Making the Pulse List today are some areas where there’s a new beat with potential wide ramifications for the outsourcing world. The outcomes of these trailblazing activites remains to be seen, but players are plotting new courses throughout the world.
(1) Germany. A report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and NASSCOM (India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies) focuses on business-growth opportunities for India’s outsourcing service providers in Germanic countries. Nearly all of the companies in these nations are small or midsize businesses. Most have a severe shortage of IT and engineering talent, and many are among the early adopters of outsourcing. However, they prefer nearshore rather than offshore providers. India’s outsourcing providers with their large talent pool, partnering with Germanic companies for front-end capabilities, look to be an ideal solution.
(2) Philippines. XMG Global, an ICT research and advisory firm based in Canada, published its letter to the next Philippines president regarding advice on developing the Philippine ICT sector. Among the advice are the following points:
- Since ICT is fundamental to the growth and sustainability of the Philippines economy, the country needs to improve its utilities and infrastructure for resiliency to natural disasters.
- The country needs to advance beyond a service-based economy (focused primarily on call center operations) to a knowledge-based economy. This will help to avoid reaching a plateau that cannot compete with other offshoring countries that continue to improve their knowledge-based offerings.
- The government must review the Public Telecommunications Policy Act of the Philippines and amend it to strengthen the pricing methodologies and competition-related provisions.
(3) USA. On Sunday, May 30, Democratic Senator Schumer introduced a bill to tax companies that are outsourcing call center services to an offshore service provider. The proposed legislation would impose a $0.25 excise tax on the company for every call placed from the U.S. that gets transferred to a foreign call center.
(4) Europe. Look for Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), recently acquired by Xerox, to expand its global footprint in Europe. Prior to the acquisition, says ACS’s CEO, expanding in Europe was seen as a risky proposition. Within the next five years, 50 percent of ACS’s revenue could come from European customers — and grab market share from European leaders including Accenture, Capgemini, HP, and IBM.
5) Kenya, Africa. In July when the Common Market Protocol becomes effective in East Africa, Kenya will be able to employ cross-border French-speaking professionals to expand its already well-established BPO capabilities.
(6) U.S. Television. Last but not least, I include NBC on my list of trailblazers. It just picked up “Outsourcing,” a situation comedy, for its 2010-2011 television season. Based on the award-winning 2006 movie of the same title, it promises to be hilarious. The question is: even though it’s funny, will Americans want to watch a show about outsourcing when they’re so heavily focused these days on job losses?
Since 1998, freelance writer Kathleen Goolsby has studied outsourcing relationships’ successes, failures, trends, and best practices. She has interviewed more than 860 executives at buyer and service provider companies and is the author of “Critical Requirements for Building and Sustaining a Successful Outsourcing Relationship,” a chapter in Global Outsourcing Strategies: An International Reference on Effective Outsourcing Relationships (December 2006, Gower Publishing). As a freelancer, she also currently serves as the Senior Writer for Outsourcing Center (whose parent company is sourcing advisory firm, Alsbridge) and has authored dozens of articles as well as white papers. In a past role, she was editor of Outsourcing Venture (a former print publication). You can contact Kathleen at ksgoolsby@gmail.com.
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