RP: From Point of BPO Convergence to Center of Excellence

Transcription

JANUARY - MARCH 2008 • Vol. 2 - No. 1 • 24 pages • free
RP: From Point of BPO Convergence
to Center of Excellence
By Artemio F. Cusi III
Photos by Shishiir Manzo
INDUSTRY PROFILE
Myla Reyes, Medical
Transcription Industry
Assoc. of the Phils. p. 18
Interview highlights:
Partnerships to
address talent
development
■ US$254 million
revenues in 3 years
■
■ The Philippines as a Center of Excellence p.2
• Manila ranks no. 2 in the top 10 list of BPO destinations in the
Asia-Pacific region
• Quezon City, Davao, and Cebu rankes among the top 10 Asian
cities
• The Philippine BPO industry poised to capture 10% of the over-all
market
• US$590 million initial investment of telecommunications
companies in BPO infrastructure
■ BPA/P Establishes Alliances with Industry Associations p. 3
• The five industry associations that have formed a stronger
partnership with BPA/P
• Cooperative ventures created as a result of this linkage
■ First 100 Days of Roadmap 2010 p. 4
• 50% increase in revenue
• 30% increase in jobs generated during that same time period
• The global crisis that is compelling US companies to consider
outsourcing as a means of cost-cutting
• Non-traditional markets that Phil. BPOs will venture into
■ The Php350 million training grant from the government p. 5
• To date, the scholarships have provided training to 44,331
call center agents, 6,346 medical transcriptionists, 389 software
developers, and 254 animators
■ BPA/P’s Marketing and Gov’t Liaison Activities Q&A p. 6
• Events organized, government institutions in dialogue, and bills
drafted ■ New Beginnings p. 7
• This BPA/P Director starts out on a new path
■ Why Europe p. 8
• Reasons why the Philippine BPO industry should seriously
consider Europe as a long-term market
• The challenges and how to respond to them
• Asian countries with BPO industries that are gaining inroads into
Europe
■ The BPA/P Info and Research Team p. 8
• The importance of the timely flow of data and the development of
technology tools of platform that would facilitate this information flow
■ BPA/P at NASSCOM event p. 10
• How BPO industry practitioners in India perceive their
counterparts in the Philippines
■ SPi p. 12
• One of the pioneers of the Philippine BPO industry named in
Fortune Magazine’s Global Services 100
■ BPO International, Inc. p. 14
• Reaching out to the North American and European markets
■ Trends in Global Outsourcing p. 15
• The one factor that sets a city or a country as a preferred
outsourcing destination
• The expertise for which the Philippines is usually highly
acclaimed
■ Repositioning the Philippines p. 16
• “From agricultural producer to KPO powerhouse”
- Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala
Manila no. 2 in the top 10
list of BPO destinations
in the Asia-Pacific region
The Philippines has been
recognized as a Center of
Excellence in customer support,
with urban cities Manila and Cebu
as the top locations.
“Centers
of
Excellence”
is this year’s theme of the 8th
Global Sourcing Conference and
Exhibition held last February 11
and 12 at the SMX Convention
Center in Pasay City.
No less than Philippine
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
delivered the keynote address in
the international gathering coorganized by local BPO industry
organization Business Processing
Association of the Philippines
(BPA/P).
At the conference, research
and advisory firm Tholons, Inc., a
conference partner, presented a study
on global Centers of Excellence
naming the Philippines as a Center
of Excellence in customer support,
financial and accounting services,
and engineering services.
Turn to page 2
HONOR GUARDS. Standing at the left and right respectively of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo are BPA/P CEO Oscar Sañez
and DTI Secretary Peter Favila. At the left of Sañez is Tholons Chairman and CEO Avinash Vashishtha
BPA/P Establishes Alliance with Blazing Start
Industry Associations
for Industry in
Mergers are already common
By Maria Mutya Frio
fare for businesses that have
First 100 Days
realized the wisdom of effective
of Roadmap
efficacy, but this time around an
The umbrella alliance
means greater
collaboration, leveraged
resources, and a
stronger voice
important merger that was recently
forged does not involve a company
buy-out or takeover. Instead, the
Turn to page 3
70,000 BPO Near-Hires
to Benefit from Php350M
PGMA Training Grant
By Eva Goyena
Training seen as a longterm solution to talent
development
Some 70,000 job candidates in
call centers and business process
outsourcing companies will be
trained by the Technical Education
and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA) in a co-managed
training project with the Business
Processing Association of the
Philippines (BPA/P). The project
is aimed at ensuring a substantial
pool of workers for the offshoring
and outsourcing industry that is
increasing its demand.
The Php350 million scholarship
Turn to page 5
20,000 workers hired
and the launch of new
training programs are
just some of the initial
accomplishments
In the face of the headwind
challenges, the progress in the
first 100 days of the Offshoring
and
Outsourcing
(O&O)
Roadmap 2010 is seen as the
initial boost to jumpstart the
momentum of the industry.
“We are on track,” Business
Processing
Association
Philippines
(BPA/P)
Chief
Executive Officer Oscar Sañez
told Breakthroughs in referring
to the progress made by the
industry since November 5,
2007. He backed this up with a
list of accomplishments in 2007
Turn to page 4
BPA/P Stories
january - march 2008
Breakthroughs
RP: From Point of BPO Convergence...
Continuation from page 1
In their respective speeches, both Sañez and President Arroyo noted the growth of the O&O industry which can
also benefit related industries such as real estate, telecommunications, and food, among others.
In another study of emerging cities
as Centers of Excellence, Tholons cited
Manila and Cebu (See Special Report for
related story - Ed.). Manila was cited as
an established Center of Excellence in
financial and accounting services while
Cebu was cited as an emerging Center of
Excellence for human resource services
outsourcing.
The growing reputation of the Philippines
as a leading outsourcing and offshoring
(O& O) destination was underlined by
President Arroyo in her speech.
Most attractive destination
“The Philippines is ranked among the
most attractive offshoring destinations in
the world because of cost competitiveness
and more importantly the country’s highly
trainable, English-proficient, IT-enabled
quality manpower,” said Arroyo.
Last year, the Philippines was named
“Offshoring Destination of the Year” by the
National Outsourcing Association of the
United Kingdom. Research firm International
Data Corporation also ranked Manila as
number 2, second only to Bangalore, in the
top 10 list of BPO destinations in the AsiaPacific region.
A survey commissioned by London’s
Financial Times, named Quezon City, Cebu
and Davao as among the top 10 Asian cities
of the future. Quezon City was ranked 7th;
Cebu, 8th; and Davao, 10th, comparable to
cities like Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei
which were the top three.
“Indeed, the information revolution has
been good to the Philippines,” President
Arroyo said at the February conference.
“As a government, we have insisted on
building world-class I.T. infrastructure for
developing the skills of our citizens and
as an essential backbone to attract global
business,” she added.
Stressing that a strong infrastructure is
the backbone of a modern nation, Arroyo
reiterated that government will be spending
Php200 billion for infrastructure in 2008.
She also noted that the growth in the
O&O industry has led to more business
opportunities in other sectors such as real
estate, telecommunications, food, and retail,
among others.
“The demand for prime real estate for
BPO operations has spawned feverish
construction for office space and campuses
that can house the current demand for
expansion sites. This trend is expected to
grow by more than 30% in the next few
years,” the President added.
In a plenary presentation, BPA/P Chief
Executive Officer Oscar Sañez said the local
BPO industry is expected to generate up to 1.3
Business Processing Association PHILIPPINES
million indirect jobs in related sectors such as
retail, food, and transportation by 2010.
Areas of convergence
But the Philippine government and local
BPO industry are not only pinning their
hopes on Manila and Cebu alone as BPO
location sites.
Together with the BPA/P, the Commission
on Information and Communication
Technology (CICT) also presented during the
conference the so-called next-wave cities or
the emerging cities in the Philippines where
BPO investments are pouring in.
CICT Chair Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua
noted that there are other locations in the
Philippines where BPOs have located,
namely: Bacolod, Bacoor, Baguio, Batangas
City, Cagayan de Oro, Cainta, Camarines Sur
Province, Clark/Angeles, Davao, Dumaguete,
Iloilo, Legaspi, Lipa, and Sta. Rosa.
Other cities have been identified as
“ready cities” for BPO locators. These
cities include: Cabanatuan, Dagupan, Leyte
Province, Subic/Olongapo, General Santos,
and Urdaneta.
By September this year, the CICT and BPA/
P are expected to publish an O&O inventory
report and a scorecard for the different cities
to determine their strengths and weaknesses
according to a set of criteria which include
availability of talent, infrastructure, cost of
doing business, and the business environment.
The report, which will be published annually
starting September, will include a ranking of
the cities.
The local BPO industry is optimistic that it
can meet the targets it has set in the Roadmap
2010 that it launched last November 5, 2007.
The challenge for the industry is to
maintain its edge as a supplier of talent and
to move up the value chain. “The supply of
talent is the biggest challenge,” Sañez said in
a press conference. According to him, there is
no “single silver bullet” to this problem.
Telecom firms vow to invest more
In
the
meantime,
in
other
plenary presentations, top Philippine
telecommunication
companies
Globe
Telecom, Inc. and Philippine Long Distance
and Telephone Co. said they would invest
millions of dollars this year to improve
the telecommunications
infrastructure
nationwide to meet the demands of BPOs.
PLDT First Vice-President and Head
of the Corporate Business Group Nerissa
Ramos said PLDT is investing up to
US$550 million in capital expenditures
this year to expand its network and upgrade
its capacities to support the local BPO
industry’s demands.
Ramos said PLDT has already invested
up to US$238 million to participate in
17 international cable gateways, four of
which are hosted by PLDT for termination
in the Philippines.
By end-2008, PLDT expects its
international cable bandwidth capacity to
reach 125 gigabits per second from the 90
Gbps capacity as of end-2007.
Globe Telecom Head of Globe Business
and CEO of Innove Communications, Inc.
Gil Genio said Globe would have a second
international gateway installed by third
quarter of this year to deliver high capacity
network. The second gateway, which is being
built with VSNL International, a member of
India’s Tata Group, will have a capacity that
is 20 times the current capacity. Globe said
it is investing US$40 million for this second
international gateway.
The new Globe landing station in Cagayan
Valley in Northern Luzon is located away from
known earthquake zone. This is to mitigate the
effects of an earthquake, and avoid a repeat of
the 2006 and 2007 Taiwan earthquakes that
hampered telecommunications traffic of the
Philippines.
Traveling the right path
The conference saw representatives from
countries perceived to be “competitors” in
the global O&O business, such as India and
the Philippines, come together to pitch their
respective countries’ strengths and to learn
from each other’s weaknesses.
Helping the industry organizations
market the Philippines is CITEM, or the
Center for Trade Expositions and Missions,
a co-organizer of the conference and an
attached agency of the Department of Trade
and Industry (DTI).
DTI Assistant Secretary Felicitas
Agoncillo-Reyes and concurrent CITEM
Executive Director said the international
conference served as a convergence point
for major players and buyers, both locally
and internationally, to meet, establish
new partnerships, and explore new
opportunities.
Aside from CITEM and DTI, the other
co-organizers of the event were the Board of
Investments and the Foreign Service Corps.
Time and again, the Philippine O&O
industry has risen above the challenges it
boldly confronted. And it has done so by
focusing its pool of talent and resources
to achieve a high-minded objective of
contributing to the development of the
whole country.
Knowing that its survival and growth
are largely dependent on how it nurtures
the social environment that sustains it, the
industry is now confident that it is traveling
on the right path to excellence. z
ARMIE DUARTE
President
heinz bulos
Publisher
cora llamas
Editor in Chief
william dizon
Art Director
DONNA LARAGA
Executive Assistant
ARTEMIO CUSI III
CARLOMAR DAONA
BERNARDO V. FRANCO JR.
maria mutya frio
EVA GOYENA
ina b. teves
Contributing Writers
WILLIE BICERA
SHISHIIR MANZO
Photographers
PEACHIE G. CORTEZ
Operations Director
16th Flr. IJ3 Burgundy Corporate Tower
252 Sen Gil Puyat, Makati City
Tel: 856-4956 Fax: 856-4954
E-mail: peachie@businessinfoinc.com
www.bpap.org
BPA/P Stories
Breakthroughs
BPA/P Establishes Alliances with Industry...
Business Processing Association of the
Philippines (BPA/P) has added the following
industry associations under its wing: the
Contact Center of the Philippines (CCAP),
Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc.
(ACPI), Medical Transcription Industry
Association of the Philippines, Inc. (MTIAPI),
and the Philippine Software Association, Inc.
(PSAI).
Enjoining these industry associations
under BPA/P means that they enjoy greater
collaboration and they can leverage
their resources. Each of these industry
association’s voice can now also be heard
in any platform, be it in government
lobbying, marketing and promotions, or
utilizing human resources.
The idea of merging industry associations
was spawned six years ago when Senator
Mar Roxas, while serving as Secretary of
the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI),
called upon industry associations to form an
umbrella alliance that would serve the BPO
and IT-enabled services industry. Hence,
the Contact Federation Philippines and
Outsource Philippines united, giving birth to
what is now BPA/P.
Now, further collaboration is being
spearheaded by Mitch Locsin, the outgoing
BPA/P Industry Affairs Director. Locsin
sat down with the presidents of the four
associations, namely Jojo Uligan and Bong
Borja of CCAP, Marlene Montano of Holy
Cow Animation, Inc. representing ACPI,
Evelyn Abad of e-Data Services representing
MTIAPI and Emma Teodoro for PSAI. “What
we did was offer them seats in the Board of
Trustees of BPA/P so that these associations
would be represented under the BPA/P arm,”
says Locsin. “This continued for the last three
years but gave rise to the issue that this type
of set-up entailed the association becoming
the member of BPA/P but not their respective
members.”
www.bpap.org
Mutual gains
Locsin is optimistic about forming
the umbrella alliance by pointing out its
advantages. Hosting the chiefs of these
associations in BPA/P’s office, for one,
would enhance coordination. If BPA/P meets
with an investor who would require software
developers, BPA/P would then have direct
access to the industry knowledge of PSAI.
If BPA/P is running an initiative on HR
and training that would call for training on
transcription, the industry experts would
be close at hand to provide their input. The
same goes for other initiatives in marketing
and promotion, government lobbying, and
anything that has to do with the industry.
“We will be hosting the executive
directors [of these associations] in our
BPA/P office. We already have PSAI
Executive Director Anne Sy and Raymund
Eruma of MTIAPI,” Locsin says. ACPI’s
executive director is slated to move in to
BPA/P’s premises once ACPI’s lease in
Libis expires on April 2008.
“Each industry association can bring the
knowledge of their particular sector,” Locsin
continues. “BPA/P used to be tagged as a
call-center industry association. We forgot to
bring the other guys in. This is a very good
example of why we have to do this.”
Under one umbrella
While the four associations were kept
abreast of all information, initiatives, and
road shows under BPA/P, their members
did not enjoy the same benefits or had the
voice to participate in the committees in the
same capacity as that of BPA/P’s direct and
existing member companies.
The Roadmap 2010 project, a blueprint
for growth in the business process outsourcing
(BPO) industry in the Philippines led by
BPA/P and McKinsey and Co., provided
a platform for addressing the discrepancy
between BPA/P’s direct members and the four
associations’ existing members. “We started
talks between October and December 2007
with the four associations and tried to find
a better organizational structure wherein all
members of these associations would benefit
from BPA/P as well,” recounts Locsin. “So
with the help of McKinsey, we drew up an
organizational structure that would enable
all the four associations’ members to become
direct members of BPA/P.”
Once amendments on the bylaws are
finalized, which Locsin foresees taking
effect in April or May, BPA/P will then
adopt the associations’ members. The
association members, now directly under
BPA/P, can enjoy the same benefits and fully
participate in BPA/P’s endeavors, except in
nominating and voting for BPA/P’s Board
of Directors. Locsin sees BPA/P growing to
a total of 480 members.
BPA/P has also modified its membership
fees to accommodate the industry
associations’ members based on company
size. Companies that host fewer seats pay
smaller dues, bigger players pay higher
dues.
So as not to lose the legal identity of
each of the four industry associations,
BPA/P has created councils that will
stand for each sector including the contact
center, BPO, IT, medical transcription,
and animation industries. The respective
associations will run these councils
under BPA/P and will be managed by
the associations. This set-up allows the
associations to derive what they want
BPA/P to do for the year in terms of
carrying out initiatives, meeting goals,
and realizing their mission and vision.
The councils can also provide directions
to the Roadmap 2010 project on what to do
for their respective sector. Locsin stresses,
“The Roadmap 2010 is a strategic plan
not just for contact centers but the whole
industry. So we need all their knowledge,
inputs, and collaboration.”
“Each industry association complements
each other,” he adds. “If the animation
council has a client or investor who wants
to do transcription for them besides doing
animation, they can tap the capabilities
[within BPA/P]. It’s all synced in.”
The councils will get their funding from a
20% share of their yearly membership dues.
Although plans are still on the drawing board
pending the amendments on the bylaws,
BPA/P has already signed a Memorandum
of Agreement (MOA) with three of the four
associations, namely ACPI, MTIAPI and
PSAI. Game Developers Association of the
Philippines has recently joined BPA/P as
well, falling under the animation council.
Looking ahead, BPA/P maps out its
short, mid-, and long-term initiatives with
the academe and the government, including
agencies like the Technical Education and
Skills Development Authority (TESDA),
the Commission on Higher Education
(CHED), and the Department of Education,
primarily for BPA/P’s HR initiatives.
BPA/P also plans to build partnerships in
developing talents and skills. It will also
focus on the marketing and promotions of
the sector and of the country, as well as
improving media relations and government
lobbying. “We would become a stronger
voice because we will all be concentrated
as a very strong industry association,”
Locsin says.
Better collaboration, industry knowledge,
complementation, and leveraging resources
all translate to a collective efficacy that will not
only benefit BPA/P, its industry associations,
and all of BPA/Ps members. More than this, a
strong association will further boost an already
burgeoning BPO and IT-enabled services
industry in the country. z
BPA/P Stories
Blazing Start for Industry in First 100 Days...
that further pointed to a promising future
for the industry, particularly along the lines
of the US$13 billion revenue target and one
million direct employees by 2010.
In his presentation before participants of
the e-Services Conference last February 11,
Sañez stressed that the industry’s revenues
surged by nearly 50% to US$4.9 billion in
2007 from US$3.3 billion in 2006.
The jobs generated by O&O operations
also increased 30% to 300,000 from 230,000
during the same comparative periods. Sañez
estimated that about 20,000 workers were
hired in the first 100 days.
Because the success of Roadmap 2010
is based on the sufficient supply of talent,
emergence of next-wave cities, sound
business environment, and the formation
of Team 2010, the first 100 days had been
measured along these four important
themes.
Sharpening English proficiency
Aware that the supply of quality talent
is crucial to the sustainability of O&O
operations in the country, the industry
embarked on strategic partnerships with
learning institutions in the hope of increasing
the current well-trained workforce.
As of 2007, there were 198,000 people
employed by contact centers in the country,
according to the Joint Task Force of the
BPA/P, Board of Investments, Philippine
Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), and
the Commission on Information and
Communications Technology (CICT). This
was a 24% increase from 2006.
The focus on English proficiency
training for college students becomes all the
more important when considering the fact
that contact centers employed 66% of the
total number of jobs generated by the O&O
industry in 2007.
“We launched a testing model to improve
the curriculum of universities,” Sañez said.
Partnerships were thus forged between
universities and companies to make this
undertaking possible.
With the objective of significantly
improving the English proficiency of college
graduates, the Advanced English Proficiency
Training Program (ADEPT) involves the
partnerships with participating schools
such as University of the East (UE), Jose
Rizal University (JRU), Emilio Aguinaldo
College, Philippine Women’s University
(PWU), and De La Salle University (DLSU).
The program had also been offered as a
free elective to graduating students of the
participating schools.
The five contact centers that are helping
PHASE 2
these schools adopt the program are
ICT, ePLDT, eTelecare, Convergys, and
TeleTech.
Applying the training modules by
BPA/P members, ADEPT started in the
second semester of school year 2007-2008.
A preliminary assessment of the program
had been undertaken in February 2008. Its
large-scale implementation will commence
in June 2008.
Emerging strength
Based on the figures of the joint task
force of BPA/P and the other government
agencies, software development is also an
emerging strength of the O&O industry.
In 2007, the number of workers employed
in software development jumped 82% to
29,188. This accounted for almost 10% of
the total O&O employment.
Because the figures indicated a surging
demand, it is only proper that an adequate
supply of such workers be produced by the
country.
To address this, Roadmap 2010 called
for an Expanded Learning on Information
Technology Services (ELITES) Program.
Expected to push the level of software
development skills of college students
further upward, ELITES used the modules
conceptualized by the Philippine Software
Industry Association (PSIA) and the
assessment tools of PSIA partners. Also
included as additional resource materials are
those supplied by the Philippine Society of
IT Educators (PSITE).
The ELITES program covers JRU, TIP,
UE, Emilio Aguinaldo College, ACSAT,
APC, FEU-East Asia College. In its pilot
stage, the program involves the participation
of 18 teachers and 200 students. Part of the
curriculum is an on-the-job-training (OJT) for
students to test their skills in the O&O industry.
Started during the same period as ADEPT,
ELITES also carried out a post-assessment
in February. This is in preparation for the
program’s wider coverage in June 2008.
With the help of the government’s
Php350 million scholarship fund formally
launched in February 4 [see related story
on p. 1 – Ed], the BPA/P will be able to
distribute the certificates to the recipients of
the trainings. “Out of the 55,000 (recipients),
we can probably employ 40,000, which is
already one-third of the total recruitment for
the year,” Sañez said.
Next wave rising
To lessen the pressure on Metro Manila
and the surrounding provinces in producing
the quality manpower needed by global
clients, highly urbanized areas in other parts
of the country, such as those in Visayas and
Mindanao, are being touted as the next-wave
cities to supply the growing requirements of
O&O services.
Because one of the goals of Roadmap
2010 is to prepare E-ready cities or those
that can host offshoring and outsourcing,
the BPA/P enlisted the help of concerned
government agencies during the first
100 days.
“We worked out a partnership between
BPA/P, CICT, and the Department of Trade
and Industry (DTI) Regional Operations
Group,” Sañez said.
The BPA/P will put together the
scorecards for evaluating the readiness and
capacity of the cities to become the nextwave areas; the CICT, to help build the IT
councils; and the DTI Regional Operations
Group, to link with other government
agencies in the approval of the scorecards.
Sañez pointed to September 2008 as the
target month to complete the inventory of
companies and partner cities.
Conducive environment
One clear expression of the seriousness of
the government in following Roadmap 2010
is the appointment of Ray Anthony RoxasChua as the new CICT chairman. Both the
government and the business community
are confident of his ability to steer the O&O
industry in the right direction as stipulated in
the roadmap.
Aside from the designation of
Roxas-Chua as new outsourcing czar,
Sañez believes that much work had also
been done in the legislative agenda,
specifically with regard to the industry’s
position paper on the rationalization of
fiscal incentives.
“When investors shop around, the
Philippines is always benchmarked versus
other countries,” Sañez said.
The general perception of many investors
is that the Philippines must work harder
to improve its infrastructure, government
efficiency and transparency, and level of risk
profit.
“A tax incentive is a way of overcoming
these negatives,” Sañez said.
Since
Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore have
made good use of such incentives to attract
investors, the BPA/P CEO added that a
sunrise industry such as O&O must be
protected in the Philippines by means of
similar accommodating fiscal measures in
the local front.
“Let us remember that incentives
generate savings for the investors,”
Breakthroughs
Sañez emphasized. He explained that the
appreciating peso has already reduced
profit margins for the industry.
“We will try our best as an industry to
temper the impact of the peso appreciation a
little bit,” he said. “Since currency rates are
largely determined by market forces, there
is not much we can do otherwise.”
A solution to slowdown
To complement the efforts to improve
the business environment, President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo and Philippine business
leaders have worked hand in hand to market
the industry during recent visits to New
York and Phoenix in the United States, and
the United Kingdom.
“Part of that (tour) included having
to present the industry and do business
matching,” Sañez said.
The economic slowdown in the United
States is forcing companies to seriously
consider the cost-cutting benefits offered
by the O&O industry, whether in the
Philippines or in other parts of the world.
“We are marketing the Philippines as part of
the solution to their problems and improve
their operational efficiency,” Sañez stressed.
Besides the US and UK, the industry
is training its sights on the non-traditional
markets such as Canada and Australia.
“They are looking to expand. There is a
roadshow plan,” Sañez said.
Indeed, contact centers in Canada and
Australia have also been experiencing
the unfavorable results of strengthening
currencies.
Dell
Canada
recently
announced that it would lay off around
900 workers in Ottawa. The company’s
US office in Oklahoma City would also
have to retrench 300 employees.
Accountable team
In Roadmap 2010, BPA/P officers
admitted that the industry association has
to reinvent itself in assuming the role of
a “strong, credible, well-resourced, and
professional” umbrella organization. As
an answer to this need, BPA/P created
Team 2010 as the group to ensure the
success of the industry’s goals. “There has
to be a team, with full time talent, that is
accountable,” Sañez pointed out, noting
that what the association formed was a
“management team” that would lead and
execute the roadmap.
Up with a blazing start during the
Roadmap 2010’s first 100 days, the industry
is bent on putting its best foot forward every
step of the way. z
Report by Artemio F. Cusi III
Benchmark Study’s First Phase Assesses
Capabilities of Next-Wave Cities
Data gathered on business
environment, quality of life,
and infrastructure
The first phase of a benchmarking
study involving “next-wave cities” in the
Philippines that intend to leverage offshoring
and outsourcing (O&O) trends to accelerate
growth is nearing completion. The study was
undertaken by the Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI) and services globalization
advisory firm Tholons, Inc. says Tholons
President for Asia-Pacific Paul Santos.
The study is expected to provide a
comprehensive analysis of developing
O&O hubs, or tier-two cities outside Metro
Manila, particularly their competitiveness
in attracting investors and new businesses.
Santos says that Tholons intends
ultimately to provide insights on improving
the suitability of these locations for O&O
investment to enable them to perform at par
with tier-one cities. He also says the initial
phase of the project involves gathering
basic qualitative and quantitative data on
the tier-two sites, such as assessing the
business environment, quality of life, and
infrastructure.
Tholons has been working with the Board
of Investments (BOI) since late last year to
conduct the first phase of research. The next
phase focuses on quantifying the skill level
of each site’s talent pool. In all, Tholons will
benchmark more than 20 developing hubs
and compare them to determine each site’s
relative core competencies. Variables such
as communication ability, analytical ability,
and mental application of the labor pool will
be analyzed to assess the capabilities of the
sites.
In an earlier study conducted by Tholons
and Global Services magazine, emerging
hubs such as Cebu, Pasig City, and Baguio
were ranked 4th, 23rd, and 36th respectively,
among the “Top 50 Emerging Outsourcing
Cities.” According to Santos, these studies
help investors decide whether or not to do
business in the Philippines because they can
refer to useful verifiable data on functional
capabilities, skill levels of potential workers,
and other operational considerations.
Phase two takes a look at talent
“Aside from offering a comparison of
sites in terms of their infrastructure and
business environment, our next phase looks
further into the skill levels of people who,
at the end of the day, are the ones that drive
the industry,” says Santos, adding that their
research is a step toward the development
of a national standard for competitiveness
similar to that of the National Association
of Software and Services Companies
(NASSCOM) in India. In line with this,
Tholons is working with NASSCOM’s skills
assessment partner, Merittrac, which has
been used in over three million candidates
for close to 200 O&O clients.
Tholons also partnered with the Center
for International Trade Expositions and
Missions (CITEM) and the Business
Processing Association of the Philippines
(BPA/P) to co-organize this year’s eServices Global Sourcing Conference and
Exhibition, which took place February 11
to 12 at the SMX Convention Center.
“Among the positive signs that can
be seen in this year’s event theme,
‘Outsourcing Centers of Excellence,’ is
the Philippine government’s openness to
looking at the outsourcing industry from
a global perspective,” Santos says.
“Think of it this way,” he says of the longterm goal of solidifying the country’s position
as the second leading destination for O&O
services in the world. “If India’s NASSCOM
conference is considered to be like the Oscars
of the outsourcing industry, our goal is to
make the Philippines the next Cannes.” z
From e-Services Phils.
www.bpap.org
BPA/P Stories
Breakthroughs
70,000 BPO Near-Hires to Benefit ...
At the MOA signing were: Fred Ayala, BPA/P Chairman; Oscar Sañez, BPA/P CEO, TESDA Director General Augusto Syjuco; and CICT Chair Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua.
grant is part of President Gloria MacapagalArroyo’s Training for Work Scholarship
Program (PGMA-TWSP), which is part of
efforts to attain a 10% share of the global
outsourcing market by 2010.
In the turnover ceremony held last
February 4 at the Manila Intercontinental
Hotel in Makati City, TESDA Director
General Augusto Syjuco and BPA/P CEO
Oscar Sañez signed the memorandum of
agreement, which details the responsibilities
of the two agencies in co-managing the
multimillion-peso fund.
As the country’s umbrella organization for
the Philippine outsourcing industry, BPA/P
will take on the distribution, allocation, and
promotion of the vouchers to its memberwww.bpap.org
organizations. TESDA, meanwhile, will be
in charge on the accreditation of training
institutions and the disbursement of funds.
According to Sañez, many job candidates
fail to secure employment due to lack of
certain skills like English proficiency or
technical know-how. Since additional training
can be expensive and beyond the reach of
these “near-hires” (or applicants who were
almost accepted for a BPO job position),
government aid and encouragement,
supported by investment, may help them
obtain employment, which in turn would
prove beneficial to the industry in the longterm.
Training will be offered for animators,
software developers, medical transcriptionists,
and voice call center agents. The scholarship
vouchers vary in cost: Php10,000 for
each animator; Php30,000 for a software
developer; Php10,000 for a medical
transcriptionist, and Php5,000 for a voice
call center agent. Voucher allocation, said
Sañez, depends on the demand for talent in
each sector.
For the whole industry
TESDA Director Syjuco says that the
training will benefit the offshoring and
outsourcing (O&O) industry as a whole,
BPA/P and non-BPA/P members included.
“We will serve to provide training and
skills development to the O&O industry
and BPO,” he said.
Sañez, for his part, guarantees that
distribution of vouchers will be fair and will
be based on standards set on the memorandum
of agreement. He also says, “BPA/P being the
lead organization responsible is very openly
saying that this is for the entire industry.
BPA/P as the administrator (of the fund) also
has the responsibility of ensuring that there is
an even level playing field here. Which means
that if you come to us, and you are accredited
by TESDA and you comply with the standards
that we are making available to every other
member of BPA/P that is participating in the
program, you are welcome. We created the
allocation by sector, not by company.”
Since its establishment in May 2006,
the PGMA-TWSP has provided training
to 44,331 call center agents, 6,346 medical
transcriptionists, 389 software developers,
and 254 animators. Over 50% of them or
26,166 BPO workers were employed before
the end of 2007.
The booming outsourcing industry is
considered one of the star performers of
the Philippine economy. It has consistently
registered an annual growth rate of 45% over
the past three years. BPA/P estimates that as
of end 2007, the sector attained total export
revenue of US$4.8 billion and jobs generated
for 320,000 workers.
Asked about the impact of the US
recession on the Philippine BPO industry,
Sañez said, “It is time to be more aggressive
in marketing the country – we are part of the
solution. We are in fact going to help the US
in a lot of ways.” He said O&O is among
the few options for cost reduction, which is
essential for a US company to survive.
Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III, Chairman
of the Commission on Information and
Communications Technology (CICT), said
that more initiatives are being developed by
the government like the establishment of the
regional information and communication
technology (ICT) hubs to expand the O&O
industry in areas outside of Metro Manila.
He added, “Right now we have 15 cities
across the country that already have O&O
locators, and we are targeting to double that
amount in 2010. This is beneficial to the
local economies of those areas, and it also
helps the locators find alternative locations
for them to manage cost.”
“In the area of training, one thing we are
also working on with the private sector and the
academe is that we are trying to come up with
more targeted programs to address the longerterm needs for talents in the industry,” said
Roxas-Chua. “What is important is to match
the industry needs with what the universities
can produce in terms of graduates.” z
BPA/P Updates
Breakthroughs
BPA/P’s Marketing and Gov’t
Liaison Activities First Quarter
By Cathy Ileto
BPA/P Director for External Relations
As far as our government relations
are concerned, BPA/P submitted its draft
amendatory bill on R.A. 9481, also known
as “An act strengthening the worker’s
constitutional right to self-organization,”
to the joint chambers of Congress. BPA/P
also met with the House of Representatives’
Labor Committee Chairman Magtanggol
Gunigundo, together with the joint chambers,
to formally present its consolidated draft
amendatory bill on R.A. 9481.
BPA/P continues to attend the series of
dialogues with the Department of Labor and
Employment, labor organizations, and the
various employer groups to ensure that the
industry’s position is reflected in RA 9481’s
Implementing Rules and Regulations or IRR
that is due for release in March.
BPA/P is currently assisting the
CICT (Commission on Information and
Communications Technology) in drafting
a data privacy bill that will address the
industry’s concerns on data privacy and
security. BPA/P has been actively engaging
policymakers who can support this measure.
BPA/P is also a member of the Technical
Working Group formed by the Ways and Means
Committee of the House of Representatives
and which will consolidate the various
versions of the Fiscal Rationalization bill.
BPA/P supports the H.B. 2530 or the Cua
bill, which aims to retain and even enhance
fiscal incentives. The Cua bill also allows the
establishment of an Industrial Development
Board. This agency will create policies
to implement a National Framework for
Industrial Development. It will be responsible
for the Investments Priorities Plan, as well as
in administering registration for incentives
and in promulgating the rules and policies
of incentives that investment promotion
agencies must implement. z
The first quarter of the year was
a busy one for BPA/P’s activities
in marketing and government
relations.
First, BPA/P had a number of
successful marketing activities locally and
internationally. A successful press conference
was held last February 4 that witnessed the
Technical Educational Skills Development
Authority (TESDA) formally turn over
Php350 million PGMA-TWSP vouchers to
BPA/P. [See Front Page Stories for related
story – Ed.]
BPA/P was also a co-organizer in the
recently concluded e-Services Conference
last February 11-12. It also led a delegation
of eight companies to the 2008 NASSCOM
Leadership Forum held in Mumbai, India
from February 12 to 16. Eight companies
joined the Philippine delegation namely:
Kaisa, K-Search, Rockwell Land, PLDT,
Jebsen & Jensen, Sutherland, Colliers, and
Headstrong.
In the next weeks, BPA/P is planning on
launching the updated portal and the new
BPA/P brand.
Clockwise: Oscar Sañez at the e-Services conference; BPA/P’s ladies, BPA/P Director for Information and Research, Gigi Virata; Director for Talent Development Jamea Garcia; Executive Assistant Nette Roselo,
and the columnist; BPA/P members at the TESDA conference; BPA/P members at the e-Services Conference; BPA/P CEO Oscar Sañez, TESDA Director General Augusto Syjuco and CICT Chair Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua.
www.bpap.org
Breakthroughs
BPA/P Updates
From the CEO Desk
Roadmap:
The First 100 Days
There’s something about a clearly written and well-articulated strategic plan that helps build
early engagements and support from all key stakeholders who have a keen interest in realizing
its promised outcomes. Such is the immediate impact of a document like the “Philippine O&O
Roadmap 2010,” which hit the ground running as soon as it was launched in November 2007.
The government has been first to respond to the challenges posed by the roadmap. On the day
of the launch, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo quickly announced she would be appointing
Secretary Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua of CICT as the government’s “Outsourcing Czar.” This
would make Roxas-Chua the government’s intermediary in all outsourcing initiatives that will
need government intervention. His appointment became official less than two weeks later.
BPA/P also did not waste time in forming the backbone of the “Next-Wave Cities” initiative
in the roadmap by signing a three-way memorandum of agreement with the Department of Trade
and Industry-ROG and the Commission on Information Communications Technology to define
the roles across the three groups to support the development of the “next-wave cities” for O&O.
Through this partnership agreement, the plan to rank the key cities based on an industry standard
scorecard has been set and is scheduled to be released by September 2008.
The work on Talent Development has been key priority and BPA/P sought to obtain
government attention for one program that demonstrated high potential given its early success:
the PGMA Training for Work Scholarship Program. With a success rate of 70% conversion (to
employment) on the limited Php60 million which BPA/P received last year, we asked President
Arroyo to support the program more aggressively. After several negotiations with the President
and TESDA, we were able to come up with a dedicated budget of Php350 million for O&O and
agreed on the terms of implementation. The agreement between TESDA and BPA/P was signed
on February 4. If we are able to see the same success as what we saw in the pilot, we should be
able to recruit over 40,000 O&O workers through this program, close to one-third of the total
recruiting target for the year.
Finally, on the demand-building side, BPA/P has provided much impetus as well to the
roadmap theme of creating the right “business environment” for O&O. A legislative agenda
has been defined providing focus on two important areas of concern: maintain our current tax
incentive regime and updating the labor code provisions that affect O&O workers. Two important
international road shows with President Arroyo were also implemented – one in New York in
October and one in London in early December. In both these road shows, the President has
supported the industry pitch that BPA/P has set, along with the support of many BPA/P members
who had joined the delegations.
The next 300 days will even be more exciting as we see our programs picking up traction in
2008. The Talent Development program will accelerate the talent partnerships with universities
for both undergrad and post-graduate programs and also test skills in competency tests. The
Next-Wave Cities program will release the publications related to O&O Inventory and the cities’
ranking. The Business Environment program has already outlined the road show schedule for the
year and updated the legislative agenda to include the cybercrime and data privacy proposals. All
marketing collaterals and the website have also been upgraded.
The roadmap has indeed been a very effective engagement tool judging from what we have
seen in the first 100 days. As long as we stay committed to our 2010 goals, we see continued
support for the themes we have deployed as part of the O&O Roadmap. z
New Beginnings
Being part in the creation of something new, witnessing a transformation that affects not just
your immediate circle but the industry and the country as well – that just might describe, in a
nutshell, one of the most fulfilling aspects of this job.
I’d been with BPA/P for the last three years. I’ve been privileged to be part of a community
that has grown to become a powerhouse industry that has made the country, if not the United
States, sit up and notice. I had become friends and comrades with colleagues who took the first
struggling steps in understanding the dynamics of what is now called the O&O industry. After
understanding comes mastery, and after several long years, we are poised to become the no. 2
outsource destination in the world (that is, if we are not already). We are seeing the promise
fulfilled, the initial harvest of the seeds that we had planted.
BPA/P is now the umbrella association for the Offshoring and Outsourcing Industry. The
road has become clearer, and a map has been drawn up to show us the way. It is not a mere guide,
but an information tool and a manual to maximize the profits and benefits of a multibillion-dollar
industry. You can feel the excitement in the air, as the government and the supporting sectors in
the various industries pledge their alliance and help. The buzz is spreading, and with it a sense of
welcome urgency – talents have to be trained, next-tier cities have to be developed, and word has
to be gotten out to the rest of the world which still has to know (like Europe, for instance) that the
Philippine BPO industry stands ready and able to serve their needs.
Success is a collective effort, and the beckoning promised land plotted by the roadmap is
showing us how to cooperate in new ways. This goes beyond the setting aside of petty rivalry
to join in a common cause; we are talking intensive, substantial cooperation, not just between
companies, but between industry associations.
Again, it has been my privilege to set and see this plan into motion. The BPA/P has begun
to link hands with our counterparts in the various industries, such as the Contact Center of
the Philippines (CCAP), the Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI), the Medical
Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines, Inc. (MTIAPI), the Philippine Software
Association, Inc. (PSAI), and the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP).
But the results increase significantly when it is the industries themselves through their
associations that pledge and fulfill a continuous partnership. Resources are pooled, knowledge is
shared, common obstacles are addressed, and promotional efforts are greatly enhanced. Indeed,
there is strength in numbers, as there is in unity.
Even international boundaries may no longer prove to be a hindrance one day. The BPA/P
and India’s leading trade association, the National Association of Software and Service Companies,
also known as NASSCOM, are also discussing ventures of possible cooperation and collaboration.
Yes, we are competitors – but the beauty of the global outsourcing industry is that the orchard is so huge
that we can harvest the fruits together without one bumping off the other.
Again, another beginning that can build ties and bring fruition to our efforts. And I believe
that in as much as this industry is continually growing, this act of creation will continue.
I myself stand at the threshold of my new beginning. By the time this publication is released,
I shall be holding a new position in a new company. Relax, my friends, it is still within the
industry and BPA/P remains closer like a brother. I thank everyone in the BPA/P association for
allowing me to be part of their lives, and for the good memories I shall cherish once I start tending
the vine in my new position.
The work will never stop and I am happy to remain at the forefront. Good harvest, my
friends, and I will see you around. z
www.bpap.org
BPA/P Updates
Why Europe?
By Stephanie Weber
Business Development Manager
European IT Services Center
A strong peso and huge
growth potentials in Europe
should spur Philippine BPOs
to take on the challenge
“Europe is now the world’s most
active outsourcing market … in
2007 Europe surpassed the Americas in
both the number of contracts awarded
in the region and in total value.” (TPI
quarterly index, January 2008)
Already reaching a saturation level
in the United States, outsourcing is
now starting to grow tremendously in
Europe. On the basis of a stable economy,
European companies have started to catch
up in outsourcing, making the continent
the outsourcing growth market for the
next few years.
Looking at the Philippines’ supply side,
we find the following picture: currently
65% of the BPO business in the Philippines
deals with the United States, in contrast to
only 10% with Europe. Taking into account
history, language, and the past outsourcing
trend, this share is understandable. But
these figures also show that the European
outsourcing boom has a huge growth potential
for Philippine companies.
In the last years the Philippine
BPO industry has grown with the US
outsourcing trend. Now it has to be careful
not to get directly affected by a slowdown
of the US economy. A more balanced
export target country structure would
make the Philippines less vulnerable to
trends in one of the market countries.
This is already obvious in the development
of the peso as compared to the US dollar.
In 2007, the peso gained 20% against
the dollar. If you go back five years, the
appreciation adds up to 31%. If you look at
the peso-euro exchange rate over the same
periods, you find a much better picture:
last year the appreciation of the peso was
8%, and today the peso is still 6% under the
exchange rate it had five years ago.
The outlook for the next two years does not
give an indication that the peso-dollar trend
will change; on the contrary the appreciation
of the peso will continue. Jumping on the
European outsourcing wave thus makes
even more sense. But as with everything,
there is also a downside: doing business with
Europe is slightly more difficult than with
the American market.
First, the Philippines is not very well
known as a well-established and excellent
offshoring destination. The press coverage
of the Philippines is very poor and in most
cases negative. Team Europe is working
on different activities to improve the
reputation of the Philippines and promote
the awareness of the Philippine BPO
industry in Europe. This initiative will make
it easier for Philippine companies to market
in Europe as it reduces the effort in “selling”
the Philippines before they can sell their
own services.
Second, Europe consists of many
countries with many different cultures
and languages. With the exception of
the United Kingdom, Ireland, and little
Malta, the European countries have
non-English mother tongues, a fact that
makes communication more difficult
for Filipinos. There are however,
several countries, in particular those in
Scandinavia, as well as the Netherlands,
which have citizens who speak English
very well. Starting with these countries
makes a market entry into Europe
easier.
Another possibility to minimize the
communication problem is to partner
Breakthroughs
with European IT-consultants or software
companies. Many of these have reached
their capacity limits as demand is
rising and finding experienced staff is
getting more difficult and expensive. A
partnership with a Philippine firm would
enable these companies to increase their
business and also to be more competitive
price-wise. Cooperation partners won’t
change with every new customer, as an
established
Philippine-European-team
works within a long-term relationship and
communications structure.
This business model also eliminates
the issue that many European companies
prefer local counterparts which speak their
language and that are more accessible during
their business hours. A partner company
in Europe takes over this part and reduces
cultural differences.
Yes, there are difficulties in entering the
European market, but it’s not necessarily an
impossible task. It might take more effort
and you may have to modify your strategy
over time, but the potential there is definitely
worth more than a try. Keep in mind that the
outsourcing companies in India, China, and
Vietnam are facing the same problems — yet
they are already working hard to get a piece
of the European outsourcing cake. Don’t let
them take it all! z
For questions and more information,
please contact weber@eitsc.com or
(632)-845-1324.
Power Team Directs BPA/P to
Address Members’ Info Needs
By Gigi Virata
BPA/P Executive Director
for Information and Research
Members of the Information and
Research (I&R) Power Team,
on January 28—the first Power
Team meeting for this year—set
clear directions for the BPA/P
information
and
research
service line: to provide timely
information and data relevant
to all members of all sizes in all
industry sectors.
There was general agreement in
discussions led by Arup Maity, the
Research Head of the Philippine Software
Industry Association and Frank Holz of
Outsource2Philippines that the information
needs of all industry sectors should be
addressed—not just for voice but also for nonvoice, IT, animation, transcription, gaming,
and engineering services companies. Needs
of smaller companies must also be met.
Members also acknowledged that there
were cross-cutting issues that could be
examined in joint research efforts. As an
initial activity, Holz agreed to focus the next
O2P-BPA/P periodic survey on the effects of
the peso appreciation and to report the results
to the membership.
Nerissa
Mendoza
of
PriceWaterhouseCoopers suggested that the
group also mine Offshoring and Outsourcing
Philippines: Roadmap 2010 and use this as
a guide for ensuring that the Power Team’s
efforts remain aligned and focused on priorities.
Other suggestions involved coordinating
with the other BPA/P Power Teams. For
example, success stories and case studies
were identified as effective information tools
and the effort to produce these materials
could be done jointly with the Marketing
Power Team. The Human Resource (HR)
Power Team, meanwhile, would be the ideal
partner for gathering vital HR-related data,
including the tracking of IT graduates.
BPA/P Research Consultant Tonette
Consuelo and I, using FutureProof Asia’s
QlikView business intelligence software,
presented
BPA/P’s
Offshoring
and
Outsourcing (O&O) Inventory. This database,
currently with over 600 entries, keeps track of
Philippine companies engaged in exporting
O&O services. The data, including numbers
of full-time employees, can be sorted by
sector and subsector, location, size, and
association membership.
The discussions that followed covered
two concerns: 1) how best to improve the
timely flow of data to and from BPA/P and
its members and 2) what technology tools or
platforms would facilitate this information
flow. Suggestions to address these concerns
included the following:
• Companies must have incentives to respond
to the surveys, i.e., to get data D, they must
participate in activities A, B, and C;
• Companies could be made to upload or
update their data before being given access
to BPA/P data;
• Oblige members to provide data as part of
the membership requirements, as well as to
provide regular updates;
• Survey companies on cross-cutting issues
faced by the industry;
• Explore other technology (including webbased and interactive) solutions for producing
and disseminating timely data; and
• BPA/P should firm up partnerships with
members and other suppliers for data
management solutions and non-technology
research initiatives. Examples are Asiatype,
Kaisa, Leechui & Associates/Jones Lang
LaSalle, PLDT, FutureProof Asia, which
were all represented at the meeting, as well
as with research committees of the industry
associations.
The City Scorecard was presented by
the scorecard team, which includes yours
truly, Consuelo, then Undersecretary Carissa
Cruz-Evangelista and Rhauline Lambino
of the Department of Trade and Industry’s
Regional Operations Group (DTI-ROG),
and Commissioner Mon Ibrahim and Mae
Agne of the Commission on Information and
Communications Technology (CICT).
The larger, but older, scorecard ranks 43
cities across the country, while the smaller
but updated scorecard ranks 15 locations
that have organized ICT Councils under the
guidance of CICT. The latter does not include
cities in the National Capital Region (NCR).
ICT Councils are composed of stakeholders in
each location representing private and public
interests such as universities, chambers of
commerce and industry, real estate companies,
and local government officials.
BPA/P members acknowledge that the
scorecard is most useful for the expansion of
larger companies to sites outside of the NCR,
or even to NCR sites outside of Makati, Libis,
and Taguig. It has also been used by members
from the support industry to plan their
expansions or investments. It was pointed
out during the meeting that the information
is less useful for smaller companies and
may actually make competition tougher as
such tools attract more foreign investors. It
was suggested that the BPA/P databases thus
be sliced in more ways to provide focused
perspectives for specific sectors and not just
present the larger picture.
Aside from the companies mentioned
above, the good turnout at the meeting
included representatives from Accenture,
Asiatype, BayanTrade, BPI, CB Richard
Ellis, DTSI, Eximius BPO, HSBC,
MTIAPI, Sutherland Global Services,
TeleDevelopment Services, and Thomson
Philippines.
DTSI’s Gerry Topacio, who was
practically the one-man I&R Power Team
before this year, noted the good response
and participation of members to the call for
more concerted efforts to improve BPA/P’s
information and research service line. He
enjoined members to sustain this level of
response in a variety of ways, such as in
participating in subcommittees, providing
information, responding to surveys, and
continuing to provide comments and
suggestions to the BPA/P research team. z
With reporting by Tonette
Consuelo and Laura Noel of BPA/P
Regular meetings for the I&R Power
Team will be held on the last Monday of every
month, before the regular BPA/P general
membership assembly. Notices will be sent
out. Any member wishing to join or send
comments and suggestions may contact Gigi
Virata at info@bpap.org.
BPA/P Research Tools
www.bpap.org
10
BPA/P Updates
Breakthroughs
BPA/P Jan. and Feb. Membership Assemblies
The
Business
Processing
Association of the Philippines
(BPA/P) held two general
membership assemblies for
the first quarter – with a third
by the time this publication is
released.
The January General Membership
Assembly was held last January 30 at The
Blue Leaf, 100 Park Avenue, McKinley Hill
Village, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. The
speakers were: Mr. Wayne Tollemache,
Executive Vice-President of First Advantage
– Asia Pacific, who spoke on “Talent
Acquisition Made Easier, Faster, Better, and
Risk-free”, and Dr. Cayetano Paderagana
Jr., Chairman of IDEA, Inc. who discussed
“Philippine Competitiveness in the O & O
Industry.”
Almost a month later, the BPA/P
members again convened on February 26 at
the Renaissance Makati City Hotel, Makati
City for the February General Membership
Assembly. One of the guest speakers was Ms.
Corazon D. Conde, Senior Vice-President of
the Development Bank of the Philippines,
who talked about “DBP-SME Facility for
IT.” The second speaker, Mr. Tomer Vernik,
Regional Sales Director of Nice Systems,
spoke on “The Real Value of NICE Smart
Center for Contact Center.”
Both evenings ended on a high note, as
information was shared, ideas exchanged,
and BPA/P members mingled and bonded as
a community. z
Present in the January assembly were (l-r): SITEL Phils. Country Mgr. Dan Reyes;
Affinity Express Pres. Jose Moran; Headstrong Phils. Managing Consultant
Raymond Lacdao, Jobstreet Select Country Sales Manager Raffy Maramag
Dr. Cayetano Paderanga Jr., Chairman IDEA Inc.
and PeopleSupport President Bong Borja
From l-r: BPA/P Industry Affairs Dir. Mitch Locsin, Dan Reyes, Jose Moran,
Raymond Lacdao, Raffy Maramag, and Anand Chopra, President/CEO Citigroup
Business Solutions Pte. Ltd.
Hans Montenegro, Senior Manager, Corporate Recruiting,
Convergys; Mitch Locsin and Oscar Sañez
BPA/P officers and members participated in the
first two assemblies for the first quarter.
BPA/P “Angels” Work NASSCOM 2008
By Jamea Garcia,
Cathy Ileto, and Gigi Virata
A preview of how India sees
the Philippine BPO industry
On the first day of NASSCOM 2008,
our boss, BPA/P CEO Oscar Sañez, sent an
SMS asking how we were doing. We, the
three female BPA/P Executive Directors
(a.k.a. “Oca’s Angels”), reported back to
him that we had attracted some attention
in the first four hours of the three-day
Leadership Forum. Gigi Virata had publicly
corrected a speaker who had declared that
“the Philippines was not part of Asia,”
and the waiters of the Grand Hyatt had
very kindly acquiesced to Cathy Ileto’s
request for a table on which our delegation
could park their brochures. We are indebted
to NASSCOM for turning a blind eye to these
transgressions.
On the more serious side, NASSCOM
2008 was very well attended—using the
lack of seats at sessions, dense traffic of
people at networking events and breaks,
and SRO at meals and eating outlets as
indicators of the overflowing participation.
The sessions were also overflowing with
information and insights with consistently
high-quality speakers and panelists.
Among the salient publications launched
at the convention were the NASSCOMEverest India BPO Study (India’s road
map to 2012), the Indian IT/ITES Industry
2008 Study by NASSCOM and Deliotte,
and NASSCOM’s Strategic Review 2008
which is a mine of information on the
IT-BPO sector in India (BPA/P has a copy
for browsing at its office).
A key takeaway for the Philippine
delegation was that our own industry had
been marked as the main competitor to India.
While any mention of the Philippines was
absent for most of the conference, except for
the misinformation cited above, our country
was repeatedly cited by the Everest Group
speaker and the NASSCOM panelists in the
concluding forum: “Taking India to the Next
Level of Global Leadership.” First described
as “a small island somewhere in the Pacific,”
the Philippines was then portrayed as having
quietly but systematically produced 300,000
workers in the offshoring and outsourcing
industry. We were held up as the reason why
India had to improve its education system
(“the Philippines teaches US GAAP in their
university curriculum!”) and to prompt its
From l-r: Karmeli Kintanar, K-Search Consulting Director; Rubi Ann Barcelona, K-Search Sr. Manager; Beverly Satsatin, Jebsen & Jebsen Account Manager;
Precy Katigbak, PLDT Asst. Vice-President; Cathy Ileto, BPA/P External Affairs Director; B/PAP Information & Research Director Gigi Virata; NASSCOM Asst.
Vice-President Md. Shahabuddin; BPA/P Talent Director Jamea Garcia, and Nora Terrado, Headstrong Country Manager.
legislature to keep India’s tax incentives
(sound familiar?).
We also learned that all countries
participating in this industry face the same
challenges: producing enough talent, fighting
attrition and currency appreciation, improving
infrastructure, etc. There were, however, some
interesting nuanced differences. For example,
NASSCOM’s Assistant Vice-President Md.
Shahabuddin told us that “Indians don’t
listen” and thus their near-hire training focuses
on teaching listening skills. It probably says
something about us that we focus on logical
reasoning in our training.
In addition to Shahabuddin, we were
graciously hosted by our other NASSCOM
counterparts, our colleagues in the AsianOceanian Computing Industry Organization,
and other international organizations
(though one host failed to feed Jamea
Garcia lunch—a big mistake). Most
importantly, our entire delegation, which
included representatives from Colliers,
Kaisa, KSearch, Headstrong, Jebsen and
Jessen, PLDT, and Rockwell Land, received
plenty of attention from potential investors
and other interested parties wanting to do
business in the Philippines.
To sum it up, the attention that
the Philippine O&O industry received
in NASSCOM 2008
was tacit
acknowledgement of the achievements
of our industry. We have been recognized
by astute global businesses that we are an
important space in which they must play.
As Oca’s Angels, we felt we did our part
to create more awareness of our presence
at the conference by sticking up for our
country and using our resourcefulness to
lay claim to some space in an international
arena. But we will fully understand if Oca
says that, in the future, he will attend the
NASSCOM events himself. z
www.bpap.org
12
Executive Profile
Breakthroughs
SPi: Defining the Competition
in Their Space
By Ina B. Teves
For any IT/BPO company,
nothing signals success
more than the awards and
recognitions it continually
earns. SPi, together with
major
global
players
Genpact,
WNS,
EXL
Services, among others,
were recently named in
the Global Services 100
list soon to be featured
in Fortune Magazine.
The Global Services 100 list is a compilation of the
world’s most innovative service providers. SPi has been
named in three categories:
• #3 among Leaders in Emerging Asian Markets
• #6 among Best Performing BPO Providers
•#9 among Leaders in Human Capital Development
For SPi, success is made sweeter because it is a
David among many Goliaths — a David who chose
the right strategy at the right time. The company was
founded as SPI Technologies in 1980 by New Zealander
Alan Fraser. He saw the opportunity to take advantage
of the country’s highly trainable force, familiarity with
the English language, and favorable cost structure to
provide data entry and content conversion services to
the likes of Sony, Citibank, and Boeing, among others.
SPi pioneered the growth of BPO in the
Philippines. In 1997, it ventured into the Scientific,
Technical, Medical (STM) journal content production
services. Two years later, SPi ventured into the callcenter business with eTelecare, one of the world’s
leading independent call centers and, at that time,
was the most publicized call center operations that
focused on US outsourcing.
“While we are 28 years old, the company as people
know it today – and we have a high brand recognition
globally – is actually probably not more than 8-10
years old,” says Peter Maquera, SPi’s President and
CEO. “We’ve consciously moved from being a projectbased low-level outsourcing company to a much more
diversified higher-value service provider with one of the
broadest global delivery platforms in the industry.”
SPi’s transformation took place under the leadership
of Maquera’s predecessor, Ernest Cu, who would later
on become the 2003 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of
the Year in the IT category.
Global clients started to take notice in 2003-2004
when SPi did a major job for Elsevier, the world’s
leading publisher of science and health information.
“We built what was at that time the largest online
repository in the world with nearly 40 million pages
on the Internet,” says Maquera. “It demonstrated this
Philippine company’s ability to do large-scale contracts.
That put us on the radar screen and was the impetus for
securing other large contracts from marquee customers.”
Today SPi has around 450 customers worldwide.
Maquera recounts: “We were a bit difficult to
understand in those days because there were only a
handful of BPO companies in the Philippines. Largescale non-voice companies are very few; these are
independent companies who have over a thousand
people in the non-voice knowledge outsourcing space.
We were alone for quite a while. We’re very proud
of being a catalyst in the BPO industry and a lot of
companies are now coming in.”
In July 2006, ePLDT acquired SPi and later formed
SPi Global Solutions, which, together with ePLDT
Ventus, employs more than 134,000 people in 22
locations across the United States, the Philippines, India,
and Vietnam and with revenues in the range of US$240
million (US$200 million for 2007 and US$240 million
for 2008).
A matter of expertise
“Our competitive edge is differentiation,” Maquera says.
“Our business and our success is really about being best in class
in the domains we target. What we’re trying to do, especially
with the help of the PLDT Group, is to become a full service
Knowledge Process-Customer-Interaction-IT services strategic
partner to our customers.”
To be successful in the industry, a BPO company must have
core expertise in three fundamental areas, says Maquera: HR,
which is recruitment, training, and leadership development
processes; process engineering, which involves making
processes lean, efficient, and reliable; and quality, which is
about developing a system for measurement and continuous
improvement.
“We’ve customized those fundamentals specifically and very
effectively for publishing, legal, and healthcare,” says Maquera.
He explains their vision: “We want to be the employer of
choice, vendor of choice, and investment of choice. I don’t
“The challenge is to compete effectively against companies
that are so much bigger than you, that come from outside the
industry, and have a history of transforming industries. It will
be an interesting next five years.”
He adds, “We can’t compete with the big companies
in everything that they do, but if we specialize, we can be
successful against them in our chosen target market.”
Getting the best from the best
With the dollar falling, how does one company preserve its
margins and keep good people?
“You have to find higher value services where you
can earn more,” says Maquera. “And you have to look for
ways to improve productivity, so that your
people can produce more than they produced
before.”
Higher-value services and increasing
productivity through automation are the main
hedge sagainst currency risk. “Our franchise
centers on our customers and people. We
continually strive to do higher value work
for our customers and spend significantly
on our people,” Maquera says. SPi’s HR
cost – salaries, recruitment, training and
development – are in the order of 60% to
70% of its total expenses.
Providing higher-value services requires
hiring higher skilled people to do more than
just traditional data entry. One example is
in the medical billing business which has
very complex and highly regulated rules for
reimbursement. SPi’s employees prepare and
process bills for thousands of people in the US.
The employees have the education, training
and experinece to code and process bills so
that the hospital can get reimbursed quickly
and accurately by the patient, the insurer,
and the government. In this relationship, as
a result, the hospital can focus on their core
competence because SPi freed them from
back-office work.
“That’s way beyond data entry,” says
Maquera. “Because this work is more complex,
the employee doing it will make more money
than the average college graduate who only
got basic training for a couple of months and
started in a low-level function. We’re also
hiring Filipino lawyers who have passed the
bar exam and have a number of years’ work
experience in a recognized law firm. We have
them working on legal documents involving
US court cases alongside US attorneys. Now,
that’s really high-level work that you can pay
a premiium for.”
For Maquera, who left the Philippines
at age seven and came back 10 years ago,
the five past years with SPi have been most
fulfilling. “We’ve grown by over four
times in revenues and the SPi brand is now
recognized globally,” he says. “Others saw
our success, and it gave them confidence to
also set up business here. It’s exciting to have
played a part in transforming the Philippines
into the preferred BPO destination.”
Maquera wants to see SPi continue to grow
into a truly global company, demonstrating
operational excellence wherever the work is
done. “We want to be recognized by customers
as best in class in the industry, and their
preferred strategic BPO partner.”
In 2007 SPi was recognized as the
Top Offshoring Provider for 2007 by the
International Association of Outsourcing
Professionals. The 2007 Socha-Gelbman
Electronic Discovery Survey ranked SPi
among the Top 20 Overall Market Leaders.
SPi President and CEO Peter Maquera
The same survey also ranked it among the top
10 providers by law firms and corporations.
think of our business in a static way. It’s BPO today but we’re It is in the top 10 in collection, processing, review, and
really just trying to build a legacy – something greater than analytics as well.
Maquera says, “The most exciting aspect about this industry
when we first found it. So if you need to adapt, how you will do
so depends on competitive forces, changes in technology, and is that it’s new, huge, and global. You’re coming in at a point
changes in consumer demand. That’s why our vision is a bit where life is what you make it. Your success is a function of
your creativity, perseverance, and will to win. To achieve in this
general and yet we focus on the job at hand.”
It’s a vision that allows them to stay ahead of the curve. business, you’re held to such high standards because you’re
A big challenge today is that the major IT and call center competing globally – and if you’re successful, it’s validation that
companies are converging into non-voice BPO. Maquera says, you are completely world-class.” z
www.bpap.org
14
Special Profile
Breakthroughs
Giving Back Means Going Global
BPO International’s new president intends to take the company global
By Bernardo V. Franco Jr.
If there is one skill that Paul
Pilao, President and CEO of
BPO International, Inc., has
mastered from his extensive
professional experience, it is his
ability to foresee the necessary
step to take himself and his
company to the next high level.
Now couple that with the ability
to accomplish whatever task he
puts his mind to, and one sees
a driven achiever.
BPO International, Inc. stands to benefit,
as Pilao is set on making the company a major
player in the global business outsourcing
market. He carries with him a network
of global consulting companies, as well
as significant knowledge and expertise in
Western management culture and services.
“The challenge that we have right now is
that, although we’ve been in the outsourcing
business for a while and have an excellent
client list, the transactions we support are
still predominantly local,” he reveals. “We’re
basically not there yet. We currently don’t
have sales offices in the United States or in
Europe. What we intend to do is use different
sales channels to reach those markets. The
thrust of our business over the next two
years, beyond continuing a healthy domestic
growth, is to reach the North American and
European markets.”
One advantage that BPO International
has is its shared legacy with the prominent
firm SGV & Co; the company had acquired
the latter’s outsourcing practice. “People
have a natural respect for our finance and
accounting heritage coming from SGV,”
Pilao acknowledges. “We compete in the
higher value services BPO space — finance
and accounting, payroll, and HR (human
resources). As far as local competition is
concerned, we’re favorably positioned, based
on reputation and depth of service.”
For providing outsourcing services for
almost 30 years, BPO International has
enjoyed the loyalty of clients who are always
open to the new services that the company is
developing. “We can continue to build on
those relationships,” says Pilao.
Initiatives are being developed that will
raise even higher the standards of excellence
of the company. “In this business,” he says,
“the more efficient and innovative you are,
the higher the quality of service and value
you can deliver to your clients. That would
guarantee that new opportunities will continue
to come and existing clients will stay.”
BPO International’s new CEO believes
in applying creativity and imagination on
business fundamentals. “We are focused
on investing in the two most critical
levers of our business: our people and
our technology.” Pilao hints that the
company will launch a new platform-based
services model running on tier-one ERP
applications that can be offered to clients on
a subscription basis. He says, “Our aim is
to fully leverage processes and technology
solutions to effectively exploit the key
drivers of BPO value: economies of scale,
process optimization, and low labor cost.”
This new offering will give their potential
clients (both local and foreign) the option to
subscribe to a bundled solution (technology
and processing services) without the
traditional up-front capital investment. “I
don’t believe that there is a similar service
Paul Pilao, BPO International CEO, is keen on sharing what he has learned overseas.
currently being offered by our competition,”
Pilao points out.
Innovation is also constantly being
applied to the main core of BPO International,
which is its human capital. The company is
implementing a program that will provide
training to each staff member from entry level
to executive management. This is a form of
investment that will gauge the performance
of every employee and measure the skills
that need to be strengthened, improved or
both. The training stems from a belief that
Pilao describes this way, “Every individual
plays an important role in an organization
in terms of leadership, innovation, good
corporate citizenship, and their role in the
collective ability to move forward.”
Returning home
To Pilao, moving forward meant going
back to his homeland. The University of
the Philippines (UP) alumnus took his postgraduate studies in the East Coast and then
did consulting with KPMG in New York.
He was one of the youngest to be promoted
and at that time, the only Filipino KPMG
partner in the US. For years, Pilao enjoyed a
successful career abroad, but something was
missing.
“Having lived in a lot of the choice
destinations in the world in terms of culture
and sophistication, like Munich, London, and
New York – it gets taxing at some point,”
he explains. “I used to come back here for a
visit every year during Christmas for a couple
of weeks, and I always struggled to leave
because I really enjoyed coming home, and
(being) close to family and friends.”
Pilao grabbed the opportunity when
it did present itself. “I bumped into BPO
International during my exploratory
venture into the Philippine BPO industry,”
he recounts. “I met with their chairman,
looked at their history, and saw both the
business potential and the value I can add
to the organization.
It’s really a good
way for me to re-apply what I’ve learned,
especially for homegrown companies like
BPO International. Our eventual success
can also help in the creation of jobs directly
and indirectly related to the industry.”
He is more than eager to share what
he knows, saying, “Having been exposed
to global business and management best
practices, I can combine all that (knowledge)
and bring them here, not only in this
company, but share them among different
companies here in the Philippines.” Again,
that prescient ability to see the road ahead
has widened his vision. He hopes that what
he begins in BPO International will create a
domino effect that will benefit the industry
as a whole.
“I think positioning us to really be at a
level where we can compete with the best
is a great challenge, but a necessary goal,”
Pilao says. “We have this year to make sure
that we are on track on our fundamentals
and our go-to-market strategies. It takes a
little bit of time to get everybody’s headset
aligned towards a shared direction. We have
to be vigilant but patient.” z
www.bpap.org
Breakthroughs
Special Report
15
Trends in global outsourcing
The talent pool is what sets apart a country as an outsourcing destination
Global Centers of Excellence
in different types of business
process
outsourcing
and
offshoring are emerging as
companies worldwide have
realized the advantages of
O&O.
Research and consultancy firm Tholons
identified these country and city Centers of
Excellence in a presentation showing the
results of its two-year study during the 8th
e-Services Global Sourcing Conference and
Exhibition held last February.
Tholons Chairman & CEO
Avinash Vashistha said that in
a globalized economy, some
organizations have realized
that they would be better off
concentrating on their core
business while outsourcing
some related functions to
other organizations – but
they are not just picking one
outsourcing firm or country.
Instead, Vashistha said, “Key
functions of organizations will
get concentrated at different
Centers of Excellence but
would work seamlessly with
each other.”
He
added
that
organizations are “sourcing
the best possible skills from
the locations which can best
deliver them.”
European languages; this lower-value work
comes at relatively affordable cost.
Latin American countries like Argentina,
Chile, Brazil, and Costa Rica are developing
the necessary infrastructures to support the
domestic IT and BPO industries. The last
two countries in particular are known for
enterprise resource planning (ERP) and
shared services, respectively.
Nearer to the United States, Canada still
wields strong IT and back office capabilities,
and Mexico is attracting investors requiring
custom development, customer support, and
Spanish language skills.
Vashishtha said that in deciding where
to outsource or offshore, companies are not
looking for a big location such as India but
instead are splitting processes depending on
a particular location’s strengths. Thus, the
Philippines is getting outsourcing projects
requiring its talent pool’s English proficiency.
Companies not requiring English proficiency,
though, would outsource to non-English
speaking countries such as China.
Vashistha estimated that US$1.2
trillion is outsourced to third parties yet
not a significant portion of this has been
offshored. This spells a lot of opportunities
for other countries participating in the
global O&O market.
What will set a country or city apart as
an outsourcing destination is talent. Vashistha
said that in categorizing a country or city as a
Center of Excellence, “in the long term, it is
talent that will separate the best from the rest.”
He said that although cost is an important
consideration in choosing the place to
outsource, the more critical factors for
companies are the workforce quality and
the location’s ability to muster an adequate
service supply to meet rising demand. These
conditions are crucial to sustained business
operations, especially if service providers are
confronted with high attrition rates. z
Report by Artemio F. Cusi III
Players and expertise
The
Tholons
study
identified India as a Center of
Excellence in IT & back office
while the Philippines has
been recognized as a Center
of Excellence in customer
support. It identified other
Asian countries as Centers of
Excellence in various types of
outsourcing:
• China: Embedded
Software, Japan focus;
• Vietnam: Basic Transaction
Processing, Hi-tech
Product Engineering, PCbased Applications;
• Thailand: Engineering
Services;
• Sri Lanka: F&A Services,
UK focus;
• Malaysia: Engineering
Services (Automotive
Industry);
• Pakistan: F&A services; and
• Singapore: Data Center,
Regional HQ.
In the larger O&O arena,
Tholons identified some
Central and Eastern European
countries as viable contenders
to their counterparts in the
Asian markets:
• Poland: European back
office, German language
skills;
• Hungary: European backoffice;
• Russia: Engineering
services, Custom
development; and
• Romania: Custom
development, French
language skills.
Although not mentioned
by the Tholons presentation,
Africa is viewed by O&O
analysts
as the “last
destination” of outsourcing
because of its huge but underutilized talent capable of
communicating in various
www.bpap.org
16
In Sights
Breakthroughs
The Philippines: From Agricultural
Producer to KPO Powerhouse
By Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala
“The success and emergence of the BPO
space are just the beginnings of a major
re-positioning of the Philippines.”
Greetings:
I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the
establishment of this Philippine office of Integreon. If I
may borrow the words of the first man on the moon, this
is one small step for this company, one big step for this
country. Let me explain in these brief remarks why we can
justifiably borrow these inspiring words to describe this
modest event.
The Philippines had long been regarded by the world as
a source of agricultural products like coconut and sugar in
earlier times and pineapples and bananas in later times. In
more recent years, Filipino workers in such fields as health
care, maritime trades, and other services have become our
country’s top export, generating billions of dollar remittances
each year. By this time, more than eight million Filipinos
or 10% of its total population are working abroad in a wide
variety of sectors, occupations, and countries. Filipino leaders
in business and politics have helped define and realize these
directions of the nation, and Filipinos have responded to the
economic opportunities with their feet.
The Ayala group is convinced that the time is right for
the Philippines to re-position itself to become the world’s
provider of high-value, professional services via outsourcing.
Instead of exporting goods or people, the Philippines could
very well be exporting services. The rapid growth and
continuing dynamism of business process outsourcing in our
country is part of this re-positioning, but it is hardly all of
it. The inauguration of this office is a further step in this repositioning.
Major shift
The business world is recognizing that the creation,
distribution, and application of unique proprietary knowledge
of corporate organizations can become a source of competitive
advantage. As a result, globally competitive business
organizations are investing heavily in systems to enable their
workforce to manage knowledge. It is estimated that about 48
million of the 137 million workers in the US are knowledge
workers, and the costs of their salaries and benefits are a major
part of total operating costs. One can easily imagine the value
of even just a 1% gain in productivity of these knowledge
workers. This is the market that the Philippines is going for:
Mr. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman and CEO of Ayala Corp., gave the following
speech at the launch of Integreon last January 30. [See Company News for related news – Ed.]
services to process knowledge in corporate organizations that
make their knowledge workers more productive. And we are
going after this market from offices such as the one we are
inaugurating today.
The Philippines has the population, economy, and society
to become a global powerhouse in knowledge process
services. It has a large young population that is oriented
to global engagement. Despite its recently diagnosed
problems, its educational system remains viable for training
and preparing future knowledge workers of the world. Our
modest infrastructure provides still adequate support to global
outsourcing business. Our greatest asset is that Filipinos,
adequately educated and properly organized, have a facility
for operating successfully within various cultures and under
various knowledge domains both on-site as overseas workers
as well as off-site as outsourcing workers.
The emergence and success of the BPO space are just the
beginnings of a major re-positioning of the Philippines from
provider of agricultural products or manpower to provider of
outsourced, high-value professional services to the world’s
business organizations. This start in Philippine-based
Knowledge Processing Outsourcing that we inaugurate today
is a further step in this exciting re-positioning of our country.
May our efforts and ambitions be blessed with success for
the good of our clients, our employees, our stakeholders, and
most of all, for this country. Thank you. z
Significant Drop in Philippine
BPO Attrition Rate
The High Technology Sector, which
includes
the
Telecommunications,
Computer and IT-Enabled Services with
BPO functions, posted a significant
attrition rate decrease from 21% in 2006
to 17% in 2007, according to the 2007
All Industry Survey conducted by the
Information Product Solutions (IPS)
Team.
One reason may be attributed to the continuous
growth and expansion in the BPO industry. This resulted
in greater elbow room for employees to shop around for
better employment, as well as an increase in employment
prospects in the market. The typical reasons given for
voluntary attrition are movement to better pay and
benefits, culture and environment, inability to cope with
work-related stress, and offshore opportunities.
Floriza Molon, Mercer’s Business Leader for the
Information Product Solutions (IPS) in the Philippines,
adds that the increasing migration of professional talent,
which is brought about by the rising demand for skilled
workers in the Asia Pacific, has resulted in a so-called
“War for Talent.” As a result, “War for Talent” has been
driving up the wages of employees in the Philippines.
Attrition has led to continuous increase in compensation
and benefits for all industries. Though most companies
remain conservative in giving increases, overall national
competitiveness has driven local companies to compete
with multinationals to be more aggressive in terms of
base pay and premium-giving to employees.
The 2007 All Industry Survey conducted by the IPS
Team surveyed 192 companies involved in the consumer,
energy, freight and logistics, and high-tech industries.
In another study about the notice periods for employees
who are resigning, Molon said that in the Philippines,
the minimum one-month requirement for the employee
notice period applies to employees with regular status.
For those still on probationary and under contracted
services, employment may be terminated anytime as long
as this is approved by their supervisors.
Many other countries likewise require employees
to give a month’s notice on resignation, although with
slight differences. For instance, in most, this requirement
applies to employees with one year of service. In one in
three countries, notice requirements change according to
an employee’s length of service. Also, individual contracts
of employment may specify a longer period of notice.
In a few other countries, the difference in these
practices is more significant. For example, in Mexico,
employees are not legally required to serve notice
before quitting. In the United States, there is also no
statutory requirement, though two or more weeks’
notice is customary. Laws in Hong Kong, Ireland,
Singapore and the United Kingdom require employees
with a year’s service to give minimum notice of one
week. At the other end of the spectrum, employees in
Switzerland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic must
give at least two months’ notice.
These data outlining the minimum legal requirements
for notice periods for employees across 43 countries are
taken from Mercer’s Global HR Factbook. z
Mercer is a leading global provider of consulting,
outsourcing and investment services and works with
clients to solve their most complex benefit and human
capital issues, designing and helping manage health,
retirement and other benefits. Its Global HR Factbook can
be ordered online at www.imercer.com/globalhrfactbook,
by fax at +41 22 329 49 04 or by e-mail at client.services.
geneva@mercer.com. For more information, visit
www.mercer.com.
www.bpap.org
In Sights
Breakthroughs
Local Animators Push
for Original Content
As
outsourcing
demand
grows,
enterprising local animators invest in
original content production
After over 25 years of providing world-class outsourced
animation work to foreign producers, local animation houses
are now shifting gear to offer original content this year, says
Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI) President
Grace Dimaranan.
In fact, the ACPI considers this move to a higher-value
business model as bigger news than 2007 revenue and
growth-rate figures. “The biggest development in the industry
this year is the increasing interest among animation houses
and independent animators in developing original content,”
Dimaranan says. “In this industry, having a portfolio of
original content is a mark of distinction that animation houses
can boast of.”
The spike in interest in original content creation was
for the most part triggered by the successful first run of
Animahenasyon, an animation-festival cum-contest that
recognized original Filipino content, last year. As a result,
Animahenasyon has become an annual recognition program
for the animation industry’s cream of the crop.
This year also marks the release of the first fulllength digital animation film. Produced by Cutting Edge
Productions, Dayo (www.dayomovie.com) features the
adventures of an 11-year-old boy who tries to save his
grandparents who were abducted by aliens and brought
to Elementalia, a magical land inhabited by some of the
popular creatures of Philippine mythology. Cutting Edge
Productions is a company that originally did post-production
services for television commercials. Dayo is its first foray
into animation.
“Cutting Edge Productions is proud to be the first to create
a ‘paperless’ full-length animation using digital processes
from the storyboard to the animation production,” says
Cutting Edge’s Managing Director Jessie Lasaten. He says
that the company decided to diversify into animation because
it is the only type of content that viewers from all over the
world can appreciate. “Animation transcends boundaries,” he
adds, citing the international popularity of Japanese anime
as an example. “In addition, we’re seeing an exciting trend
among first-world buyers of animated content. There is an
increasing interest in content from outside the US or Europe,
especially from Asian countries.”
Cutting Edge Productions and the entire animation
industry are hoping that Dayo will receive a warm response
from the public, should the venture make it as one of the
entries to the Manila Film Festival this December. Lasaten
admits that the cost of producing a full-length movie is
prohibitive, despite the fact that most of it is spent on post-
production processes that Cutting Edge Productions does
in-house. “We are subsidizing this project with resources
from other revenue streams,” he says. As such, whether or
not the company will have more animation projects after
Dayo depends on how well the public will receive this
groundbreaking exercise.
It does help that the whole industry is rallying behind
Cutting Edge Productions in the undertaking. “Through
Dayo, we hope to uplift the local animation industry and
show them that we are becoming more and more technologydriven,” says Lasaten. “Filipino talents are as good as
anyone else in the world. We can be globally competitive, if
we only have the resources.”
Marketing Philippine animators
While visionary companies like Cutting Edge
Productions are making the bold move to develop original
content, the ACPI ensures that the growth challenges of other
homegrown animation providers are being addressed. “The
industry has been consistently growing by 20% every year.
But what limits us remains to be the insufficient supply of
animators,” says Dimaranan. The US$105 million industry
(as of 2007 figures) is currently composed of approximately
7,500 animators. Although the number has increased by
2,000 from 2006, it is still a long shot from the goal of
25,000 animators by 2010.
To support its projected growth, animation companies
have themselves started to outsource animation work to
other provinces in the country. Cutting Edge Productions,
for example, is outsourcing processes to animators in
Baguio, Bicol, and Dumaguete for Dayo.
Dimaranan says ACPI’s promotional activities involve
both selling animation as a serious career to potential
animators and selling the Filipino animation industry
as the best in the league. “The government has been
very supportive of our advocacies by consistently
providing us with opportunities to promote the
industry,” she says. “For example, the annual e-Services
Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition and the
Animazing Shorts, a competition for professional and
amateur animators, have served as effective venues
for us to showcase our capabilities, as well as original
content that we can call our own and be very proud of.”
This year the local animation industry will also explore
markets outside the United States to shield itself from the
possible impacts of the impending US recession. “For one, we
are collaborating with the European Chamber of Commerce of
the Philippines (ECCP) to penetrate the EU,” says Dimaranan.
“We have also been invited to participate in upcoming
promotional events in France and Prague. For the animation
industry, 2008 is proving to be a year of big leaps.” z
17
Client Trust and
Team Leadership
“There is no such thing as a difficult client.
We need to go beyond being a trusted
advisor.”
By Jameson Jimenez
Operations Director
Sutherland Global Services Philippines
I have been in the BPO industry for more than seven
years now and it has been a very rewarding experience. I’m
responsible for a huge client in the Philippines with a scope
that covers sales, technical, and customer support in several
locations around the country. I also handle several locations
in India, plus 500 seasonal technical support associates.
One question that faces me constantly is this: how do
you get the trust and confidence from all stakeholders to
handle multi-programs in several geographical locations?
The answer: genuine passion for customer service. It’s that
“WOW!” experience you give customers at all touch points.
I draw my passion for customer intimacy through
the nature of customer service itself. Maintaining their
relationships ensures strong and long-term partnerships and
professional friendships.
At the same time, I see to it that the people around me
are creative, perform as a team, solve complex problems,
improve quality control, and provide outstanding customer
service. It can be tough, but it can also present a fulfilling
challenge in finding the balance between reasonable control
and letting go, or at its extremes between controlling and not
being engaged.
Bringing this balance to the next level allows organizations
the opportunity to go beyond dynamism and innovation in
order to prosper.
I’d like to think of myself as passionate and participative,
and I develop my leaders in the following way:
1. Experiential learning – showing them how to do it by
doing it myself first. Learning through example is the best
way to learn.
2. Learning through mistakes and opportunities. Coaching
and mentoring are the strongest tools to ensure continuous
development. Leadership also means daily creating that
coaching opportunity.
One thing I’ve realized is that there is no such thing as
a difficult client. One needs to be beyond a trusted advisor.
Clients are just focused on results – and how to improve
them. A trusted partner goes way above and beyond genuinely
understanding how “we can” provide more value to the
client’s organization through value engineering. We have to
see the whole thing also from their eyes and once we do, we
will understand them better. It also helps to be transparent
with challenges as well as achievements.
Lastly, don’t forget to celebrate small victories with your
stakeholders along the way. It can be fun battling “who gets to
pay for lunch” with your client after successful QBRs. z
Sustained Growth of Software Industry
Expected Despite US Economic Downturn
Global promotions and institutionalized
efforts will cushion impact
After posting 30% growth for 2007, the US$359 million
Philippine software development industry is bullish about
sustaining its growth this year, despite the possible effects
of a US economic downturn.
According to Philippine Software Industry Association
(PSIA) President Ma. Cristina Coronel, 30% growth
is “doable,” since the local software industry has been
growing at a consistent rate since 2006. The only unique
major challenge that the industry is anticipating this year
is the impact of the weakening US economy.
“A downturn in the US economy will have an impact
on export companies like (ours), whose major market has
always been the US,” says Coronel, who is also President
of Pointwest Technologies, a homegrown ITO company.
While captive offshore delivery centers (ODC) like
Accenture, Dell and HSBC are partly shielded from the
effects of global economic fluctuations, homegrown
www.bpap.org
outsourcing vendors that make up most of PSIA’s
membership have started to feel the pinch. Points out
Coronel: “Our expenses are all peso-based while our
contracts are US dollar-based. So as the dollar weakens,
our top line decreases, causing our margins to decrease as
well.”
To mitigate the risks, PSIA has strengthened and
institutionalized efforts to market the industry globally.
“To start off, we have just finished reorganizing the PSIA’s
committees to complement the structure of the Business
Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P). This
will facilitate collaboration and allow us to better align
our projects and programs with those of the umbrella
organization,” Coronel says.
Brand Philippines
“We’ve been reaping the benefits of our previous efforts
to promote ‘Brand Philippines’ internationally,” she says.
“But this year, we want to take it further by drawing up an
extensive and intensive action plan.” This task has been
assigned to the committee on International Marketing,
headed by Exist Global, Inc. Chairman Winston Damarillo,
and to the committee on Marketing and Communication,
headed by Rosario Gruet, Senior Executive of Computer
Professionals Inc.
The association is also closely coordinating with concerned
government agencies such as the Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI), the Center for International Trade Expositions
and Missions (CITEM), and the Board of Investments (BOI)
to plan possible road shows or participation in trade shows
outside the Philippines.
“Events like the e-Services Global Sourcing Conference
and Exhibition have been very helpful to the PSIA in terms
of generating interest and visibility for the industry,” says
Coronel. “This is why we have always supported this annual
show. This year, in fact, we will have a special meeting with
the Japanese delegation within e-Services, where we will
present our capabilities, the challenges in penetrating the
Japanese market, and the strategies that we want to implement
to address them.” z
18
Industry Association Profile
Breakthroughs
THE MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION INDUSTRY’S “BIG SISTER”
Alliance establishments and strategic marketing should help make
the country the preferred destination of MT outsourcing
By Carlomar Daona
During her trips to the United States, Myla
Rose Reyes is often offered a job by some
people once they find out that she is a nurse
who has passed the Board exams. But the
President of the Medical Transcription
Industry Association of the Philippines,
Inc. (MTIAPI) has a ready cheery answer:
“Just give us the jobs and we will give
them to the Filipinos.”
Reyes is also the Managing Director of Total Transcription
Solutions Inc. (TTSI), handling its three business centers:
production facilities, training arms, and e-learning which creates
programs that are tailored for the academe. By establishing
alliances with schools, TTSI is helping develop “ready and
sufficient manpower to tap whenever we need them.”
Manpower or talent acquisition and development are among
the chief concerns of TTSI and other transcription companies
– and as such, are the key issues that occupy MTIAPI as well.
In the recent e-Services Philippines Global Sourcing Conference
and Exhibition held last February 11-12 at the SMX Convention
Center, Reyes said that the industry currently employs 10,000
transcriptionists and aims to develop 32,000 in two more years.
Though other BPO companies face the same manpower
predicament, the medical transcription (MT) industry has a
somewhat different strategy, thanks to a “wake-up call” that
the association experienced a few years ago. Reyes recalls,
“Some US companies had already considered partnering with
MTIAPI. But we realized that these clients were expecting a
large capacity for work; however, MTIAPI is composed of
SMEs.” While call centers have to fill in a large number of
seats, transcription companies usually number to about 36-500.
this is an easy business,” Reyes says. ‘We don’t want them to
close shop after only one year.” Meanwhile, the association is
reaching out to possible employees by providing the necessary
orientation to college students. She says, “Why not introduce
awareness of MT to the collegiate level where there is a higher
chance of us correcting the skills gap? We designed the
curriculum in such a way that it can be taught to non-medical
people like lawyers and finance professionals.”
Alliances and partnerships
Partnership with the academe is one way of orienting
potential talent who prefer to seek “white collar” university
education than technical training. Reyes continues, “We’ve
come up with a proposed elective course that CHED can use to
pilot in their schools and see if there will be significant interest
from their students. It will be an introduction to transcription
in general, not necessarily just MT, and the general skills that
can be taught across all courses; these skills include listening,
typing, accents, English proficiency, research techniques,
and computer operations.” The courses are designed with
flexibility, says Reyes: “If the students are from accounting and
they are given transcription, we can give them accounting and
finance work. Transcription is not just medical, but business,
legal, conference. These [dictations are] being recorded and
someone has to listen to and type them.”
MTIAPI is also involved with the PGMA Training for Work
Scholarship Program. Reyes says, “We monitor and make sure
that the vouchers are being used correctly, although we can’t
answer for the ones being given outside the association.” As of
publication, MTIAPI has been successful in disbursing 72% of
its assigned vouchers.
A lot has happened to the industry since the association’s
establishment in 2003. India has named the Philippines
its nearest competitor in the MT industry. This so-called
rivalry, though, has not been a hurdle in the partnerships that
are currently being developed between Philippine and Indian
MT companies; MTIAPI has also met with NASSCOM on
various occasions.
The industry’s growth has mirrored Reyes’ own career path;
starting out work as a medical transcriptionist in a department
of a Manila company, she rose to QA supervisor, unit manager,
until she became the VP of a 700-member-strong firm. It was
her last post before transferring to TTSI in 2002.
“We have done the initial steps,” says the industry’s selfdescribed big sister, “but our vision is to become the premier
destination of choice for MT outsourcing services.” The
U.S. MT industry is estimated to be worth US$110 million
in revenues, and the Philippines serves one percent of that
market. Reyes hopes to increase the market share to three
percent by 2010 with a revenue share of US$254 million.
One experience certainly supports her position. “Some
Americans still think we live in nipa huts. Our strategy
is to make them come here and let them see that things
are not as bad as what the news says,” Reyes narrates.
“We invited the President of the US-based Medical
Transcription Industry Alliance to come and speak in
the e-Services conference. He was surprised to see how
beautiful the Philippines is and became an ally of the
Philippine MT companies. During our second visit to the
American Health Information Management Association
[AHIMA], he provided the testimonial that the Philippines
is a great place.” z
Accuracy
There are other marked differences between the call center
and the transcription company. Reyes elaborates on the nature of
the business, “Our raw data is the doctors’ dictation which is the
transaction between the doctor and the patient. US Federal Law
requires every practitioner to talk, and this transaction between
the doctor and the patient created the demand for MT. For
example, this person from Florida who goes to California meets
an accident and becomes unconscious. The hospital has to do
some preliminary interview of this patient to treat him properly.
In the absence of any person to interview, it would be dangerous
to do medical procedures. What the hospital does is key in the
patient’s ID number like the SSS to make available his past
medical history. They find out the kind of antibiotics he may be
allergic to or if he had undergone surgery.”
Reyes says that the need for MT goes beyond diagnosis. “It
is used for billing, admission notes, consultation notes, followup notes, operative notes, surgery notes, and the discharge
summary,” she says. “The price of the billing will depend on
the surture, the wound, the material used, which are available
in the transcript. That’s why the accuracy of the report is
important; if you accidentally type in left instead of right, it
will make a big difference in the transcription.”
Reyes also provides a more sober perspective to popular
notions that a medical transcriptionist earns big bucks at a short
period of time. “It is true that some of us can earn Php70,000
monthly,” she says, “but making that amount of money means
that the transcriptionist has reached a considerable amount
of expertise. These are seasoned MTs who have been in the
business for three to five years and who produce very accurate
reports They are very fast and have gone through a series of
learning experience. Transcription and revenues are being
measured in terms of lines. The more lines you type, the
more money you make; the less accurate the lines, the more
penalties, the less money you make.” She also points out, “We
deal with doctors with different accents. We have to be very
careful with the way they pronounce the words and place it in
the right context.”
To manage the expectations of both students and
entrepreneurs who want to get into the business, MTIAPI
has launched several initiatives including the establishment
of partnerships and an information campaign that will correct
misimpressions while getting the word out that the industry
is growing and that practitioners can build a profession in it.
MTIAPI has conducted career advocacy seminars in different
schools and various regions in partnership with organizations
like the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical
Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the National
Competitiveness Council.
“We’ve done our part in educating people who think that
Myla Rose Reyes: From nurse to medical transcription industry head
www.bpap.org
Breakthroughs
Company News
19
Integreon Launches RP Operations
Integreon, a global leader in corporate, legal and financial complex knowledge process
outsourcing (KPO), launched its new office last January 30 at the 6750 Office Tower
on Ayala Avenue, Makati City. The ceremony was led by Jaime Augusto Zobel de
Ayala, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ayala Corp. In October 2006 LiveIt
Solutions Inc., the Ayala Group’s investment arm for business process outsourcing,
and Integreon announced a management-led buyout transaction that resulted in a
majority stake for LiveIt.
From left to right: LiveIT CFO Ginaflor C. Oris; Integreon Country Head Erik Joseph Tabuena; Ayala Corp. Chairman/CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel
de Ayala; Integreon President/CEO Liam Brown; Integreon CFO /CAO Preeti Mehta; and LiveIt CEO Fred Ayala.
Also present were Fred Ayala, LiveIt CEO; Liam Brown,
Integreon President and CEO; and Erik Joseph Tabuena,
Integreon Philippines Country Manager.
In his keynote address, Zobel de Ayala cited the Philippines’
capacity to become a “powerhouse” in knowledge-process
services. He also said, “The Ayala group is convinced that
the time is right for the Philippines to re-position itself to
become a leading global provider of outsourced high-value,
professional services. Our greatest asset is that Filipinos
are well-educated and have an excellent ability to operate
successfully across both multiple cultures and knowledge
domains.” [Read Zobel de Ayala’s complete speech in
Insights. – Ed.]
Zobel de Ayala noted that globally competitive business
organizations are investing heavily to enable their workforce
to manage knowledge and to be more productive. In the US
alone, there are an estimated 48 million knowledge workers
out of a total of 137 million workers. The value that can be
attained even with a one-percent gain in total productivity by
its knowledge workers is substantial, said Zobel de Ayala.
“The Philippines is well-positioned to gain a significant share
of outsourcing serving knowledge-intensive businesses,” he
stressed. “I expect to see rapid KPO growth here.”
Fred Ayala, LiveIt Solutions’ Chief Executive Officer,
said that Integreon has a strong track record in delivering the
highest levels of quality outsourcing services for the world’s
top legal and financial firms. Integreon’s customers include
six of the 10 largest global investment banks, two of three
largest global law firms, many Fortune 100 and FTSE 100
corporations, and several top private equity firms and hedge
funds. Integreon’s services enable its corporate clients to
spend more time on high-value work, such as strategy and
competence enhancement.
“The entry of Integreon into the Philippines marks a
breakthrough for the country into the high value-added
and rapidly growing KPO and LPO (Legal Process
Outsourcing) sectors,” said Ayala. “The opening of our
new Philippine operation will enable Integreon to expand
its geographic footprint, gain access to a large new pool of
skilled managers and professionals, and enhance Business
Continuity Planning capabilities.”
Integreon CEO Liam Brown, for his part, said that his
company, which has offices in New York, Mumbai, Delhi,
London, and North Dakota, has long viewed Manila as a
potential strategic delivery site. Its relationship with Ayala
Corp. brings a host of advantages from recruitment to
commercial real estate procurement, he said.
“The quality and abundance of talent as well as the
affinity for US legal and financial frameworks are definite
advantages in locating here,” said Brown, adding that, among
popular offshore destinations, the Philippines offers the
highest percent of graduates who are suitable for knowledge
intensive tasks.
According to Brown, Integreon’s presence in the
Philippines enhances the firm’s ability to seize opportunities
in the Offshore Legal Services sector, which is expected to
grow to nearly US$500 million; E-Discovery, which involves
the process of securing electronic data for litigation purposes
and which is expected to grow to US$3.4 billion within five
years; as well as in Offshoring Research and Analytics in
banking and financial services, which is projected to grow to
US$620 million within five years.
Founded in 1998, Integreon is a pioneer in the KPO and
LPO sectors, and was named last year as the world’s leading
provider of Research and Analytics outsourcing for the
second year running. It was also named the world’s leading
provider of Legal Document outsourcing in the fourth annual
“Black Book of Outsourcing,” which is the Brown Wilson
Group’s prestigious annual survey of outsourcing vendors
and advisors. (For more information about Integreon, visit
www.integreon.com.)
LiveIt Solutions, Inc. is the holding company for Ayala
Corporation’s investments in business process outsourcing.
It owns significant stakes in eTelecare, Affinity Express,
and Integreon.
Founded in 1834, Ayala Corporation is the oldest business
house in the Philippines and one of the largest conglomerates in
the country. Ayala and its listed subsidiaries have a combined
market capitalization of approximately US$20 billion. z
Gurango Software’s Managing Director
Honored as e-Champion
Tarcs Taruc, Managing Director of Gurango
Software, was recently honored as one
of four e-Champions at the e-Services
Awards 2008. The Awards recognize
innovative
products
and
services
developed by homegrown information and
communications technology companies
and pay tribute to personalities whose
efforts have significantly contributed to the
growth and advancement of the offshoring
and outsourcing industry [See Front Page
Stories for related story – Ed]. Taruc was
conferred the e-Champion Award for
Business Development in the Software
Development Industry for his initiatives
in local and international promotion of
the Philippine software industry, skills
development, export promotion, and
intellectual property awareness.
Taruc is a three-time president of the Philippine Software
Industry Association (PSIA) and trustee of the Business
Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P). As
PSIA President, he was instrumental in uniting the local
software industry, increasing PSIA membership by 300%,
and championing the Fly High Philippine Software 2010
Roadmap. As Executive Director of the IT Association of
the Philippines, Taruc successfully advocated for favorable
amendments to tariff policy for IT equipment and for the
www.bpap.org
From left: Board of Investments Exec, Dir. Celeste Ilagan, Department of Trade and Industry Asst. Sec. Felicitas Agoncillo Reyes,
Gurango Software Managing Dir. Tarcs Taruc, and DTI Senior Undersecretary Thomas Aquino
approval of the National Information Technology plan by
the President of the Philippines.
Gurango Software Corporation (www.gurango.com)
is a multinational software company that develops and
distributes products for the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem.
It operates its global product development and customer
service “back-office” in the Philippines, with local sales
and support provided by “front-office” subsidiaries in Asia,
Australia, Africa, the Middle East, Western Europe, and
North America. z
20
Company News
Breakthroughs
ICT Partners With Gawad Kalinga
When the first seven beneficiaries of Gawad Kalinga houses in Sitio Tawi-Tawi in in Barangay
Sta. Lucia in Pasig City received the keys to their new homes recently, top executives of
ICT Philippines, a provider of outsourced customer management and business process
outsourcing solutions to global clients, were there to witness the event. In fact, Executive
Vice President for Philippine Operations, John Langford, and Senior Vice President for
HR-Asia Pacific, Jovy Llanes, led the ceremonial turnover of keys.
The Tawi-Tawi GK beneficiary is all smiles as she gives the key to ICT SVP for HR Asia-PacificJovy Llanes
and ICT Exec. VP for Phil. Operations John Langford.
Gawad Kalinga, which means “to give care” in English, is
an organization focused on helping the problems of poverty.
Through TATAG (“to build”), GK builds colorful, durable
and secure homes for the poor. The program also provides
other physical structures such as pathways and drainage
systems, water and toilet facilities, schools, livelihood
centers, and clinics. In some areas, other structures such as
basketball courts and libraries are constructed as well once
basic infrastructure needs are set up.
Inspired by the thought “Customer Service, Community
Service In One,” ICT Philippines joined GK’s community
of caretakers, which not only gives monetary help to build
houses, but also extends sustained presence in the community
and the implementation of GK programs. The partnership
has an end goal of creating transformation from a caring to a
sharing society, uplifted from poverty.
“ICT is committed to fulfill its part as a responsible
corporate citizen,” said ICT Group, Philippines President
Karen V. Batungbacal. “The process of identifying where
to channel the company’s resources to give back to the
community was extensive. But in the end, our partnering
with GK to build homes and transform Sitio Tawi-Tawi into a
better community seems the best fit for ICT.”
ICT employees from across all sites, namely RCBC,
UnionBank, Marikina1 & 2, Shaw, and PBCom, supported
the cause. Aside from holding fund-raising activities, ICT
employees contributed their talents to the community. Those
with teaching backgrounds, for instance, agreed to teach
English to the children of Tawi-Tawi. Future activities such
as medical missions will likewise be sponsored by employees
who are nurses and dentists by education and background.
ICT has pledged to build 65 houses in Sitio Tawi-Tawi.
Fund-raising activities that have helped see the initial seven
houses into completion include a Timex watch sale, a Harry
Potter book sale, and a Krispy Kreme doughnuts raffle promo.
Donation boxes and voluntary salary deduction from ICT
employees are also ongoing. z
LogicaCMG: Name Change and a New Global Business Dev’t Exec
Information technology services company
LogicaCMG has been renamed Logica, but
promises to provide the same high-quality
service that has become synonymous
with its business worldwide.
Indeed, its new corporate name and revitalized,
modernized logo only reflect the company’s ultimate
objective: to create a single brand across all its markets in
its global network and keep a single set of values, systems,
and processes, which is aligned with global initiatives to
provide a single, recognizable identity for the company.
At the same time, the reborn Logica company will
introduce a new set of values for its customers, employees,
eTelecare Lauds
World Pacific for
the Second Time
World Pacific, the premier recruitment
process outsourcing firm in the call center
and business process outsourcing (BPO)
industry, has been praised by eTelecare,
a Philippine-based customer service
outsourcing company (partly owned by
Ayala) listed both in the Nasdaq Stock
Exchange and Philippine Stock Exchange.
World Pacific was awarded as having the “Best Yield
Rate” among eTelecare’s recruitment vendors for 2007
during the Appreciation Night at eTelecare’s newest facility
in Shaw.
This is the second time that World Pacific has been lauded
by eTelecare. In 2006, World Pacific was given the “Excellent
Endorser Award.”
This year, World Pacific is more committed to being a
valued recruitment vendor to world-class firms such as
eTelecare. Receiving the “Best Yield Rate Award” is a
testament to World Pacific’s aim to continuously provide
quality candidates to call centers and BPO firms. z
and the company itself, anchored on three simple words:
commitment, innovation, and openness.
Logica remains committed to working with its customers
and to delivering on its promise of reliable service every
time and all the time. In terms of innovation, the new
Logica will bring only top-notch people and best-of-breed
technologies globally to provide its clients world-class
services, and come up with more creative ways to ensure
that the company stays ahead of its competitors as a provider
of new-generation technologies and solutions. The new
Logica also commits itself to a more open and collaborative
working environment with its customers, always keeping
in mind their needs and wants in order to understand their
business, and encouraging trust so that the company and its
clients see each other as co-workers. Logica pledges as well
to seek best practices possible while providing the most
outstanding service to its customers.
Locally, the transition to the new Logica took effect on
February 27. As part of this aggressive push for its local
operations, Albert Mitchell Locsin, a known BPO figure in
the country, joined Logica on March 1 as its new Global
Business Development Executive. He brings to the company
a wealth of industry experience, having served as executive
of various BPO firms and most recently as Executive Director
for Industry Affairs of the Business Processing Association
of the Philippines (BPA/P), the umbrella organization of all
outsourcing companies in the Philippines.
Last year, LogicaCMG had only 36 employees. Today it
has 220, and plans are afoot to increase manpower to about
1,500 before the end of the year or early next year. z
Accenture Philippines Receives
ISO 27001 Stamp for Info Security
After attaining ISO 27001 re-certification
for its technology services last May,
Accenture Delivery Center in the
Philippines recently received the same
certification for Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO).
The ISO 27001 certification, the new industry
standard for information security management system
(ISMS), was conferred by the British Standards
Institute (BSI)-China. With this certification, Accenture
guarantees confidentiality, integrity, and availability of
the valuable information it manages for the company
and on its clients’ behalf.
“Accenture takes pride in providing our global clients
and company stakeholders the assurance of a comprehensive
information security management system that ensures
business continuity amid today’s threats,” said Beth
Lui, Country Managing Director. “Passing the stringent
requirements for ISO 27001 certification reinforces
Accenture’s credibility as a leading global delivery
services company for both IT and business processes and
its commitment to provide the highest quality industry
standards of services to our clients.”
An Information Security Management System
(ISMS) is a systematic approach to managing and
ensuring the security of critical company information.
The certification encompasses people, processes, and IT
systems. ISMS provides a set of management standard
specifications on the types of security controls that an
organization should implement to recognize and address
security risks by establishing controlled procedures,
policies, and best practices for information, personnel,
network, and physical security.
BSI - China, one of the world’s leading certification
bodies, recommended the certification of Accenture
BPO to ISO 27001 standard last June, with the company
subsequently passing the audit. The certification
covers the non-voice processing deals of Accenture’s
BPO organization in the Philippines, including
the service delivery operations, client services
organization, business operations organization, and
shared support services.
Before this, Accenture’s BS7799 certification
was upgraded to ISO27001 in November 2006. This
Certification for IT covers, among others, High
Performance Delivery, Delivery Performance Support,
Client Account Groups, Client Services Organization,
Centers of Excellence, and Capability Development. z
www.bpap.org
Company News
Breakthroughs
21
Sitel Sets Up Free Call Center
Training Center in Tarlac
Residents of Tarlac now have a better
chance of landing a call center career,
thanks to the partnership between their
province and Sitel Philippines.
Sitel President Dan Reyes hands over the Mark of Service plaque of Sitel to Tarlac Governor Victor Yap. Also in the photo from L-R are
Sitel Baguio Site Director Rod Spires, Capas Tarlac Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan, and Sitel Shared Services Director Bombit Consunji.
The agreement is part of Sitel’s Community Training
for Employment Program and was facilitated by Tarlac
Governor Victor Yap. This capability-building program
provides free contact-center training for Tarlac’s citizens,
and aims to bridge the gap between the BPO industry’s
standards and Tarlac’s manpower qualifications.
Training will be conducted at the Sitel Academy,
located on the third floor of the Capitol Building in Tarlac
City. This facility was provided rent-free by the local
government, and is staffed by Sitel trainers and coaches.
All equipment and training software are likewise provided
by the company.
The training center caters to the needs of “near-hires,”
or those who have gone though the process of applying
at various call centers but need more training before they
are qualified for hiring. These near-hires will undergo 30
days of instruction on contact center skills and culture,
including modules on accent, vocabulary, and other aspects
of communication.
Tarlac has been heavily investing in its manpower pool,
targeting skills useful to the BPO industry specifically.
The province is emerging as the new wave location for
BPOs, and has been grooming its manpower pool to attract
potential investors.
Sitel also plans to partner with two universities in
the province under its Academic Partnership Program in
the near future. This will entail the integration of Sitel
training programs in the curriculums of these universities,
preparing students for a career in the BPO industry. z
TeleDevelopment’s 2nd Annual Call Center Training Convention
Explores Tomorrow’s Trends in Today’s Training
“The Philippines recorded tremendous
growth at 28%, second to United States’
40% and outpacing Latin America’s
22%,” said Jon Kaplan, TeleDevelopment
Services’ Founder and President as he
launched TeleDevelopment’s 2nd Annual
Call Center Training Convention held last
February 19-20 at the Renaissance Hotel in
Makati.
For the second consecutive year, TeleDevelopment’s
Conference provided an opportunity for training professionals
from the Business Processing Outsourcing community to share
best practices and engage with industry leaders as they map out
strategies to sustain another year of intense growth.
Judy Rienke, the US Embassy’s Senior Commercial Officer
concurred with this optimistic outlook, “The workforce in the
BPO industry today is more than 400,000 and is expected to
climb to a million by 2010. People retention and development
translates into long-term growth for these BPO companies.
I believe this country will succeed because its people are its
success,” she said.
TeleDevelopment’s Conference focused on training trends
for fueling industry growth in the near future under the title,
“Tomorrow’s Trends in Today’s Training.” Three tracks
examined practical approaches to call center learning through
three lenses: need for improving peformance and assessing
and identifying remedies for organizational performance gaps;
techniques for delivery improvement in key areas such as
relevance and efficiency; and results-oriented performance
delivery and measurement.
Kaplan summarized the event saying, “As the industry
expands, drawing upon increasing respect for the Philippines
as a premier back-office destination and a greater acceptance
of the offshore model, we must continue to develop innovative
approaches to develop our people. This ranges from infusing
innovation into the learning environment to coaxing greater
efficiency from our trainers and training methodologies, to
developing a platform for growth by creating an education
infrastructure ready to sustain 100% growth over the next two
years.” z
www.bpap.org
John Kaplan, President, TeleDevelopment Services, Inc.; John Forbes, American Chamber of Commerce; Bryce Hayes, COO, HTMT; Judy Reinke,
Commercial Counsellor, US Commercial Service, The U.S. Embassy, Manila; Judy Whisenhunt, AVP-Finance & Admin, TeleDevelopment
22
Company News
Breakthroughs
RLC Setting Ground in Four Areas
to Meet BPO Demands
Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC),
the Philippines’ second largest office
space/BPO/call
center
provider,
is setting ground in key areas in
Mandaluyong City, Paco, Manila,
Cebu City, and Tacloban City to meet
the growing requirements of the BPO
industry. “Although our present Metro
Manila sites located in the Makati
and Ortigas Business Districts are
fully leased out by a good number of
reputable BPOs, there is still a strong
demand from both existing and new
players,” says architect Henry Yap,
Business Unit General Manager, RLC
Office Buildings Division.
RLC has leased out approximately 140,000 square
meters to BPOs; an additional 130,000 square meters are
currently being built or are in the final planning stages.
Of the five existing RLC office buildings in the Makati
and Ortigas CBDs, more than 80% of the office spaces
are occupied by BPOs and call centers. This is in addition
to the 40,000 square meters occupied by BPOs and call
centers in Robinsons Malls in Novaliches, Mandaluyong
City, Sta. Rosa, Bacolod City, and Lipa City.
RLC is ready to turn over Robinsons Cybergate
Center (RCC) Tower 3 by first quarter 2008 to its tenants
for a fit-out. “Accenture, a major tenant in RCC Towers
1 & 2 will be our anchor tenant at the newly-built Tower
3,” says Yap. “Negotiations are also in the final stages
for the pre-lease of the remaining floors.” RCC, which
is currently composed of three towers, is considered an
The Robinson Cybergate Center
ideal area for call center operations, because of its proximity
to the Robinsons shopping mall.
Construction plans are also underway for the 4th Tower
within the Pioneer Cybergate Complex.
RLC is also setting the trend by building the first BPO
center in Manila inside Robinsons Otis Mall, which is
located at Paz Guanzon Street, Paco. “Future locators will
experience ease in recruitment since Paco is less than 30
minutes away from the University Belt where big universities
like the University of the East, Far Eastern University,
University of Sto. Tomas, Technological Institute of the
Philippines, among others, are,” says Yap. “Paco is likewise
a short distance from the Taft Ave area, where prestigious
schools like the University of the Philippines, De La Salle
University, St. Paul’s College, and others are located.”
The Otis BPO center will be from the third to the fifth
floors with a net leasable area of approximately 10,000 square
meters, and with a fit-out capability for about 1,500 seats.
Another project, Robinsons Cybergate Cebu, is expected
to be completed by last quarter of 2009.
It will be built on top of a two-level shopping mall
with over 7,000 parking slots located in the basement. The
mall’s retail component will be on the first and second floors
where food and service outlets and a convenience store will
operate. “The Office Floor/Call Center area will span five
floors starting at the third level,” says Yap.
RLC’s Office Buildings Division’s future plans include
developments in the former lot of Medical City along San
Miguel Avenue, Mandaluyong City and a call center building
right beside the Robinsons Tacloban Mall.
RLC’s growing portfolio covers various operations
involving shopping centers, high-rise residential
condominiums and town houses, mid-to-low-cost housing
and subdivisions, office buildings, and hotels. z
Avaya Roadshow Launches Unified Communications
Don’t miss the forest for the trees – this was
the recurring theme at the Avaya Unified
Communications Roadshow held on March
4, 2008 at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.
Avaya, the recognized leader in mobile enterprise
communications, drew the roadmap towards the future of
optimized business communications. Diane Shariff, Avaya’s
Director of Unified Communications Solutions, said, “We
are living in exponential times.” New technologies and new
demands have coupled to create a workforce that is more
mobile than at any time in the past. Millions have become
attuned to internet and text messaging. Blogging, corporate,
and social networking have become routine activities for the
mobile worker.
A response to the demands of this changing workplace
is Unified Communications. According to Jojo Abundancia,
Avaya’s
Solutions
Marketing
Manager,
“Unified
communications is an orchestration of communication
and collaboration across locations, time, and medium to
accelerate business results.” The building blocks of unified
communications are: calling and conferencing management,
presence, messaging management, contact and information
management, and personal efficiency management. With these
tools, the mobile worker can access voice mail, e-mail, and
fax messages from one mailbox then dial one number to reach
associates, whether at the office or elsewhere. It is a universal
access to communication tools, information, and applications
anytime, anywhere. Abundancia added, “It is communicating
at the speed of business without breaking stride. It is not a trend
but a solution.”
IP Telephony solutions from Avaya are reliable, efficient,
and able to support new communication capabilities that drive
innovation and profitability. The significance of IP telephony is
in evidence throughout companies and various organizations.
It is an important tool used in call centers wherein agents move
seamlessly between the phone, instant messaging, and other
tools. IP telephony enables a traveling executive to turn his PC
into a deskphone and then network cost-efficiently.
Moving towards optimized business communication and
radically changing the traditional form of communications,
particularly the telephone, Avaya also presented the one-X
Deskphone Edition. It is the next generation IP telephone
that delivers a new and unique communication experience
for increased productivity. Abundancia shared, “We are
linking multiple communication capabilities. The Avaya
one-X provides the correct solution for specific users to
meet specific needs.” Some of the features of the Avaya oneX include: an adaptable and intuitive interface, modular
add-ons that can be included as they are needed, enhanced
high-fidelity audio, and stylish and professional designs. It
is intended to make every communications function, easier
and faster to accomplish.
Avaya has helped thousands of companies and organizations
develop effective strategies to successfully meet the challenges
presented by a rapidly changing work environment. z
ePLDT in
e-Services
2008
ePLDT, the premier information and
communications Technology company
in the country, recently participated in
e-Services Philippines’ 8th Outsourcing
Conference and Exhibition.
Organized by CITEM and the Department of Trade
and Industry, this annual event is Asia’s premiere IT
and e-Services conference and exhibition that provides
organizations and investors the opportunity to meet and
build relationships with the Philippines’ leading ITES
providers. [See Front Page Stories for related story
– Ed.] Visitors of ePLDT, one of the main exhibitors of
the event, learned more about its diverse portfolio of IT
solutions and services that include data center operations
and contact-center solutions. z
Vice President for Sales and Marketing Jessica Powell (seated, center) and ePLDT Assistant Vice President for IP Contact
Center Services Yohlie Jarlego (standing, 4th from right) with the ePLDT Sales and Marketing team.
www.bpap.org
Breakthroughs
Company News
23
Jones Lang Lasalle Merges With Leechiu & Associates
The recent merger of global real estate
services giant Jones Lang LaSalle and
agency service firm Leechiu & Associates is
a strategic partnership move that responds
to the space requirements of the offshoring
and outsourcing (O&O) industry.
“After the talent development challenge is the development
of space, next-wave cities, and metropolitan areas,” said
Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P)
Chief Executive Officer Oscar Sañez during a press conference
launching the merger of last March 4, 2008. He further
described this merger as “a marriage in BPO space.”
“They did right in looking into the outsourcing and
offshoring space,” the BPA/P CEO said. This is in view of the
phenomenal growth of the sector in terms of revenues that surged
nearly 50% to US$4.9 billion in 2007 from US$3.3 billion
in 2006. The jobs produced by business process outsourcing
(BPO) operations rose 30% to 300,000 from 230,000 during
the same years.
Sañez sees the aggressive attitude of investors as further
boosted by the kind of insights borne out of such partnerships.
The developments in the sector have indeed been
encouraging for investors and did not escape the attention of
Chris Fossick, Jones Lang LaSalle Managing Director for
Southeast Asia.“It is the BPO that we are interested in,” Fossick
said. “It has grown tremendously and this is where our clients
are heavily involved in.”
Fossick said that the merger will provide a platform for the
new company to expand and allow it “to be one market leader
in BPO space and real estate services.”
David Leechiu, Country Head of the newly formed Jones
Lang LaSalle Leechiu, predicts that revenues from the BPO
industry will “rival the OFW (overseas Filipinos workers)
money.” He added, “The O&O will blossom much more than
what has been anticipated.”
Because of this predicted scenario, problems on rents
have been anticipated and corresponding plans have been
prepared to address the issue. Lindsay Orr, Chief Operating
Officer of the company, puts his bets on call centers and
finds this challenge as real.
“Makati rents are going up, but those in the provinces are
still reasonable by regional standards,” he said. Orr pointed
out that the lease in premier buildings in the country’s leading
www.bpap.org
Jones Lang Salle Leechiu executives: David Leechiu, Country Head; Lindsay Orr, Chief Operating Officer;
Christopher Fossick, Managing Director, Southeast Asia
business district already reached an average of Php1,200
per square meter per month. “This is not even Grade A,“ the
company’s COO said.
Next to Makati and Ortigas, however, Orr noted the
potential of Quezon City to develop, particularly along
the Commonwealth Avenue, North Triangle area, and
West Avenue.
To ease the pressure on the National Capital region and
the fringe areas in generating the required manpower to serve
the global clients, the highly urbanized cities in Visayas and
Mindanao are being prepared as the next-wave areas to augment
the increasing international demand for O&O services.
In line with the goals of the O&O industry’s Roadmap
2010, the BPA/P enlisted the help of concerned government
agencies during the first 100 days starting November 5,
2007. This is to prepare the so-called “E-ready cities” to
host O&O services.
Sañez said that a partnership between BPA/P,
CICT, and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
Regional Operations Group had already been worked
out. For its part, the BPA/P is tasked to gather the
scorecards in evaluating the readiness and capacity of
the cities to become the next wave areas. The CICT
would help build the IT councils while the DTI Regional
Operations Group would link with other government
agencies in approving the scorecards. September
2008 is the target month to complete the inventory of
companies and partner cities.
With all these developments, Fossick is optimistic
of the bright future for the industry and the country.
Confidently, he gave this pronouncement: “We believe
that the Philippines will continue to grow. We believe
that BPO will continue to grow. We believe that the
Philippines will be the leader in international BPO.” z

RP: From Point of BPO Convergence to Center of Excellence

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