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Press Releases

14 March 2005 Poor planning to topple UK outsourcing deals

Contractor UK

...However, companies eyeing offshore locations are being urged to act strategically, as many end up with hidden costs by neglecting a serious business approach.

This translates into companies being surprised when they eventually pay more for an external service, than if it was provided in-house…

14 March 2005 TCS chief looks to next wave of offshore growth

Computer Business Review Online

Subramanian Ramadorai, the head of Tata Consultancy Services, believes that India's largest IT services company needs to become less reliant on its core applications management business if it is to achieve its goal of becoming a top 10 global player by 2010…

8 March 2005 Outsourcing IT, without losing your job

IT World.com

...The silver lining for IT managers is that there are opportunities for those who are prepared to embrace change and help their companies face the challenges of dealing with outsourcers - whether those external providers are in Bangalore or Boston…

7 March 2005 Bangalore appears on terror radar

CNET News

Bangalore is starting to appear on the radar of militant groups, Indian police warned this weekend, after uncovering a terrorist plan to target IT companies in the city widely regarded as the country's technology hub…

7 March 2005 Outsourcing more expensive than in-house service

The Register

...Despite the growth in outsourcing the overseas component of this will remain small. In 2005 less than two per cent of the call centre market is made up of offshore companies, rising to less than five per cent in 2007…

...Up to 2008, 60 per cent of firms that outsource sections of customer-facing processes will suffer customer defections and other hidden costs which will outweigh any possible savings…

7 March 2005 Cos. Considering Offshoring Must Weigh Risks and Rewards, Says Conference Board

Smartpros

Most experts see no end in sight to the offshoring trend, as growing numbers of companies seek the cost savings and competitive advantage offshoring promises. But with an estimated half of all offshoring operations destined to fall short of expectations, companies are under increasing pressure to calculate the risks -- not merely the rewards -- that offshoring entails…

...A wide variety of missteps can sink an offshoring effort, according to the report, from poor project management and inadequate communications (to internal as well as external stakeholders) to ill-conceived transition plans. While many companies tend to focus on security risks, a whole host of other risks, both at home and abroad, loom large: reputation/brand, social responsibility, geopolitical, human capital, regulatory and legal…

6 March 2005 AIG UPBEAT ABOUT PHILIPPINES' BPO POTENTIAL

Money Plans

...The quality of our people is a critical thing in outsourcing. As long as the Philippines continue its English programs then we are on track…

...The government has recognized the strategic importance of the IT sector to the Philippine economy and thus has directed schools to use English as a principal language of instruction…

...In addition, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has been advocating the IT Certification to boost the ICT workers professional achievement, provide better job opportunities and give foundational knowledge for more advanced ICT certifications. This is in recognition of the global demand for ICT workers and ensure a steady pool of Filipino IT professionals…

...Also, the low employment turnover rate in the country's IT sector augurs well for the Philippines in cornering a huge chunk of IT investments from multinational companies…

5 March 2005 India no more sought after

India Daily

India, the traditional hub for business process outsourcing, and the archetypal offshore call centre location, has been knocked off the top spot by South Africa...

...Though the Indian contact centre market has been praised for its graduate labour pool,it has now reached a point of relative maturity with escalating salaries and staff attrition rates…

...South Africa has recently emerged as a highly attractive option for UK and European companies that are keen to operate in a similar time-zone, with agents that share a similar cultural outlook…

4 March 2005 Gartner Says 80 Percent of Customer Service Outsourcing Cost Cutting Projects Destined to Fail

CRM Today

...companies that outsource successfully can achieve cost savings of 25 to 30 percent. However, Ms Bona warned that a poorly managed model can reduce the quality of the customer experience, dilute the brand values of the company and fail to deliver cost savings…

...risks related to knowledge management and retention, accentuated by the fact that customer service outsourcing providers have staff attrition rates of up to 70 to 80 percent, compared to an average of 19 to 25 percent in in-house contact centres…

4 March 2005 MOOS looks at offshoring

Uni

More than 60 union delegates from across Europe attended the first MOOS Conference, held at CFDT headquarters in Paris. MOOS - Making Offshore Outsourcing Sustainable - is a pan-European union project coordinated by UNI-Europa IBITS that aims to develop rules and guidance for stakeholders to make offshoring socially and economically sustainable…

4 March 2005 Outsourcing more expensive than in-house, says Gartner

Silicon.com

The research found that outsourced operations are 30 per cent more expensive than the top quartile of in-house customer service operations…

..."The outsourced service is often more efficient but then outsourcers need to make a profit too,"…

...Despite all this companies can still achieve cost savings of 25 to 30 per cent if they outsource successfully.

3 March 2005 Outsourcing backlash replaced with indifference

ZDNet

Last year, it seemed that a day wouldn't go by without some kind of study claiming that IT jobs where moving overseas in droves and that India, and then later, China, were destined to take over the world. But now it looks like outsourcing has shed much of its controversial aura while quietly reshaping the global marketplace…

3 March 2005 Review: Outsourcing contracts

MECS Law

...Amanda Lewis in her preface to the book describes it as a guide or "practical handbook rather than a legal textbook". I think this aptly describes the publication which is clearly written by a lawyer with a considerable amount of experience of outsourcing deals.

The book is divided up into 12 parts which, in effect, deal with the various stages that will need to be covered in outsourcing transactions, other than the strategic decision to outsource in the first place…

3 March 2005 Trade in Services the Way to Go

allAfrica.com

In Uganda positive steps are being taken with Uganda Export Promotion Board coordinating the design and formulation of the Services Industry Export Strategy. This strategy ought to focus on sector competitiveness issues such as infrastructure, human resources, quality and standards...

...can enable Uganda to brand and position herself in the in the region as a Centre for health expert management for communicable diseases and Higher Education and also business to business services, ICT, insurance and consultancies among others…

This can give Uganda an edge in vying for BPO especially that Uganda has well qualified graduates, an English language heritage from the British, relatively stable political atmosphere and an improved business environment…

1 March 2005 Conference slams SA telecoms

ITWeb

"Since I was here [in SA] a year ago, I have seen no improvement in telecommunications infrastructure. It is highly disappointing and it will weigh against the country if it tries to move into the offshore outsourcing arena."...

...The cost of connecting to the Internet is outrageous and the connections are not very good either. International business people who are expected to remain connected to their offices no matter where they are, are not able to do this effectively from SA…

Offshore Outsourcing Press Releases

1 March 2005 Cognizant Accelerates Investment in Retail Practice

Business Wire

Cognizant has several solutions for retailers. These include solutions in the area of Warehouse management, Price Optimization, Wireless POS, Customer Relationship Management, supply chain solutions using RFID, accelerated barcode compliance tool kit, and retail IT strategy consulting. Cognizant has developed a detailed framework for package evaluation to help in package selection for customers.

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