As the Philippine Embassy in New Zealand continues its intensive promotion of forging greater strategic partnership in the information technology (IT)/business processing and knowledge processing (BPO/KPO) sectors, Philippine Ambassador to New Zealand Virginia Benavidez met with New Zealand Trade and Enterprises (NZTE) officer Eileen Vizmonte, Business Processing Association Philippines (BPAP) Executive Director for External Affairs Martin Antonio Crisostomo and External Affairs Associate Indu Badlani at the BPAP office on March 27.

She likewise met on even date with representatives from the IT sector, namely, PacificHub’s Manager Anne Kristine Nilooban and Shanti Debbi Baltazr, R Computer Professionals Inc. Vice President for Business Development Rosario “Ito” M. Gruet, and Philippine Software Industry Association Executive Director Josefina “Joie” Villanueva.

Discussions focused on preparations for the 2^nd Philippine ICT Partnership Opportunity Mission to New Zealand on May 26 to 28.

Ambassador Benavidez thanked the NZTE, BPAP and the IT companies for their interest to go on an IT mission to Auckland, New Zealand.

She highlighted the increasing collaboration between the Philippines and New Zealand on the IT/BPO sector as one of the flagship and priority projects in the Embassy’s economic diplomacy programs.

Ambassador Benavidez briefed the company heads on the arrangements for the IT delegation’s meeting and interaction with the Filipino IT professionals on May 26. She likewise stated that BPAP’s presentation on the success and strides of the Philippine IT/BPO industry would be very much welcomed by the Filipino community in New Zealand who would be interested and proud to know how this sunshine industry continues to empower the Filipinos and contributes significantly to the country’s economic growth.

NZTE officer Vizmonte gave an update on the list of New Zealand companies and the program for the presentation and business matching session with BPAP and Philippine IT/Software companies on May 28. The Embassy gave an additional list of New Zealand companies and ICT associations which NZTE can invite to the business meeting.  Ambassador Benavidez suggested that success stories and personal testimonies from New Zealand businessmen who have businesses in the Philippines will be highly useful and informative. The “Business Plus” newsletter of the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) has a 150,000 membership.

The matching session between the New Zealand companies and the Philippine delegation on May 28 would definitely open more doors for greater business collaboration and investments. New Zealand companies’ involvement in the Philippine IT/BPO/KPO sectors has considerably increased in the past months.

December 04, 2010

MANILA, Philippines—After challenging India for the top position for several years, the Philippines is now the world leader in business support functions like shares services and business process outsourcing, according to the latest reports and trends analyses.

In fact, the country overtook India in these categories last year, according to IBM’s latest Global Locations Trend Annual Report, released recently in New York. India now ranks No. 2, the first time it was not in the leading position for these activities, according to the IBM report, launched in October but made available online last month.

“The Philippines has taken over the lead in the global ranking from India,” the report said. The IBM report said the Philippines offered a similarly attractive business environment for international business support functions as India. Unlike India’s BPO hot spots, however, labor costs here have not increased as much.

Revenue: $5.7B in 2010

On Thursday, the Contract Center Association of the Philippines said the country had become the call center of the world, with around 350,000 Filipinos working in call centers against India’s 330,000-strong workforce.

Revenues from the country’s call center industry are also expected to reach $5.7 billion this year, higher than India’s $5.5 billion, the CCAP said.

The call center industry, which provides so-called “voice” services like customer support and sales, is part of the BPO industry.

Call centers make up 70 percent of the BPO industry in the Philippines.

Currently, there are 600,000 Filipinos employed in the country’s BPO industry, according to the Business Processing Association of the Philippines.

India is here

In yet another sign of the Philippines’ BPO dominance, Tata Consultancy Services, the information technology services, business solutions and outsourcing arm of India’s giant Tata Group, opened its first BPO center in Southeast Asia at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig on Thursday.

“We believe that the Philippines has a very high quality of talent that can represent the company before our Asia-Pacific customers and our global customers,” said Vish Iyer, head for the Asia-Pacific region for Tata Consultancy Services. Iyer also said Tata chose the Philippines because it “wants to be here to see the Philippine BPO industry grow from its current $9 billion [in annual revenues] to the projected $25 billion in 2016.”

The BPO center that Tata Consultancy inaugurated will have 400 seats, and a target of three clients, including Citibank. Abid Ali Z. Neemuchwala, vice president and global head for business process services and process excellence, said the company expects to more than double this to 1,000 seats and a target of five clients two years from now. The firm generated revenues of about $6 billion last year.

Support for BPO industry

In November, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said she would file a measure to “jump-start legislative support for the BPO industry, especially its workers” and urged other legislators “to formulate laws supporting this booming sunshine industry.”

According to the International Labor Organization, the BPO industry may be broadly divided into voice services such as call and contact centers, and non-voice or “back office” services, like finance and accounting, data processing and management, and human resource development.

An ILO report released last July noted that Filipino BPO employees were earning 53 percent more than workers of the same age in other industries. The study pegged the average monthly salary of local BPO employees at P16,928, with men earning 13 percent more than women.

Local BPO employees also work 44.7 hours per week on the average, with overtime work averages of 1.12 hours per week.

Night work

The study also found that 42.6 percent of BPO employees in the country work at night, and that respondents have reported sleep disorders, fatigue, eye strain, and body pains.

Following India in IBM’s ranking of BPO leaders were the United States, Poland, China, Britain, Columbia, Costa Rica, Fiji, Ireland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Hungary, Australia, Egypt, Chile, France, Canada, France, Singapore and the Netherlands.

The IBM report said Sri Lanka was another Asian country that had succeeded in positioning itself as an alternative to India.

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20101204-306912/
Its-official-PH-bests-India-as-No-1-in-BPO

September 29, 2010

SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SCALE business process outsourcing (BPO) operations are being eyed by the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) as the “next big thing” in the industry that will cater to specialized sets of clients.

CCAP President Benedict C. Hernandez told reporters at the sidelines yesterday of the International Contact Center Conference & Expo at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City that there is an urgent need to track and focus attention on this industry segment.

“This portion of the contact center industry could be that small. However, these companies have unique set of clients that can open more opportunities for the industry. These companies just need to have access to right information and promote their brand, regardless of size,” Mr. Hernandez said.

To date, Mr. Hernandez said that there are over 300 such small-and-medium contact centers operating in the country.

He said small contact centers are those with a maximum of 1,000 seats, medium ones have up to 5,000 seats, while large contact centers have up to 10,000 seats.

During panel discussions, Manuel L. Lopez Jr., chief executive officer of Pacific Hub Corp., said small and medium contact centers like his need tax perks to grow. “As of now, BPO companies, regardless of size, have been enjoying the same incentives. As homegrown BPO companies, we think that it would be a great help if we could get more support from them [government],” he said.

He added that maintaining service quality while keeping costs down have been a major challenge. “Clients want to get maximum utility on their spending. They will not pay the same amount for a lesser number of seats, compared with a large multinational BPO company that could give more seats,” he said.

In the same discussions, Frederick D. Chua, chief executive officer of Magellan Solutions Outsourcing, Inc., said establishing one’s brand is another concern. “The market is big. However, small companies like ours have to compete with these industry giants,” he said.

Moreover, Mr. Chua said, his company has found it difficult to attract talent. “We can’t compete with more attractive compensation packages offered by bigger companies. Without the right people, we can’t offer the best service,” he said.

While the industry expects revenues to increase 23% to $6.15 billion by yearend, CCAP has cited dwindling talent and the need for more attractive perks as challenges to long-term growth.

Source: http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=18651