Industry news

The National Outsourcing Association’s (NOA) Diploma in Strategic Global Outsourcing, accredited by Middlesex University, is now open for autumn registration.

Provided by the NOA’s professional development arm NOA Pathway and developed in association with True North, a leading UK learning and development company, the Diploma was specifically designed to raise industry standards by establishing an industry-wide benchmark for quality in outsourcing.

It is open to experienced candidates with a minimum of 10 years’ organisational experience and five years within outsourcing specifically.

Running in its second year, the Diploma was last month awarded to its first graduate, and is helping raise industry standards and drive outsourcing as a professionally recognised career.

The Diploma, which is a postgraduate level programme, is research-based, enabling candidates to select a specific area of study according to their particular area of interest or professional business needs.

By allowing participants to focus on their own organisational agenda, the programme will help them overcome specific outsourcing challenges, so they can effectively achieve their business goals and directly add value to their organisations.

The Diploma comprises three modules, each taking three months to complete. Each module features a one-day workshop which involves all participants to facilitate knowledge-sharing and group learning from a range of outsourcing experts.

All candidates undertaking the course will form learning sets to provide each other with support and contribute to each other’s learning. Each candidate will also have his/her own personal tutor to provide phone-based and online support throughout the nine-month course of study.

For further information or to register for he NOA Diploma programme please call 0845 130 5500, or email contact@noapathway.co.uk

Alex Blues, Head of IT Sourcing at PA Consulting Group continues his exploration of the 'critical intangibles' that can make or break an outsourcing relationship.

Throughout the next few weeks of this regular blog, I will be continuing to consider 'critical intangibles' in further detail. Those things that I believe can make the difference between success and failure in a sourcing relationship. Those details that may be overlooked by those only concerned with the pricing and the legal framework of a sourcing relationship.

Last week, I talked about the difference between a 'co-operative' and a 'competitive' approach to sourcing'. This week I would like to consider the difference between 'trust' and 'suspicion' as the basis for a working, sourcing relationship.

In fact, both attitudes - trust and suspicion - work at a corporate and at an individual level. However, mixing the two styles at either level can be disastrous.

Some organisations and people believe that the world is out to get them - typically characterised by strong rules and governance and an underlying philosophy that self interest is at the core of all actions. In situations like this, the contract never gathers dust - it is always being brandished and penalties are being considered or demanded.

Others believe that you can agree a set of outcomes and 'trust' both parties to achieve these results - in these cases the approach is typically underpinned by lighter governance and outcome-based rewards rather than contractual penalties, like service credits.

Once you have considered and accepted this, there is then the appreciation that suppliers and the contracting organisation fall into one or other camp - even though some may sit in the middle and some at the extremes of the trust or suspicion spectrum, they do all fit into this somewhere.

So, the key critical learning from this is to be honest about your own style corporately and individually, and to make sure that you only work with the supplier or organisation that matches the same style as your own.

If you take the time to assess these 'critical intangible' factors at the outset you could be making the difference between a successful and a failed sourcing relationship - it's not just about finances and contractual terms.

Global IT and BPO services provider Patni Computer Systems has appointed Sunil Chitale as executive vice president and chief strategy and marketing officer for the company.

In his new role, Chitale will lead Patni’s M&A, marketing and strategic planning functions.

Chitale began his career with Patni in 1985 and has managed large relationship portfolios, led the manufacturing vertical and led Patni's Enterprise Software business globally.

In addition, he also managed the Patni Academy for Competency Enhancement (PACE) and the Global Resources in Technology (GRiT) functions.

He has a Bachelor’s degree from the Institute of Technology - Banaras Hindu University.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), one of the largest global telecommunications service providers has made an all-cash offer for 100% of IT services and solutions specialist Dimension Data shares.

The ICT industry is about to enter a time of revolutionary change with the advent of cloud computing. As such the dominant ICT enterprises are attempting to integrate business domains beyond their existing framework and are trying to secure a leading position as a main player in ICT.

The agreement would see NTT acquire the entire ‘issued’ and ‘to be issued’ ordinary share capital of Dimension Data for approximately £2.1bn; a move unanimously recommended by both boards of directors.

The integration between NTT and Dimension Data will create a substantially expanded global business for corporate users.

NTT Group has developed its business globally with a central focus on managed network services, data centers, system integration and mobile services. Dimension Data however focuses on the development, operation and maintenance of IT infrastructure, including network devices and servers at the clients’ site.

Saudi conglomerate Al Majdouie Group (AMG) has awarded global IT service provider HCL Technologies (HCL) a 7 year total IT outsourcing services contract.

The end-to-end IT services agreement undertaken by HCL will enable streamlined business processes and seamless integration across all group companies and points of presence of Al Majdouie Group.

The engagement involves HCL to blend all its outsourcing strengths - applications and infrastructure capabilities, industry knowledge and expertise to help Al Majdouie achieve fundamental transformation at the enterprise level.

The scope of this complex transformational engagement includes developing infrastructure, implementing Oracle e-business suite with 70+ modules, managing and running the IT infrastructure.

The agreement also includes commissioning and management of data centre and disaster recovery services.

This will be one of the largest projects for HCL to run on the MTaaS platform in Middle East.

Unilever has extended its outsourcing contract with BT, a deal worth around additional €173m.

The new deal will see BT accelerate technology innovation in services such as unified communications, messaging, supply chain, wireless technology and agile working in over 100 countries over the next four years.

BT currently supports services across Unilever’s three operating regions. The scope of the service includes the design, management and operation of a secure fully integrated end-to-end IT networking infrastructure.

BT is responsible for ensuring that the service helps enable Unilever to operate in all its markets, supporting its employees, consumers, customers, partners and suppliers. This service covers an increasingly integrated platform delivering data, voice, video and mobility services to around 1,000 sites.

The new contract emphasis will be on leveraging BT’s global innovation and development capabilities with practitioners sharing their knowledge of people, processes and developing technologies. The contract will also continue to help Unilever deliver its new supply chain applications.

The original contract, announced in November 2002 and worth around €1bn was the first comprehensive global telecommunications outsource contract ever undertaken by BT and is one of BT’s largest global deals.

When the original contract was signed it was one of the largest telecommunications outsourcing contract in UK corporate history.

The offshoring and outsourcing of business services from developed to developing countries is creating good jobs by local standards, but the industry still has to work on achieving full decent work, says the United Nations labour agency.

A new book by the International Labour Organization (ILO) provides the first in-depth study of the workplace in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, using case studies in four major “destination” countries – Argentina, Brazil, India and the Philippines.

The BPO industry, which can broadly be divided into “voice” services, such as call/contact centres, and “back office” services, like finance and accounting, data processing and management, and human resource development, is a rapidly growing industry worth some $90 billion.

“A lot has been written about this phenomenon and its implications for economic growth and employment. However, very little is known about the working conditions in the BPO industry,” says Jon Messenger, Senior Researcher with the Conditions of Work and Employment Programme of the ILO and co-editor of the study with Naj Ghosheh.

The book, entitled “Offshoring and Working Conditions in Remote Work,” examines remote work, its impact on the labour market in general and the workforce in particular, and the possible implications for working and employment conditions in countries where the BPO industry is growing.

The ILO found a mixed picture of the working conditions in the four countries examined. “On the positive side, and unlike previous assumptions, remote work jobs are of a reasonable good quality by local standards,” Mr. Messenger notes.

For example, wages of Indian BPO workers are nearly double the average wages in other sectors of the Indian economy. In the Philippines, BPO employees earn 53 per cent more than workers of the same age in other industries.

At the same time, night work is common to serve customers in distant time zones in ‘real time’ and work is generally stressful. The BPO industry also has a high staff turnover rate, which in some companies can reach as high as 100 per cent or more annually.

“Back office” positions, meanwhile, tend to be of higher quality than call centre positions in terms of their wages and other working conditions. Workers serving outside markets also appear to have better quality jobs than those focused on domestic markets, mainly as a result of the higher skills required in international positions.

The book offers several suggestions for government policies and company practices that could further improve the quality of jobs in the BPO industry and increase productivity, including stronger measures to protect the health and safety of night workers, in line with the ILO Night Work Convention.

Norway’s SLF chooses Steria for application portfolio management contract

The Norwegian Agricultural Authority (Statens Landbruksforvaltning – SLF) has chosen Steria as its chief partner for applications maintenance, in an agreement worth €6m (NOK 50m) over the next four years.

Under the agreement, Steria assumes administrative responsibility for 18 applications for SLF; a team of eight Steria employees will relocate to SLF's premises.

Steria will also supply SLF with technological and architectural consultancy. The agreement includes assistance in connection with setting up central administration processes based on IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) standards and flexible development, in addition to which the IT consultancy company will assist SLF in putting in place and implementing test regimes.

SLF chose Steria following stiff competition from Computas, Cap Gemini, Ergo and Sirius IT.

Global IT and BPO services provider Patni Computer Systems Ltd, announced today that it has appointed Avtar as its new head of delivery for the EMEA region.

Sangha will be based in Patni’s EMEA headquarters at Heathrow and will be accountable for the delivery of services to all clients in the EMEA region.

Avtar Sangha joins Patni from Tech Mahindra, where he was previously delivery director. He has spent the last 10 years delivering complex transformation programmes across the globe and managing large P&L budgets.

Sangha also has extensive experience working with third party suppliers and managing large offshore teams in a matrix environment.

Nowadays consumers have more choice than ever before and their expectations are higher than ever. Most of us agree that customer is king. However, when we consider the poor levels of customer service that we encounter on a daily basis, as consumers, many of us are left wondering whether many businesses subscribe to this mantra.

Organisations that introduce an exceptional level of customer service are differentiating themselves from the competition in an increasingly saturated marketplace. Which is why it is so surprising that many businesses are still failing to address the issue of customer service.

With such a diversity of channels to interact with customers, many suppliers are still missing a trick. It’s a dangerous game, particularly as the majority of dissatisfied customers won’t bother to complain, they will simply change their suppliers.

Technological advances continue to transform consumer attitudes and behaviour. Consumers are increasingly demanding and their expectations are increasingly higher. Technology exists to make our life easier and it’s heightened our expectations regarding waiting times. Consumers no longer believe it is up to them to invest their time and effort trying to communicate with customer services. Instead, they expect the customer service departments to proactively solve any queries or problems they may have, as a matter of utmost urgency.

Social media exemplifies this (r)evolution in customer services; empowering consumers further, however, could it not also give greater power customer service departments as well? .

Two-way communication with customers is vital in order for companies to understand and, therefore, be able to effectively meet their customers’ needs. Offering customers variety and a choice of channels including social media platforms to communicate by is a fundamental part of giving good service.

And the trend is likely to continue, in particular, due to advances in technology which in turn increases accessibility of consumers.

“Compared to only three years ago, when Yahoo! and Google attracted 95% of Internet users, today online destinations are broken into three, equal-size categories: Yahoo!/Google, YouTube, and social media channels. This is an indication of the role social media is playing in today’s world,” says Alex Dayon executive vice president service cloud product management at salesforce.com

A recent report produced by Morgan Stanley earlier this year illustrated that both in terms of number of users and time spent, social media has already surpassed email. Meanwhile, the same report projects that over the next five years the number of mobile users will surpass that of desktop Internet users.

“An informal live survey we conducted during a recent industry event showed that currently most brands rely on email (68%) and phone (66%) to attend to their costumer service needs. Self-service, social networks and online forums followed with 24%, 21% and 14% respectively,” commented Dayon.

He continues: “When asked what they thought would be the most important channels used in the future, results underline the transformation of the customer service space. At 57% the self-service channel dethroned email (50%) and phone (56%), while both social networks and online forums also gained in relevance.”

The transformation is affecting all industry sectors alike with perhaps a difference between B2C and the B2B models. While both models have the same collaboration needs, they differ when it comes to the issue of data security.

In the case of B2C, the availability of the information exchanged (determining the problem and resolving it) can be referenced by other consumers and succeed in deflecting the volume of queries received by customer service providers. In the case of B2B –including financial services sector – however, the issues surrounding the security of data transfer have prevented a more innovative use of social media.

“As a result of this evolution, brands are being projected into a world where conversations about their products are happening. From a customer service angle, a brand’s choice is whether to engage consumers by creating profiles in forums already in place or to create such spaces and drive traffic there.

“In the case of the latter, customer service can be initially provided by a community on a peer-to-peer basis –like Cisco has done – deflecting a significant volume of queries away from customer services.

“Alternatively, the brand may choose to create closed social networks allowing them to proactively engage the community as done by UK fashion retailer New Look,” noted Katie Streten, head of digital strategy at Imagination.

An example of this is what both Dayon and Streten have been highlighting can be illustrated with a recent example from the South African Tourism Board. In order to cope with the 300,000 plus visitors expected during the World Cup, the agency needed a channel that would be set up in a short period of time and reach a maximum of (potential) visitors.

The South African Tourism Board opted for Service Cloud 2 and within weeks it was live on multiple channels—phone, email, Web self-service, Twitter, and Facebook.

With its @GoToSouthAfrica account, the South African Tourism Board created a channel for visitors to tweet questions. Agents answer the questions and all of @GoToSouthAfrica followers gained access to the queries and responses. The strategy also comprised a smartphone application – necessary in a country where internet is not as widely accessible to the population as mobile phone access.

Prior to the Service Cloud 2 deployment, the South African Tourism Board managed customer service using an in-house system based on Excel. South African Tourism recognised that it needed a contact center solution to support the immense scale of the event and meet the modern travel needs of visitors.

Enterprise cloud computing was particularly attractive to South African Tourism because it enabled the organisation to rapidly ramp up for the games and provide the flexibility needed to ramp down after the tournament without the ongoing burden of costly software, hardware and infrastructure maintenance.

The world is moving from a paradigm where consumers seek out information to one where information is ‘fed’ to the consumer based on his/her established preferences.

“When it comes to using social media as a customer service tool, providers must listen to their customers and learn about their preferences and preferred methods for communicating. Then it is necessary that the channel’s alignment with the brand is clear so that the objectives of the strategy are met. Finally, the approach needs to be fully integrated into the brand’s internal systems,” concluded Streten.

Organisations ignoring social media as an effective multi-channel communication tool do so at their own peril. Not only are they alienating themselves from a growing customer market segment, they are also potentially forgoing significant cost-savings that social media offers over traditional forms of communication.