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Archive for January, 2011

What is in store for IT outsourcing in 2011?

January 5th, 2011

It’s the beginning of another year. I thought I would kick-off this year’s Inside Outsourcing blog posts with some predictions for 2011.

This comes from Burnt Oak Partners’ Jean Louis Bravard. He is a director at the sourcing broker and a former global executive at EDS.

It makes interesting reading and I would like to open the floor to all readers. Please send me your predictions for this year and I will blog about them.

Top Ten Outsourcing Predictions 2011

by Jean-Louis Bravard of Burnt Oak Partners

1. One of the Top 5 Indian pure plays will make a significant acquisition of a European player. Further service provider consolidation will occur – likely candidates being CapGemini, Vertex and Tieto

2. Mega deals will rebound as clients understand that multi-sourcing takes too much effort, time and requires too many advisers. Advisors will be under pressure to be held accountable for their advice, predictable risks and speed of the transaction

3. European governments will reluctantly copy the UK and actively outsource

4. UK central government and local councils will demand that service providers buy equity in new shared service centres to ensure “best efforts” and commitment. India providers will be most flexible and therefore successful

5. The “Cloud” will not produce much rain as clients struggle to virtualize processes and swim in poor data. New legislation around data “track and trace” will cause rethinking of Cloud strategies and supplier offerings

6. Datacenters are in fashion again!

7. Data security will become the new “trick” used by governments and regulators to prevent cross border data processing

8. Improved computer systems and data mobility will increasingly lead to call center jobs coming back from India and other low cost centers

9. Chinese IT will begin to be respected as a serious provider of hardware and software

10. Litigation on IP breaches and data ownership will flare as many recognize that they should have read fine print in 2010

Source:http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/inside-outsourcing/2011/01/what-is-in-store-for-it-outsourcing-in-2011.html

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BPOs to hire 84,000 more workers in 2011

January 5th, 2011

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At least 84,000 jobs will be up for grabs in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the country this year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said on Tuesday.

DoLE spokesperson Nicon Fameronag said BPO leaders told the labor department that they would need an estimated 84,000 new employees in 2011 as the industry continues to grow by leaps and bounds. The BPO industry includes call centers, legal and medical transcription, accounting services, software development and animation, among others services for overseas principals.

To help fill up the projected vacancies, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) will offer a free six-month training course for prospective BPO workers.

Graduates of the course will all be absorbed by BPO companies, Fameronag said.

P20M for training

“(Tesda) has already allotted P20 million for the training of workers. That training is going to be free. And there is an assurance from the BPO sector that they will absorb the graduates,” he added.

Fameronag said interested applicants can visit Tesda or its regional offices if they want to attend the course.

“They should at least have the basic English speaking skills, while those who want to go into medical transcription should have background in medical matters,” Fameronag said.

“Maybe our nurses who are out of work could take this. We have an estimated 100,000 nurses who are unemployed,” he added.

The DoLE earlier estimated that the country would produce at least one million new jobs annually until 2016, the end of the term of office of President Aquino.

The estimates are based on the projection of the National Economic Development Authority that the economy would grow by six to seven percent annually,” Fameronag said.

“If we maintain that economic growth rate, the DoLE estimates that we would have 1.153 million new jobs every year,” he added.

For 2010, the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) monitored 1.011 million new jobs as of October, or a 2.8 percent year-on-year increase.

“Total employed persons increased to 36.489 million from 35.478 million a year ago indicating a net addition or new employment generation of 1.011 million,” BLES said.

Source:http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110105-312593/BPOs-to-hire-84000-more-workers-in-2011

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NHS call centers may be outsourced to India

January 5th, 2011

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Hospital appointment calls that are made in the NHS program may get outsourced to India. This step is part of the efficiency drive that is being followed in NHS for cost cutting now.

Critics of the move have called it ‘cheapskate’. The move for sending the administrative jobs to call centers in Delhi, Mumbai or other low cost cities of India was suggested by one of the very senior health service officials.

But as expected, the suggestion was taken up with a lot of harsh critics who were of the view that such a step was like playing with people’s privacy. They said that medical records of patients could be in danger and can lead to things like misdiagnoses.

Surprisingly, such a move has been proposed even after an incident that took place two years back. At that time it was said that medical records of one of top hospitals in London was sold off by one of Indian call center staff member.

But nothing was proved and now NHS which is trying hard to reduce its already ballooned costs needs to take up outsourcing.

Source:http://www.topnews.in/nhs-call-centers-may-be-outsourced-india-2302845

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Dell beefs up Security-as-a-Service with SecureWorks buy

January 4th, 2011

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Firms unite to fight ‘frequency and sophistication’ of threats

Dell has continued its push into the services sector with the acquisition of SecureWorks, a firm that specialises in managed security and threat intelligence. Financial terms were not disclosed although Dell did confirm it was a cash transaction.

The move is the latest effort from Dell to push into the services arena, a strategy that was given a massive kick when it acquired Perot Systems for $3.9bn in 2009. The SecureWorks Security as a Service platform will help Dell Services’ BPO and IT outsourcing capabilities, the firm said, and help meet demand from customers for more “as-a-Service” products via a managed services offering.

The deal is a sign of the growing importance of security and compliance to businesses and echoes HP’s acquisition of ArcSight for $1.5bn. SecureWorks deals with more than 13 billion “security events” and sees more than 30,000 malware specimens each day, Dell said. Michael Cote, CEO of SecureWorks, added that the company defines a “security event” as a potential security threat.

“The frequency and sophistication of attacks on technology infrastructure and malicious attempts to access data, requires reliable, capable and innovative information security,” said Peter Altabef, president, Dell Services. “SecureWorks is a recognised industry leader in information security services and its offerings and expertise will immediately enhance our solutions portfolio.”

“We look forward to welcoming SecureWorks team members – who bring their passion and dedication to serving clients with best-in-class security services – to Dell and our clients,” Altabef said. He confirmed in a conference call that the SecureWorks leadership team will remain with Dell.

SecureWorks claims to have just under 3,000 customers, ranging from financial services firms to healthcare companies and it is said around 15% of the Fortune 500 use the company’s services. It was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

SecureWorks has around 700 employees and projects FY2010 revenue of $120m. Using this revenue figure, CBR estimates the deal to be worth $300m – $450m.

Source:http://security.cbronline.com/news/dell-beefs-up-security-as-a-service-with-secureworks-buy-040111

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Global IT services group responds to comments on Outsourcing NHS administration to India

January 4th, 2011

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In response to comments by the head of NHS Shared Business Services, John Neilson, that more NHS administration should be outsourced to India to save money, global information and communications technology company CSS Corp, with centres in Europe, India, Australasia and the USA, has issued the following statement today.

“As the UK Government clearly recognises by already having 700 people employed in India through NHS Shared Business Services, outsourcing administrative functions can lead to huge cost savings, allowing for more money to be invested in patient care.

“When the NHS is trying to save GBP20bn in efficiencies by 2014, it makes sense for public bodies to be looking at the most cost-effective solutions.

“As we know from our experience in employing over 5000 people across 20 locations worldwide, what matters is the quality and capability of the companies to which any work is outsourced, something which should be at the forefront of Ministers’ thinking.”

CSS Corp Senior Vice President EMEA, Todd Whaley, said today.

Notes to Editors
- CSS Corp is a global information and communications technology company with an impeccable record for designing, developing, deploying and managing end-to-end IT and network services. From application development, testing and optimization through to enterprise-level cloud enablement and round the clock technical support services, CSS Corp provides a truly impressive range of quality services that focus on delivering strategic value and operational efficiency for its customers.

- CSS Corp proudly works with some of the world’s best known customer and partner brands. And, with a global multi-cultural workforce of more than 5000 staff across 20 locations worldwide, the company has established a strong global foundation to continue supporting its international customers and growth aspirations.

Source:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-it-services-group-responds-to-comments-on-outsourcing-nhs-administration-to-india-112878254.html

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CIOs focused on using IT for growth in 2011

January 4th, 2011

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More chief information officers (CIOs) will be concentrating on growth in 2011, as the recession becomes a more distant memory.

This is the view of industry commentator Maryfran Johnson, who said this year will be about enhancing productivity, investing strategically and fuelling growth, rather than cutting costs.

Writing for CIO.co.uk, she claimed that business renewal is “under way with a vengeance”, with IT investment leading the way.

Ms Johnson claimed that CIOs will be focusing on strategies which enhance employee collaboration, increase product quality and improve IT security and risk management.

She added that cloud computing, mobile devices and social media are set to change the way everyone works, as the technologies become more widespread.

Neil S. Hirshman, a strategic advisory board member at the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals, recently claimed that many companies will obtain integrated IT solutions from outsourcing providers in 2011.

Source:http://www.ihotdesk.com/article/800321498/CIOs-focused-on-using-IT-for-growth-in-2011

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Businesses wise to turn to IT outsourcing, experts say

January 4th, 2011

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IT outsourcing is an increasingly smart choice for businesses, according to two industry experts.

Writing for the Accenture blog, Gerardo Canta and Rob Rich claimed that IT support services can prove invaluable as network data consumption continues to “skyrocket” globally.

They noted that communications providers are under “tremendous pressure” to increase capacity and manage costs, while delivering high-quality customer service.

One way of achieving their goals is to outsource key network functions to specialist IT providers, the writers stated, as they claimed this can help reduce expenditure by up to 40 per cent.

“As the technology environment changes at an accelerated pace and time-to-market gets more squeezed, relying solely on internal skills could become a risky business indeed,” they said.

“At the very least, providers would be wise to more deeply understand the potential benefits they might derive from the strategic use of network outsourcing, so they can make an informed decision that serves their business and their customers well.”

Source:http://www.ihotdesk.com/article/800321475/Businesses-wise-to-turn-to-IT-outsourcing,-experts-say

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