Outsourcing in the Philippines Blog with PI Outsource
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The Manila Muse: Musings on Recent "Outsourcing to the Philippines" Press Coverage in the WSJ. February 24, 2007  On Thursday the Asian Journal posted an editorial on our favorite subject ‹ outsourcing to the Philippines. Here's my take. The article, entitled Calling (From) Manila by Arie Y. Lewin and Vinay Couto, appeared in the Editorial section in Thursday's Asian Wall Street Journal. As they see it, the Philippines is a case study for outsourcing growth relatively unfulfilled. There is no doubt they do have a point, yet I suspect that some of the spectacular growth in the Philippines remains undocumented and misunderstood back home in North America. I'm glad to see their observations of the benefits of locating here. The 90% growth rate last year (valued at $1.7 billion) is fueled by: - an affinity with North American culture engendered by 50 years of U.S. colonial involvement - early and efficient telecommunications deregulation (thank you President Ramos) - high literacy rates, 93% in the Philippines vs. 60% in India - low average attrition rates, 40% vs. 60% in India These advances are notably confined to the voice or teleservices sector. One notable exception is SPi's growth under the keen leadership of Ernest Cu, which should be the model for BPO development here in the Philippines. And this is where I begin to diverge. Messrs Lewin and Couto correctly indicate the sheer volume of college graduates (400,000 in the Philippines and 2 million in India and China each) places the RP in a very secondary position to each of these population giants/emerging economic powerhouses. Leaving aside the relative quality of those graduates for the moment, the heart of the issue is that the Philippines does not really need to win in the same way those countries with newly formed middle-classes; geographic, cultural, and economic dissimilitude; and newly emergent capitalist structures must. The issue of talent availability is compounded in their view by the lack of requisite enterprise operations to incubate management skilled at running large facilities. There is some truth to broader question of management talent, but for the reason furnished later in their discussion: the Filipino Diaspora. The real culprit is the loss of talent to attractive and more lucrative offshore work (offshore in the sense of the Arab Emirates, North America, Europe, and elsewhere in Asia). The other culprit is the BPO industry's approach to professional development, which is governed by an inherently pyramidal structure wherein ascension is arduous and lengthy. Additional barriers to BPO growth are identified in the form of scale (again). Due to a small population relative to China and India, Multinational investment in things like "manufacturing, sales, and marketing" for domestic markets retard visibility and growth for offshore markets. Stability and corruption and bureaucracy are further impediments to an explosion of our bigger Asian brothers. The prescription offered is pretty familiar to those embedded in the BPO scene here in the Philippines: - stem brain-drain due to departure of skilled talent - more incentives for foreign business - create a NASSCOM-like entity to speak to with a clear and unified voice to our overseas markets Lastly, the article leaves us with the possibility that the Philippines could emerge as an "offshoring center in its own right." There is no doubt that we as an industry will need to become more effective at retaining talent that finds a more attractive environment outside of the Philippines. This is a complex issue that meshes with aspects of national culture, aspiration, and governmental failure as much as it is a function of better incentive packages and corporate culture. The current set of incentives granted under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority are strong enough to justify moving operations to the RP (although someone really ought to do something about their website and the appalling instant coffee served at meetings). There are aspects of business that are challenging for an enterprise to contend with ranging from the payroll taxes and the general irritation of bureaucratic interaction, but these are universal issues in my estimation like taxes and governments anywhere. While a unified voice for the BPO industry here would be a welcome respite form the various entities embroiled in internecine struggles to assume industry leadership, I'm convinced a NASSCOM entity would be impossible here at this late stage. In the meantime outfits like Convergys have over 5,000 agents, People Support announced plans to build a 25 story building for expansion, and Teletech is growing like a demon with 10,000 seats in play or under development. Article Courtesy of the Manila Muse. Musings on Social Networks From the Manila Muse! February 22, 2007
Why am I interested in this well-trod topic? Because I'm keen to use some of these tools in the interest of attracting and educating call center agents ‹ I'm a big advocate of self-service solutions as the talent market becomes increasingly competitive. Moreover, I believe there are contextual factors that make Web 2.0 a part of life in the Philippines like few places in the world ‹ of the top fifteen popular sites in the Philippines as rated by Alexa. Eight of those site fall under the Web 2.0 moniker. Social networks, cyber or not, are a fundamental part of life here as anyone who spent time in country will attest. In an excellent survey, A Short History of South East Asia, edited by Peter Church and published under the auspices of the Asean Focus Group; an anonymous Filipino business man is quoted observing, "We have no institutional loyalty, only personal loyalty." In the context of the Philippines this bias toward personal relationships is extended to encompass online relationships. Like the Philippines' "natural" language advantage in call center services and BPO delivery, the capability to deliver content within what is becoming understood as the Web 2.0 is of significant interest to potential BPO operations in the web marketing arena. From another angle, there is a great deal to be gained by developing social networks in the pervasive recruiting project. A blog that comments on the life of an agent just starting out, for example, might be a great way to simultaneously elaborate upon and personalize the experience of the people coming to work at our call center. Perhaps a networking site that lets agents network their friends into position for evaluation and screening would be worthwhile since staff referrals provide the balance of quality agents for any center. More broadly, this trend opens up opportunities for enterprising types (read BPOpreneurs) to develop services and support functions riding existing 2.0 services or using the underlying tools such as Ruby on Rails. If the world has moved to a relentlessly networked world of interactions fostered through shared interest, nationality, desire, or profession; then those that can fluently navigate (as a majority in the Philippines can) these spaces are the site of new services like high-trust marketing through blogging and social seeding much as many organizations are using YouTube to accomplish. Thanks to the Manila Muse for this Article. Find a New Call Center In Manila - Core Alliance Interactive Solutions Inc. Mandaluyong City February 22, 2007 |
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Computerworld EXECUTIVE BRIEFINGS |
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Organized by Media G8way Corp. Managed by Computerworld Concept The Computerworld Philippines Executive Briefings are either whole-day or half-day seminar series for IT and business executives. Topics Topics IT Disaster Recovery: PREPARING FOR A DISASTER Description This seminar aims to educate business and IT executives on the importance of IT disaster recovery in business continuity planning. Industry experts will offer advice on building, testing, and deploying disaster recovery plans based on best business practices that are enabled by technology innovations. Date Time Venue Renaissance Makati City Hotel (tentative) Topics Business Process Outsourcing (BPO): BEST PRACTICES & TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION Description This whole-day conference will present best practices on business process outsource service provisioning as well as on technology innovations that support these business practices. Case studies will also be presented by established BPO players. Foreign BPO experts and local government officials will be invited to deliver the keynote addresses during the conference. Date Time Venue Ballroom, InterContinental Topics Technologies for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): MANAGING GROWTH Description A repeat of Computerworld’s successful “Tech for SMEs Executive Briefings,” this year’s seminar aims to help small and medium businesses manage and sustain their growth with the help of IT software and hardware systems built especially for SMEs Date Time Venue Ballroom, InterContinental Topics IT Security: PROTECTING YOUR INFORMATION Description A computer security attack can damage data integrity, confidentiality or availability. This seminar, aims to help organizations understand the potential costs of a breakdown as a result of a break-in. Speakers will discuss common threats and vulnerabilities and present tools and resources to protect valuable information and build fortified systems. Date Time Venue Topics MANAGING MOBILITY Description The mobility of workers in order to boost competitiveness is increasingly becoming an important part of an organization’s business strategy. The aim of the mobile enterprise seminar is to help organizations lay out a strategy for mobility which includes the infrastructure to support mobility, standard gadgets or devices that will be used by the mobile workers, and policies. Date Time Venue Attendance Cost PhP1,000.00 per person / briefing seminar Estimate Number of Attendees 100 per session Profile of Attendees Vice Presidents Directors Managers CIO / CTO Consultants Corporate Communications Customer Care Designing Distribution Engineering Finance / Accounting Human Resource Information Technology International Operations Management Services Marketing / Advertising Operations Planning, Corporate Plant / Production Procurement / Purchasing Public / External Relations Repair / Maintenance Research & Development Sales Supply Chain Technical Management Training / Human Resources Web Site Development / Management / Network Admin / Other Computer Operations
Computer/IT – Software Developer Computer/IT – Retailer / Reseller Construction / Real Estate Consumer Goods Education / Technical Institutions Electronics Energy / Mining Engineering Environment Finance/ Banking / Insurance Government / Military / Public Service Hospitality / Recreation / Entertainment ISP / On-line Services / Hosting Logistics / Storage Manufacturing Media / Publishing Medical / Health Services Pharmaceuticals Retail Services Small and Medium Business Telecommunications Transportation Travel / Tourism Utilities Objectives 1. The executive briefings aim to present technology innovations that enable best practices. 2. The executive briefings aim to educate top management on how technology can improve efficiency, productivity, and profitability. REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS Procedure PRE-REGISTRATION
2. e-mail michael_events@mediag8way.com for more information. WALK-IN REGISTRATION 1. Walk-in registrants will only be accepted if seats are still available. 2. Accomplish the Computerworld Philippine Executive Briefing Pre-Qualification Form and pay the participation fee on site. Payment All payments, except for those of walk-ins, are due prior to the Executive Briefing date. 1. To arrange for check pick-ups, please call Mr. Michael C. Blancas at Tel: +63 2 812-8401 local 165. 2. You may visit our office to make the payment at: Media G8way Corp. 3rd Floor, Eurovilla II Building, Please look for Mr. Michael C. Blancas. All checks should be made payable to Media G8way Corp. Discount 10% discount if your company sends three (3) or more participants to the Executive Briefing. Confirmation Seats are confirmed upon receipt of full payment. Cancellation Cancellations are not allowed. In lieu of cancellation the organizers will accept substitutions. Information Media G8way Corp. 3rd Floor, Eurovilla II Building 118 Tel No (++63-2) 812-8401 to 03 Fax No (++63-2) 894-2487 Technical Content Ms. Melba Jean Valdez-Bernad Sponsorship Ms. Tayin Sarmiento Logistics Mr. Michael C. Blancas local 165 |
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Management Tips, Tricks and Advice from the Free Management Library
February 14, 2007
Free Management Library
Breaking Call Center Outsourcing News: PI Outsource adds New Call Center Seats in Makati.
February 11, 2007
Citing new growth in the customer service, outsourced assistant and appointment setting outsourcing niche, PI Outsource has added ten contact center seats for inbound call and contact center operations. Ask us how you can use our seats and advanced reliable technology to power your call or contact center in the Philippines.
PI Outsource offers the best in connectivity and facilities management. Our core competence lies in providing connectivity services and software solutions to meet your Philippines outsourcing needs as well has providing the HR management experience needed to run your call center profitably. Our telecom network and infrastructure, which uses several major high-capacity fiber optic cable systems between the United States and the Philippines, is engineered to have reliable and redundant connectivity between our US and Philippine offices. The facilities in Los Angeles and California provide the capability to have multiple routes for long distance calls, and to manage toll-free and local access number call routing to the Manila site. Our call center is among the most reliable and fully-redundant call centers in the Philippines today.
PI Outsource contact centers have state-of–the-art facilities that enable us to support our clients' operations via several options: voice, e-mail, instant message, chat, web-based application support, and video. PI Outsource combines a reliable system of Customer Relations Management, Workforce Management, and Quality Assurance utilities which allows us to design and plan effectively the kind of support and service to be provided to our customers according to their specific individual needs. PI Outsource offers real time monitoring and a host of other tools and facilities which our customers can utilize in order to measure the performance of call center agents and better manage the quality of clients' business operations.
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Call Centers Open New Sites in the Philippines
February 05, 2007
The year definitely showed both proof and promise of the industry’s growth in the past and coming years, as three contact centers opened new sites to accommodate more agents to further serve their clients better. IRMC and Sutherland both launched their new sites in Clark, ICT Group opened its new facility in Riverbanks in Marikina and
Dell opened its site in Pasay.
IRMC initially set up operations in the Philippines in the heart of the Makati Central Business District in February of 2005. IRMC specializes purely in collections and while this niche may be viewed as narrow by some, but the company has managed to exhibit its growth in the Philippines at a relatively slow, but nonetheless surefooted pace. In a
little over a year, IRMC was able to acquire and maintain collections accounts from both US and Australian markets. IRMC’s performance in both markets continues to impress their clients which led the company to consider expansion as a solution to serve the aforementioned more efficiently.
The IRMC Centre for Excellence was officially inaugurated last August and was attended by the President herself. The center can house 600 people but the company expects to expand it further to provide for 1,000 employees it plans
to add to their 200-strong workforce located at their RCBC Makati site.
Last September, ICT announced that it will expand its Philippine operations further by putting up a new site in Marikina. The month of September saw its official inauguration and no less than the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself, alongside the city’s mayor Maria Lourdes Fernando led this event.
The facility contains 1100 workstations and currently employs 1500 people. This, in addition to the Makati and Ortigas sites, add up to a total of 2800 workstations in the country that serve over 30 clients all over the US, UK and
Australia. This is definitely a win-win situation for the contact center industry and Philippine economy as a whole, as this expansion just proves that the Philippines continues to be very competitive in the global BPO and contact center arena.
The Philippines also welcomed Dell to its shores as it set up shop in Pasay City in the first quarter of the year. Dell founder and chairman Michael Dell was present in this event and was thanked by President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo herself in her speech during the inaugural ceremonies. She emphasized that this development this new investment made by the world’s leading computer company is a testament to the skills of the Filipino workforce.
Sutherland’s opening of not one but, two sites in the Philippines was also a remarkable feat. In March, the company
officially set up shop in Makati and serviced its existing pool of clients with top-notch talent coupled with an intensive and comprehensive training strategies provided by TDS. Agents and leaders alike were provided the finest contact center training that can only be delivered by TDS. And if this weren’t enough, Sutherland inaugurated their second site in Pampanga as a fitting close to the fruitful year that the industry has experienced. The new site hopes to employ more than 1,200 new employees to service their existing portfolio of clients worldwide. This is truly an impressive feat for Sutherland, considering that it only set up its operations in the country a few months back.
Given these developments in the industry, we can all hope for a prosperous and truly productive 2007!
From the The TDS TeleReporter, Volume II, Issue no. 3
http://www.teledevelopment.com
+632.631.8230 / (F)+632.636.7626
February 05, 2007
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has always been supportive of the contact center industry because of its
undeniably massive contributions to Philippine economy. To ensure its sustainability, the President, through TESDA, launched the PGMA scholarship wherein jobseekers from all over the country were trained on English and Agent skills to prepare them for the industry. The participants who passed the training were then hired by several of the top contact centers in Philippines.
TeleDevelopment Services, Inc. was at the forefront of this task. From the planning and designing stage, all the
way to the implementation, TDS was there to support the government’s initiative to support the industry. TeleDevelopment’s Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO) and Training teams worked together to take part in this mission to get the right people, give them the right knowledge and eventually put them in the right jobs
during the better part of 2006. HRO conducted a barrage of job fairs throughout Metro Manila and neighboring areas, while the Training team conducted several near-hire classes for those who were a hairline away from getting hired because they needed training on some skills, particularly in English.
This was indeed a win-win situation for both the contact centers and the Philippine labor force as this endeavor by PGMA provided more people with jobs and investors with more hope and optimism for the Philippine contact center
industry. As the government continues to support its growth by funding endeavors to ensure that we can provide an adequate supply to the continuously growing demand for world-class contact center talent, the Philippines can expect more opportunities to come to its shores in the years to come.
2006 also saw a lot of happenings in the industry that allowed its members to share best practices with each other and thus improve on a collective level. This only goes to show that the members of this industry are one in ensuring that the Philippines will continue to be at par with the rest of the other contact center industries in other
countries in terms of growth, service levels and performance.
CCAP held its 2nd Call Center Convention with the theme “Sustaining the Industry’s Hypergrowth” to further reinforce the good practices that elevated the industry to its current status. HR, IT, and Operations veterans shared very valuable information to everyone who attended the conference. TeleDevelopment showed its
support for CCAP’s efforts by lending its trainers to become facilitators and moderators
for all tracks during the two-day affair.
The contact center industry was also represented in the 32nd annual conference of the Philippine Society for
Training and Development (PSTD) as TeleDevelopment’s Director for Training Ofel Montallana Orcales talked about the best practices in call center training. Ofel emphasized that while these techniques were originally developed for use in call centers, training professionals from other industries can utilize the principles behind these methods to increase their training efficacy and ensure impact on their participants.
From The TDS TeleReporter, Volume II, Issue no. 3
http://www.teledevelopment.com
+632.631.8230 / (F)+632.636.7626
Call Center Executive Positiions Available NOW!
February 04, 2007
Call Center Executive Positions for the Philippines. Apply Now!
Apply for a Philippines Call Center or BPO Job NOW! Click Here for More Details.
Managers and/or Supervisors for the following posts:
* Workforce
* Operations
* QA
* Training
* HR
* Client Services Manager
* Program Managers and Program Supervisors
* Recruitment
* Security
* Business Continuity Plan
* Admin.
* Program Implementation Manager
* Provisioning Program Senior Manager
Director for:
* Workforce
* Operations
SVP/VP for:
* SVP for HR
* Operations
* HR - Employee Relations
* HR - Learning and Development
* Communications
* Finance
Team Leaders for Call center and BPO
Officer level / Supervisor for the following:
* Procurement
* Quality and CI Lead
* Accounting
* Payroll
* Workforce
* Operations
* QA
* Technical Training
* Program Supervisors
* Admin.
* Program Implementation Manager
All the Best!
Previous Articles
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