Back Office Support Helps in Better Use of Manpowe...

Apart from taking Back Office Support (BOS) as a cost cutting tool you can also look at it as a provider of creativity. Yes, it is because the day-to-day works are getting shifted to the different parts of the world that you can relieve your best workers from boring jobs and help them getting involved in developing new ideas that would help your business. In short BOS helps you in both ways. On the one hand your routine works get done and on the other you can concentrate your work force on developing something new.

All you need to do is to choose a service provider that guarantees you on time completion of the office work. There is also a trend that gives service providers more responsibilities and they are readily taking more risks. This gives you the opportunity to make the service provider more accountable for his performance.

Nowadays companies are looking to send their BOS to those countries that can understand the culture of the client nation and can also communicate effectively. This creates more understanding between clients and the service providers. The vast sphere of the BOS market makes it possible for you to look beyond Asian countries.

To get the best out of this service make sure that you have analyzed the process taken by our competitors in this regard.

BPO in Philippines: Reaching beyond Manila...

The Philippines has been one of the major Asian hot spots as far as Business Process Outsourcing is concerned. Presently BPO jobs here are not concentrated in Manila alone but other provinces have also become important players. That is why President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is so enthusiastic about including these provinces in her “Cyber Corridor”. The new cities that have seen a great surge of BPO industries include Cebu, Mataki, Leyte, Davao City, Iloila City, Bacolod City, and Pampanga, among others.

Though Manila still commands a large share of the BPO jobs, there are other cities like Cebu that are currently in huge demand. International firms like Live2Care, and Wipro Technologies have already opened their offices here and other companies are preparing to do the same by the end of 2010. The business is so prosperous here that industrialists involved in BPO can contribute up to 20 percent of the total revenue earned by the Government from BPO.

The importance of Davao City, on the other hand, can be clearly seen from the fact that last year it saw almost 56 percent growth in the BPO jobs. There are various schools in this city that provide training that would ultimately help one to get settled in the BPO sector.

The present Government has done its best to provide the right kind of necessary infrastructure in most of its major cities rather than focusing solely on a single one. This is the reason why the Philippines have seen a steady growth in the BPO sector even though there are reports of job losses in other sectors. It is also projected that its BPO sector will keep on growing and will reach 20 to 30 percent before the end of 2009. This will translate into adding around 100,000 new employees.

According to a research conducted by the Global Services magazine, Makati, another Philippine city, is currently one of the major BPO hubs. Right now this country is creating some buzz in the Business Process Outsourcing industry!

India Finds Unique Ways to Counter Attrition...

Right now there are quite a few challenges that are faced by the IT     enabled services industry and attrition is one of them. However, the attrition rate in India is only 18 percent whereas the USA faces an attrition rate of 42 percent. India’s attrition rate is also lesser than the global attrition rate that is 24 percent. But a continuation of this trend of attrition means a loss of 20 percent of the annual revenue for a company.There are various reasons behind attrition. These reasons include, odd working hours, better opportunities, and untimely demise of an employee. In the year 2005 this attrition rate was about 30 to 40 percent in India and in 2007 it leaped to 50 to 55 percent. But Last year it has seen a considerable drop of 30 percent in this rate of attrition. The credit could be given to some positive and unique steps taken by companies like Infosys and Wipro to hold back good workers.

The IT enabled services companies have taken some positive steps to stop poaching, meaning the hiring of employees by rival mainly small companies. That is the reason that most big companies have an attrition rate of 45 percent. Now these international companies are showing their appreciation towards the best workers by hiking their pay package and giving them promotions so they don’t leave that quickly.

But the most unique step that these India based companies has taken to stop this attrition is helping their employees to voluntarily participate in various social works. Companies like Infosys, and Wipro are giving one year to six months break to its employees so they can help various NGOs in philanthropic work.

This is a trend that is the brainchild of NR Narayana Murthy, the chairman of Infosys. This company first introduced it at the end of the year 2008. Taking the cue from this Nasscom too is trying to encourage IT enabled services workers to do some philanthropic works. Apart from checking the attrition rate this step is also supposed to give these companies boost their image by looking more humanitarian.

Any worker who has been with Infosys for two years can avail this voluntary offer. During this period their pay package will be 50 percent of their current salary.

IT service enabled companies are now hoping that this kind of social work will help its workers find extra enthusiasm in their regular work because it will refresh their whole mental constitution.

Even some of the workers of UST Global, a company that also provides BPO services among others, are helping in the rebuilding process of a village. This village is located in Namma Chennai and is called Azhinjivakkam. These workers are now trying to give the villagers healthcare, and education. They are also trying to improve the environment there.
Now, the world can take a cue from these steps taken by the Indian companies and try to at least reduce the attrition rate.

Indian IT Sector Hopes a Better Financial Year 200...

Despite Barack Obama’s explicit threats about not letting American off shoring companies enjoy tax benefits any more Indian IT sector is looking hopeful and jubilant. The reason behind this is the successful deals that some of the Indian IT majors have clenched this year. These companies include Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, and HCL Technologies.

The success story of these reputed IT companies make the Indian businessmen hope that time are going to change finally and the dwindling economy will soon see a steady recovery. These assumptions also get stronger when one sees that other companies dealing in Pharma, retail, and energy and utility have also earned some profits.

Many experts think that the quarter of April to June may see some more positive developments. The finalizing of deals by then IT companies is definitely a better result compared to that of last financial year 2008. It was during that period that Wipro has seen a severe drop in its client’s tally.

Right now the IT industry is expecting a growth of about 5 to 8 percent. This would be definitely better than the last quarter of the previous financial year. That is why people like Girish Paranjpe are hopeful of “a phase of stabilization” that is probably not far away.

However, there are other reputed companies that still want to wait and watch and Infosys Technologies is one of them. But still many are hoping that by the end of the third quarter of the current Financial Year the industry will witness a recovery.

Anyway encouraged by this trend many IT companies are now providing various incentives to their clients so they continue to give them steady business. That is why most of the deals include cost cutting options, offer of doing some of the research work like feasibility studies for free, and making contracts that have fixed price.

Companies like Infosys believe during these tough times nothing will work better than flexibility. These companies are also making an attempt to use its bench strength as well. That is why right now the total utilization percentage has gone up to 70 from the previous 65 percent.

We hope that the assumptions ad expectations will become true and Indian IT sector will again rule the world.

Protectionism Threatens Prosperity of Global Outso...

Protectionism can destroy a business without benefiting anyone. That is what, it seems, is happening to the Business Process Outsourcing sector. This is the very industry that generated revenue of about US$ 234 billion in 2005. The countries that are involved in this business include various European and Asian nations like the UK, Spain, Russia, India, Philippines, China, Japan, and Pakistan. Even the US has a large interest in this market as many of its companies are involved in this outsourcing process. That is why the protectionist laws primarily coming up in the UK and the USA would harm all these players and would not help the global market in any way.

Even at the beginning of the Financial Year 2006 the BPO industry made a profit of $ 22.7 billion. According to a survey conducted by National Outsourcing Association it was estimated that the global BPO industry would generate $ 323, 600 million by the end of the year 2011.