International conference on BPO held in Karachi

Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) Association of Call Center Operators (ACCO) co-organized an International Conference on Call Centers and BPO on the third day of ITCN Asia 2008. The ITCN Asia international exhibition and conference, Pakistan’s premier IT and Telecom event, was organized for three days from 11th – 13th August, 2008. A unique feature of this session was that it was web cast through Internet for a wider audience along with speakers being incorporated from various countries. Corporate executives, decision makers and experts from the BPO sector were invited to the session to exchange views and dialogue on the progress of the BPO sector in Pakistan. These experts were not only from Pakistan but were also from India, USA Canada and Hong Kong. Mr. Hifz-ur-Rehman, Federal Secretary IT and Telecom, was the honorable chief guest for the session.

The session commenced with participation from both local and foreign experts exchanging views on the BPO sector via Video Conference. Mr.Talib Baloch, MD, PSEB co-chaired the session. The significant attendees during the session were from All Pakistan Call Centre Association (ACCO), BPO & Call Centre of India, BAPI, Avasant & Astranet India. The session continued with a panel discussion that took place through teleconference during the session, where executives from Canada and the USA were invited to collaborate their views on the BPO sector. Further more, live presentations were made by industry leaders from ACCO, Cyber Internet Services (Pvt.) Ltd, Voxel Communications, Shaheen Foundation, PASHA, Astranet India, ZRG International and PTA.

Mr. Hifz-ur-Rehman, Federal Secretary of IT and Telecom, during his address, said that IT and BPO sector is growing at a phenomenal rate and the use of these technologies have actually impacted our daily life in a positive manner. He assured that on behalf of Government of Pakistan, we are open to suggestions and recommendation from the private sector. He added that these suggestions will be incorporated into the IT policies to further strengthen and support the growth of this sector.

Mr. Talib Baloch, MD, PSEB concluded the session with his speech. Mr. Baloch shared views on the progress of the BPO sector of Pakistan and expressed hope on the nascent sector taking its roots in the development of the country’s economy. In his address, Mr. Baloch also emphasized on the quality human resources required for this sector. He added that Pakistan Software Export Board has always been proactive to promote the BPO sector to its maximum potential through its programs. “I am looking at the promising future of Call Centers and BPO in Pakistan in the years to come”. He added.

Source: PSEB

 

Gartner forecasts 9.5 percent increase in IT services spending in 2008

Technology market research company Gartner forecasts an increase of IT spending on services, but cites real concerns with what makes up these numbers.

While the economy remains weak, IT services will continue to grow through the end of the year, according to new predictions released by Gartner analysts last week.

Gartner forecasts that worldwide spending on IT services will increase 9.5 percent this year, to $819 billion. The biggest share of this spending has been for core outsourcing of IT management and process management, making up 42 percent of the overall IT services market. Gartner analysts expect dollars to continue to flow into services categories, such as BPO (business-process outsourcing) for short-term cost-control measures at organizations trying to tighten their belts.

Cost reduction is also driving growth in the consulting and development and integration services market, Gartner says. Spending on development and integration services is expected to expand 10.1 percent, a slightly higher rate than overall services. Despite these growth figures, Gartner analyst Kathryn Hale warns that the numbers may paint an overly rosy picture of enterprise spending on IT services. The steady decline in the value of the U.S. dollar has actually buoyed the figures when expressed in dollars, she explains.

“Although we expect continued strong growth in IT services, there are two causes for concern,” Hale said in a statement on the report. “First, the rate of innovation in providing new service offerings is sporadic, at best, and strong return on investment stories is hard to come by. At the same time, innovation in delivery is not growing as fast as hoped: Industrialization is being adopted slowly.

“A second fundamental problem in IT services is the inability of providers to provide compelling value statements about the services they provide, whether in offerings or delivery." Both concerns tend to induce “a common buyer mentality that focuses on IT cost takeout and adopts a ‘lowest cost wins’ decision-making in its services and sourcing decisions,” which can ultimately hold up innovation and harm long-term ROI, Hale says.

Hale’s warnings came just a few days after Goldman Sachs released the gloomy results of a recent survey it conducted among 100 CIOs at multinational enterprises. The major thread running through all of the responses was that CIOs will focus on ways to cut costs not only in-house, but also through service providers. Of those interviewed, 42 percent reported that they were reluctant to spend money on third-party professional services. In addition, 48 percent said they plan on cutting contractor staff.

Source: Baseline mag
 

Knowledge Process Outsourcing represents the next generation of outsourcing services

KPO is likely to gain traction as business process outsourcing providers continue to build financial services-specific expertise.

Knowledge process outsourcing, or KPO in which service providers take over high-level tasks requiring professional judgment and industry experience looks to be the next frontier for the outsourcing industry. Many expect financial services companies to lead the way in KPO, and there's data to support such a view. For example, 45 percent of financial services executives who participated in a recent InformationWeek Analytics survey said they see the industry knowledge of their business process outsourcing (BPO) providers significantly improving. That's more than any other area of improvement.

Another reason is that there's a notable "strategic minority" of companies, according to the InformationWeek Analytics survey of 372 business technology professionals, including 110 in financial services, that see BPO as a road to competitive advantage, with goals such as transforming processes and increasing revenue, not merely cutting costs and meeting short-term goals. In financial services, that strategic group is about 15 percent (with another 24 percent responding that BPO is "more strategic than tactical").

Yet the top concerns about BPO revealed by the survey will only be magnified as financial services companies consider KPO, which might be used for capital market functions such as equity research in support of domestic analysts. It takes a high degree of trust to transfer custody of customer data, share tacit knowledge and work as a single team. Yet the No. 1 concern financial services companies have about BPO is data security, according to InformationWeek Analytics, a sibling property of Wall Street & Technology. No. 2 is the difficulty of managing BPO, followed by tension between employees and outsourcers, the difficulty in reversing deals, and reduced flexibility to change processes.

Where's the Outsourcing innovation?
There's also the question of whether outsourcers have the innovation capability needed for KPO. Just 10 percent of financial companies gave providers high marks for innovating process change. Only 16 percent of financial services respondents said they see improvement in vendors assigning quality people for their projects. Companies that aren't getting bright ideas and top people on everyday projects won't likely rush vendors up the knowledge stack.

All signs point to companies' use of BPO continuing to grow. The survey finds 28 percent of companies plan to increase BPO, about four times more than those planning to decrease the use of outsourcing. Yet cost cutting through additional outsourcing only goes so far. Given that outsourcing is mature with organizations having made significant investments in offshore BPO capabilities any increase in the amount of outsourcing has to press beyond self-imposed limits and barriers with which companies have become comfortable. Market pressures including troubles within the financial services industry may compel companies to push those limits into areas such as KPO.

Source: Sourcing mag