The Outsource Blog

General discussion, news & views about Outsourcing and Offshoring

Posts Tagged ‘Boost’

Lenders boost IT to stop data theft

November 23rd, 2010

Please use the link to reference this article. Do not copy & paste articles which is a breach of FT.com’s Ts&Cs (www.ft.com/servicestools/help/terms) and is copyright infringement. Send a link for free or email ftsales.support@ft.com to purchase rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b6259920-f65b-11df-846a-00144feab49a.html#ixzz162XMwvR7

Many of the world’s leading private banks are reviewing computer software and hardware to prevent thefts of confidential client data by rogue information technology staff.

The move follows thefts in Liechtenstein and Switzerland amid the creation of a lucrative market for such information, after multimillion-euro payments by tax authorities in Germany and other countries.

Please use the link to reference this article. Do not copy & paste articles which is a breach of FT.com’s Ts&Cs (www.ft.com/servicestools/help/terms) and is copyright infringement. Send a link for free or email ftsales.support@ft.com to purchase rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b6259920-f65b-11df-846a-00144feab49a.html#ixzz162XP8dvN

“If there is a subject today that keeps a private bank chief executive awake at night, it’s not stock exchange volatility but the risk of data theft,” said Daniel Bardini of Sungard, a leading software provider.

For obvious reasons, banks have not revealed the measures to counter increased dangers. But bankers privately acknowledge significant spending to upgrade their systems.

“The high-profile cases of criminal data theft were certainly a wake-up call for Swiss banks to review and overhaul their IT security to rule out any possibility of data leakage,” said James Nason of the Swiss Bankers Association.

Hardware improvements have included packages restricting access, such as fingerprint and even retina recognition systems. Banks have also adapted hardware to limit data being copied, including buying specially-adapted computers without USB ports or disc drives.

But much of the focus has been on software to distinguish more effectively between data needed for everyday account operations, such as securities trading, and “core” information regarding a customer’s identity.

“In the old days, it was easier, because so much information was stored on punch cards and it was just physically difficult to remove it,” Mr Bardini said.

Problems in data security are often deeply embedded in computer systems, as they date back to the era when banks switched from physical to electronic storage, he explained.

“The driver was improving productivity and profitability. But often the switch opened the banks to greater risk. Sometimes the dangers were somewhat forgotten in the transition,” said Mr Bardini, whose software unit works for 55 private banks and independent wealth managers, including Wegelin, one of Switzerland’s top private banks.

Industry concerns about data theft have sparked big opportunities for software groups, such as Avaloq, the Swiss market leader in private banking, whose clients include Pictet and BSI.

Sungard has also been a beneficiary, as well as, to a lesser extent, Temenos, which focuses more on retail banking.

One trend has been to enhance data encryption to limit access. “This is relatively easy to implement, but has the disadvantage of leaving the ‘keys’ to client confidentiality with the IT people,” Mr Bardini said.

Sungard and others are pursuing the alternative of greater segregation by keeping the most sensitive data in a different location to the bank’s core IT platform, and heavily policing the links between them.

Other measures include restricting how much information can be accessed by an individual at one time, and monitoring users’ habits to track staff accessing unusually large amounts of data or using computers at unconventional times.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

Source:-http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b6259920-f65b-11df-846a-00144feab49a.html#axzz162Igk5pi

Share and Enjoy:

Comments Off »

Posted in News

Tags: Boost IT

Egypt Looking to boost outsourcing by $10 billion

October 4th, 2010

Share

CAIRO: Last week, Egypt’s information technology minister said the North African country is looking to increase its exports from its burgeoning outsourcing industry to $10 billion by 2020. According to statements last Wednesday, Cairo wants to also increase its focus on IT entrepreneurship and intellectual property rights in the country.Minister Tarek Kamel outlined the new initiatives at an investment conference being held in the Egyptian capital and revealed a glimpse of what is to come in the efforts to see revenue and diversification going forward.

At the same time, Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid said his ministry is looking at attracting direct foreign investment of some $15 billion annually in the near future.We need to be able to consolidate. We want to be able to improve management. We want to be able to modernize our base of production,” he told reporters.The government is optimistic on its outsourcing project, which has already seen large multi-national corporations take up residence in Cairo’s Smart Village.he country’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) said that the expect outsourcing to continue to bolster the IT sector and make investment for foreign companies easier.

With reported growth in IT last year at 11.3 percent and a number of major international corporations setting up shop in Egypt, the country remains one of the fastest growing destinations anywhere. In 2009, Sykes Enterprise and Stream Global Services made large investments in the country.The ministry of communications and information technology said that ITIDA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Intel Corporation to “further boost the potential of Egyptian information and communications technology (ICT) companies” via Intel’s technical background and expertise.We aim to improve Egypt’s potential as an outsourcing destination to be able to compete with other locations on what we can offer, develop and have the ability to be the leading destination for these major IT firms,” said a spokesman from the ministry.

The confidence comes on the back Kamel’s statements in late March, where he said Egypt hopes to generate some $2 billion in revenue by 2013. The most recent statements show long-term goals for the country, which is likely to spur on investment, say observers.The idea that Egypt wants to more than quadruple its IT sector in one decade is certainly going to get CEO’s taking notice,” said Amr Ghazlan, an IT consultant with Microsoft in the United States.That is good news for potential investors, who have been moving into the North African nation with an eye on further expansion into Africa and Asia. It is a win-win situation the ministry has told Bikya Masr, with little doubt “that we can continue to make Cairo and Egypt top destinations.

It believes the industry can earn the country some $1.1 billion this year, Kamel said, after meeting employees at a newly opened 1,000-seat call center.Little over a decade ago, Egypt did not even have a ministry of communications and technology. The ministry was established in October 1999 and headed by current Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, who believed this sector could become one of the most lucrative in the country if developed properly.The telecom industry represents an estimated four percent of the country’s GDP; Egypt’s technology exports have reached $250 million annually.
Egypt’s sales pitch is based on its status as one of the Arab world’s largest and fastest growing markets.

Source:-http://bikyamasr.com/wordpress/?p=17876

Share and Enjoy:

Comments Off »

Posted in News

Tags: Boost egypt Outsourcing

Data protection law to boost outsourcing firms

March 2nd, 2010

Share

The drive by business process outsourcing firms to capture clients in the financial sector could get a boost from a policy change expected to come into force soon.

Lack of a data protection law to assure players in the financial sector of the safety of their corporate information is one of the major factors that have made banks to prefer handling their customer services internally.

“A law on data protection has been held back because it was tied to the Freedom of Information Act. We expect both laws to be approved by the Cabinet in their next few meetings,” Bitange Ndemo, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, said.

Analysts say that banks, for instance, fear litigation that is likely to come with disclosure of customer information.

They argue that even with the passage of the data protection law, banks may only outsource less sensitive processes like loan applications.

“There is a bit of concern with regard to quality of services offered by local BPO firms,” said Eric Musau, an analyst at Renaissance Capital.

Mr Zain Khan, an international ICT consultant, said that banks in other parts of the world like the US are also preferring to maintain their hold on customer-related processes out of fear of data leakage.

“Banks fear leaks of information to their competitors and would therefore rather do the job themselves,” he said.

Musau added that another factor hindering the BPO companies from netting large clients is the costs involved.

“Outsourcing depends on scale. Organisations with small volumes of processes are in a better position to outsource compared to those with large volumes that may find outsourcing more expensive,” Mr Musau said, citing the example of Safaricom that has chosen to invest in its own customer contact centres.

Eric Nesbitt, the operations director at KenCall, a call centre, confirmed that outsourcing may sometimes be more expensive compared to internal operations.

He said that in such cases, other value added benefits of outsourcing are what would woo clients.

“Companies that outsource cut on staff numbers while remaining with their areas of core competencies which helps boost their productivity and profitability,” he said.

Mr Nesbitt observed that the whole issue of major companies choosing not to outsource is probably because of the new outsourcing experience in the country.

With time, he said the sector’s credibility will rise and this will enable it to tap more business from companies in the financial sector.