women Working in Public Sector more Satisfied than those in BPO
by: Karen Cayamanda
Monday, March 08, 2010 | Outsourcing News | Comments (0)
Results of the study conducted by the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) show that women who work in public sector undertakings (PSUs) are more satisfied than those who are engaged in business process outsourcing (BPO) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) sectors. This is due to the healthy working environment, good annual income, convenient working hours, and job security being offered by the public sector.
"It is found that women employed in this particular sector feel lack of personal growth and development since they perceive less room in the decision-making process and less flexibility in working hours, besides pressures to perform and deliver targets," said Assocham President Swati Piramal.
Respondents of the said study work in different areas such as banking, power, finance, petroleum, and consultancy across 11 states.
Source:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Execs Take Part in 2010 Outsourcing World Summit
by: Karen Cayamanda
Saturday, March 06, 2010 | Outsourcing Events | Comments (0)
The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) brought together more than 550 outsourcing executives from different organizations around the world in the recently concluded 2010 Outsourcing World Summit held in Florida.
“This year’s Summit was particularly timely and relevant to organizations as the economy shows signs of rebounding,” said IAOP Chairman Michael Corbett. “Companies learned how outsourcing can help create change, enable growth and add value to their organizations.”
Joshua R.Jewett, senior vice president of Information Technology and procurement, and chief information officer, Family Dollar Stores, Inc.; Dmitry A. Loschinin, president and chief executive officer, Luxoft; and the late Dewang Mehta, past president, NASSCOM® were inducted into IAOP's Outsourcing Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson’s Julia Santos and commercial real estate executive Rich Etzkorn were recognized as “Members of the Year” at the Summit Awards Luncheon held last Feb. 16.
IAOP's official publication “Globalization Today” was also launched during the event. This aims to tap insights of individuals from around the world and create “the best and largest informational resource on outsourcing”.
Source:
http://www.outsourcingprofessional.org
RP BPO gets bandwidth expansion boost
by: Carlo Abadilla
Friday, March 05, 2010 | Outsourcing News | Comments (0)
The Philippine's largest telecom provider, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) announced the completion of a digital fiber optic network (DFON) expansion project worth P600 million. As a result of the project, six network loops across the nation will get an additional 320 gigabytes per second (Gbps) and increase the company's DFON operating capacity to over 1,000 Gbps, Business Mirror said.
PLDT had previously completed a third fiber optic cable leg to Baguio. They expect the completion of a third 1,220-kilometer line connecting Lucena and Cebu to Bicol, Masbate, Panay and Negros by the middle of the year.
“These projects will spur growth in local economies by making these locations more attractive investment areas, especially for business process outsourcing (BPO) locators. Moreover, this will expand broadband coverage so that more Filipinos, including those in rural areas, can connect to the world through the Internet,” said PLDT president, Napoleon Nazareno.
PLDT is reportedly also working to install loops within loops to enhance network resiliency to protect existing businesses and potentially open new IT-enabled revenue sources in the outsourcing industry
Source:
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph
Cebu City Ranked as Top Asian Outsourcing City
by: Karen Cayamanda
Thursday, March 04, 2010 | Outsourcing News | Comments (0)
For the second time, global outsourcing advisory firm Tholons ranked Cebu City as the no. 1 outsourcing city in Asia. This is based on the quality of workforce and infrastructure, as well as business growth, risk profile, cost of living, and quality of life. Pasig City, Quezon City, and Mandaluyong City were also included in the list of top 18 Asian outsourcing cities.
Shanghai and Beijing in China ranked second and third respectively, followed by Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam and Krakow, Poland.
Cebu produces many graduates from its 10 universities and colleges. However, the low hiring rate of applicants and turnover after being employed for one or two years hinder the province from meeting the BPO demand. This leads BPO recruiters to look for qualified talents in nearby provinces.
When it comes to global rankings, Metro Manila got the fourth spot. The top three global outsourcing sites are Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai.
Source:
http://goodnewspilipinas.com
Swedish outsourcing doubles
by: Carlo Abadilla
Wednesday, March 03, 2010 | Outsourcing Research / Trends | Comments (0)
Data from PAC's Worldwide Deal Tracker revealed that Swedish IT outsourcing contracts reached 46% in 2009 – double the 23% recorded the previous year, Waters News reported. The data covered all publicly disclosed IT service deals worldwide worth at least $1.35 million.
According to PAC London consultant, Dominic Trott, Swedish firms are becoming increasingly aware of the effectiveness of outsourcing non-core activities to offshore locations:
"The use of global delivery for IT outsourcing contracts in Sweden had been limited up until 2008, with challenges such as language difficulties and proximity to the customer preventing wider take-up," he said.
"However, the global economic crisis proved to be a significant disruptive factor for companies in Sweden, and the growing requirement for cost reductions meant that the issue was re-visited. The benefits available through global delivery, such as 24/7 support, labor arbitrage reductions and wider skill sets, were viewed as means by which efficiencies could be achieved."
The majority of outsourcing processes involved applications outsourcing - accounting for 65% of Swedish IT outsourcing contracts signed in the last two years.
Source:
http://www.watersnews.com
Global FAO Expenses to Increase by 20% this Year
by: Karen Cayamanda
Tuesday, March 02, 2010 | Outsourcing News | Comments (0)
In the Everest Research Institute report, it was predicted that $3.7bn will be spent on finance and accounting outsourcing (FAO) this year. This is a 20 percent increase year-on-year in 2010.
According to the report, "2010 promises to be a stronger year for FAO than 2009. There is a significant pent-up demand in financial services, which could be a key growth driver in 2010.” The report added that the 20 percent increase in global expenditure is a sign that the period of low activity in FAO is now over.
In 2009, FAO had seen a slow growth in total annual value of contracts - only 11 percent compared to 20 percent annual increase from 2006 to 2008. Also, there were only 65 new FAO contracts that were signed in 2009, compared to 82 in 2008.
FAO involves outsourcing capital budget and internal audit, processing of payroll, and general accounting.
Source:
http://www.silicon.com
MicroSourcing inks new contract with PLDT
by: Carlo Abadilla
Monday, March 01, 2010 | Company News | Comments (0)
MicroSourcing held a contract signing event with PLDT Business Solutions for an upgrade of its international data connectivity requirement.
The signing signifies a step in the evolution of the company, having started as an offshore delivery center in the Philippines in 2004. MicroSourcing has since expanded its services to include Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), as well as Virtual/Hybrid Captive services – making significant infrastructure improvements along the way.
The signing was attended by PLDT AVP and Head of Corporate Relationship Business Precy Katigbak, PLDT VP and Head of Corporate Relationship Management Jovy Hernandez, MicroSourcing Chief Executive Officer Philip Kooijman, MicroSourcing IT Manager Stanley Tan-Cardoso, and, PLDT Relationship Manager, Jun Coronel.
"PLDT has been our telecom provider ever since the days we had a small office with a simple DSL connection and a single telephone line. Now that our company has grown substantially, it is good to see that PLDT has reliable products and services that can support our current and future growth," commented MicroSourcing CEO, Philip Kooijman.
MicroSourcing's partnership with PLDT utilizes I-Gate – providing fully managed and fully redundant global Internet connectivity. The connectivity solution delivers a high degree of reliability, resiliency and scalability to meet customer requirements – a critical factor amid growing data connectivity requirements in the outsourcing/offshoring industry.
