More Links - Philippines and Bacolod

www.bpap.org - Philippines BPO organization. Interesting findings on Next Wave Cities and where the industry is going.

www.bnefit.org - Interesting approach to personnel development in the BPO space and the Bacolod Community at large.

www.nextlevelitservices.com - New up and coming BPO company out of Negros Occidental.

Links

Some interesting articles I thought I would pass along.

• Obama's Expectations

• US HB-1 Visa Cutbacks

• 2009 Outsourcing - Trends to watch

www.hitratesolutions.com

On Demand Virtual Assistant Services

We have discussed Virtual Assistants a lot on this blog but one exciting area that has not been talked about is the OnDemand VAs. These services such as Virtual Live Transcription, Virtual Legal Transcription, Virtual Call Hosting (for large conference calls) or Live Dictation. This OnDemand approach allows large centers to better organize and utilize their labor pools. Here are some interesting companies:

Legal Typist


OnDemandVA


I am sure most small and large organizations can use these functions at some time. This is a great avenue to quickly scale your organizations bandwidth.

Helpful Link

Here are some links with great outsourcing information across different verticals. Make sure to bookmark and comment on any particular ones that interest you.

b2btelemarketing.info
callcentercustomerservice.info
customerserviceoutsourcing.net
ediscoveryoutsourcing.com
inboundtelemarketing.info
k-p-o.info
nextlevelitservices.com
outsourcingcompanies.info
outsourcingservices.biz
processoutsourcing.org
telemarketingcompanies.info
telemarketingservice.biz
virtualassistantservices.biz
www.hitratesolutions.com

Barack Obama as President and Industry Consolidation.... Good for Outsourcing

From The Hindu Business Line an article by a University of Michigan Professor on how Consolidation is Good for Outsourcing.

The deeper reasoning behind this article is that there is a wage discrepancy caused by national borders but this is not represented by a skills discrepancy. Whether the current economic environment is in "cost cutting" mode or "growth mode." When the current environment is cost cutting, large and small enterprises will be looking for cost effective solutions to lessen the burden of labor and technology related expenses. Outsourcing is a great option. In a boom time or a time when top line growth is paramount people will still be looking to do more activities with new capital (doing more with more money). Outsourcing being a prime option. This speaks to realignment of wages that is structural and not cyclical. There is always a question of the quality of sourcing differently but generally the market works these issues out.

This fundamental reasoning sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. Experts will try and predict trends for certain sectors of outsourcing but the fundamental notion of technology "flattening the world" coupled with Purchasing Power Parity differences across borders not representing skill makes outsourcing a fundamental necessity for sustained growth and not a choice of value.

Friedman Podcast

Being a big fan since his book "From Beirut to Jerusalem" days. I am expecting big things from his newest book "Hot, Flat and Crowded." Here is a link to a podcast where he talks about his newest book.


Friedman always finds a way to characterize and encapsulate current events in a manner that gives meaning to what came before and what will be coming on the horizon. Anyone who is interested in geo-political or macroeconomics should definitely listen

The Convergence of the Individual and the Firm

The ideas of crowdsourcing and virtual freelancers are becoming more popular it seems the traditional notion of individual behavior and firm behavior is starting to converge.

Sites like Elance, Guru and Odesk are providing avenues where individuals are able to bid on an equal playing field as firms. Obviously if an organization needs to scale the optimal choice is a firm but for individual projects on a short term project the individual might be a better fit due to the lack of bureaucracy and fixed costs.

With increasing globalization and the flattening that our technological innovations are providing it seems that this trend is unlikely to abate anytime soon.

$5 an hour telemarketing

I came across this website offering $5 an hour virtual telemarketers. This company is out of the Philippines. Great way to give your sales force some ground cover as they are trying to bring in deals.

Outsource Telemarketing

This not only be a good cost saving measure but if you are trying to expand the reach of your current marketing program for campaigns such as APC or direct mail this is a cheap and effective way to create economies of scale.

Interesting Developments

With the world economy in a tailspin of de-leveraging and potentially gearing down production. This is due to the simple fact of American consumers pushing their credit limits to the max and developing economies unwilling and unable to turn their saving economies into consumption based. Most of the worlds small businesses are going to have to relate to doing things faster, cheaper and better.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/174336

The current wave of anti-globalization may have to come to terms that there isn't any other way. Small businesses turning to cheaper international options such as business process outsourcing options or information tecnology services options become increasingly necessary for small and medium sized businesses.

http://www.ihotdesk.com/article/18062154/SME%20IT%20outsourcing%20set%20to%20increase

http://www.sourcingmag.com/blog/archive/sme_outsourcing_trends.html

Virtual Assistant - Embracing Change

The days of Job Posts asking for an assistant who can "file" are over.

With everything being paperless now there is really no administrative task that can not be visualized. With the advent of web 2.0 things such as content writing, blogging and increasing one's social networks are relevant tasks that are time consuming and expensive. Outsourcing many of these tasks along with the standard appointment setting, appointment confirming, booking travel and drafting basic reports.

The at home and outsourced models have taken off and you see specialization with things such as REVA (Real Estate Virtual Assistants). This often one to on relationship can also create knowledge transfer that can benefit parties in disparate geographic regions. In addition you are seeing what virtual assistance entails is growing. Now follow-ups and basic telemarketing are just as likely to be added as correspondence.

It is in this process where things get interesting. One can imagine a scenario where a virtual assistant would be a group of people providing front and back end services to allow the business owner to focus on core activities. A web development company that outsources sales, back office HR/Payroll, Recruiting and Finance so it can focus on it basic business.

Expect to see continued differentiation as well as increased depth of knowledge for specialized virtual assistants.

New Outsourcing Hotspot : Bacolod Philippines

Bacolod Philippines has been recognized by the Philippine governement as one of the new hubs for BPO growth in the country. Already home to companies such as Convergys, Teletech, Teleperformance, Focus Services and Hit Rate Solutions they employ thousands of people in this town of approximately 500,000. Just a 30 minute flight from Manila it provides affordable living and smart people.

Here are some links to Bacolod related sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacolod_City

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negros_Occidental

http://www.bacolodcity.gov.ph/

http://www.pinoytravelblog.com/roadtrip/21/dining-in-bacolod

Helpful Links

Links:

• Business Process Outsourcing Defined -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process_outsourcing

• Knowledge Process Outsourcing Defined -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_process_outsourcing

• CRM Defined -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRM
  

• Interesting Article on Virtual Microscopy -- http://www.azonano.com/news.asp?newsID=8450
  

• Potential Impact on Outsourcing on Obama's Win -- http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/nov2008/gb2008113_603572.htm

• Interesting article on the future of Salforce.com -- http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9118899&intsrc=news_ts_head
  

Links - Destinations to Outsource

In choosing the right destination to outsource it is always good to know each location has to offer and the strengths of that location.

• India - The number one destination of Outsourcing Services - India has long held the IT services outsourcing crown and has taken a huge leads in Business Process Outsourcing as well as Knowledge Process Outsourcing. India is home to several large multi-national outsourcing companies as well as having a myriad of choices with small very niche call centers popping up every day. It is the primary spot for outsourcing. And with its 1.1 billion population there will be no shortage of centers in the future.

• Philippines - An up an coming outsourcing destination. The Philippines has over 80 million people and is the 5th largest English speaking population. The Philippines has been making a name for itself due to its deserved reputation of great front-end customer service representatives. Much of the Fortune 2000 companies have considerable operations in some parts of the Philippines.
  

• South America and Mexico - Riding the benefits of the increase in Spanish speakers in America and abroad, South America has become prime destinations for bi-lingual outsourcing. Popular destinations include Buenos Aires, Mexico City and Colombia.

• Africa - Countries such as Kenya and Nigeria hosts large numbers of English speakers. There are still infrastructure issues to mindful of but Africa could be the next "hot spot" for BPO services.
  

A Place to Start

With the US economy in horrendous shape and emerging economies now feeling the pain it is more important than ever to try and reduce basic expenses. This can be as simple as moving to an internet based phone system, bringing on a software programs to keep track of your customers or finding cheaper ways of performing tasks such as accounting, customer service, telemarketing or sales. Here are some great sites and vendors that may help you accomplish some cost cutting goals:

Technology Options

• The best in VOIP / IM technology - Skype :

This is a well known company but few know just what it is capable of. It is not only an Instant Message tool or a way to call fellow Skype members for free but it is a way to have a US or international phone number and make cheap calls to more than 28 countries. If you are a traveling sales executive, a virtual company or conduct business internationally this is defintiely an option you want to check out.

• Business Applications - Cheap and Effective - Zoho.com :
  

Whether sharing documents, creating reports, using CRM, Project Management, Business Intelligence or virtually any type of business application this is site to do it. Also, because every program is under the ZOHO umbrella there is very cool syncing and integration tools that allow the various applications to allow your users to share and collaborate on information easily and
People Options -

• Front End Telemarketing - Hit Rate Solutions :
  

Based in Bacolod, Philippines this company is any business' answer to front end client facing needs. Whether you need a virtual assistant, lead generation or customer service. They are American managed and cater to US, Europe and APAC customers.

• Back End IT and Web Design - Microsourcing:
  

Based in Manila, Philippines this company provides back end IT services and web design. Philippine and Dutch managed and very process focused this is a great option at a great price.
In the future -- Options on medical and legal outsourcing....

Introduction

After long studying the convergence of technology and the applications of people working virtually, I never ceased to be surprised at all of the new options available to businesses when looking to go virtual. It is not only about whether to offshore services or keep them onshore, but how to offshore, where to outsource, what processes to keep, where is the best talent, how do we find the right vendor, how do we know what technology to use and when we select the vendor or process what is coming around the corner that might render this technology obsolete?

It is these exact questions I will try to shed light on in this blog. If you feel inclined to comment please do. This is meant to be a place where like technology, service and operational folks come together to share potential options of what's next and what's possible.

More to come.....