Getting the Most out of Distributed Teams Onshore or Offshore
March 9th, 2010By Ilya Bogorad
If you are looking to outsource or change processes in a multisite organization, you will face a typical organizational design challenge: how do I structure and locate teams to maximize their collective performance. In this article, I will share some of the most salient points which must be considered. This is a result of our work with our most successful clients.
Let’s talk about this concept – repeated ad nauseum by managers and HR staff all over the world like a sacred mantra — the concept of a team.
Everyone talks about teams and the team building. Inordinate amounts of money are spent on retreats, exercises and training which provide no lasting value. Rare is a job posting that does not include a requirement for a candidate to be a “team player”, which is just gratuitous in this context. Who would say that they are not one?
Nearshore Americas Hits the Road in Early March
February 26th, 2010
Nearshore Americas is on a two week mission in March to travel in-region and meet many new friends, colleagues and partners who are part of this vibrant and fast-growing community of outsourcing professionals.
I will be traveling to Guatemala City later next week to check in with Invest in Guatemala, the Ministry of Economics and about a half dozen key BPO and pro services leaders. I am always fond of returning to Guatemala where, during last Spring’s IAOP chapter meeting, the folks there were very enthusiastic about the early development of Nearshore Americas and our commitment to being a reliable online voice and platform for the Nearshore community.
After Guatemala, I will head to Mexico City to be part of a newly reformed BPO event organized by the Mexico’s call center promotion agency IMT and titled: First Annual Global Contact Center Forum. I will be speaking on one subject near to my heart: Why American Companies Don’t Do Nearshoring and Why. (Follow ups will be posted later in Nearshore Americas.) I will also be moderating a panel discussion on Trends Around Nearshore/ Offshoring/Multishoring. Among the panelists are two gentlemen whose insights are consistently sharp and well-grounded: Anupam Govil, CEO Global Equations and Ruben Sorto, marketing director at Altia Business Park in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
Over 90% of Multinational Corporations Use Some form of IT Outsourcing
February 25th, 2010Ninety-three percent of multinational corporations (MNCs) have undertaken some form of partial outsourcing or out-tasking projects with data center leading the way, said Orange Business Services Tuesday when announcing results from a recent survey on outsourcing.
According to the company, it surveyed more than 600 IT decision-makers from MNCs operating in a wide range of industries.
Results of the survey indicated that 30 percent of those outsourcing projects are data centers related, followed by desktop management (14 percent) and data networks (14 percent), said Orange Business Services, adding that 13 percent have outsourced fixed voice networks and nearly 11 percent have moved to a hosted model for enterprise applications.
The leading reason for outsourcing a service was not to reduce costs but to gain access to specialized IT skills available from an outsourced provider, said the service provider. Cost reduction was a close second, while improving service delivery to end users …
Capgemini Teams with Sogeti on Enhanced Testing Services
February 25th, 2010Innovative, business-driven Quality Assurance and Testing Services to help organizations gain maximum efficiency from their IT systems and achieve business goals
PARIS, February 25, 2010 – Capgemini and Sogeti (Capgemini Group subsidiary), today announced the joint launch of an enhanced portfolio of software Testing Services. Combining the assets and expertise of both companies, this move will create one of the largest dedicated testing practices in the industry, supported by over 6,400 test specialists globally and up to 11,000 further applications specialists, across over 30 countries. Capgemini and Sogeti’s dedicated Testing Services will offer best-in-class testing solutions, combining Sogeti’s proven methodology, industry partnerships and reputation as one of the market leaders in testing, together with Capgemini’s deep sector expertise, global reach, offshore delivery capacity, and track record as a trusted consultative test partner for its clients. Capgemini and Sogeti have also created a new ‘Testing Center of Excellence’ in India, with …
Notice to Latam Providers: Are You Taking Advantage of the Tidal Wave of Legal Outsourcing Opportunities?
February 24th, 2010By Kirk Laughlin
Years of new compliance requirements that force US companies to maintain strict standards around retention of corporate documents is creating a massive opportunity for legal outsourcing. The question is: Are Latin America outsourcing providers prepared to tackle this emerging market?
India continues to lead the world as a legal sourcing destination, but the Philippines and South Africa are coming on strong. Part of the appeal with South Africa is the time zone suitability with UK companies who also have their hands full with regulations like Basel II. There is no question corporate legal teams would just love to be able to collaborate in real time with legal experts in the Western Hemisphere, but at the moment the Nearshore region has not made legal outsourcing a priority.
The practice of legal outsourcing is estimated to be a $2 billion market. …
It’s Official: Cloud is Overhyped, but Does Outsourcing Cloud Really Double IT Costs?
February 20th, 2010It’s sure overcast out there. Cloud computing, the buzzword sweeping the tech world, claimed the top spot in the most recent Hype Cycle report put out by Gartner Research, while a BusinessWeek cover story compared the technology’s impact to the introduction of electricity. Even President Barack Obama’s chief information officer declared himself an acolyte, saying, “I am killing projects that don’t investigate [cloud computing] first.” Last month, a Microsoft lawyer urged the European Union to revamp its laws in a speech subtitled, “How Cloud Computing Will Change Our World.”
Cloud computing is a foggy concept. As with Web 2.0 before it, it’s something everyone thinks they need, even if they aren’t sure what it means. In a nutshell, cloud computing means tapping software, hardware or storage over the Internet (the aforementioned “cloud”), then using and paying for it on an as-needed basis. Applications like Facebook and Google Gmail have …
Atos Origin Names New CEO For Latin America Operations
February 12th, 2010
Global sourcing firm Atos Origin appointed Alexandre Gouvêa as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer for Brazil and Latin America. His mission is to strengthen the company’s presence in the region, developing global delivery and offshore capabilities and improving operational performance in the next five years.
According to Thierry Breton, Chief Executive Officer of the Group, the arrival of Alexandre Gouvêa, will strengthen the operations in Brazil, with bold expectations for the next five years. Among them, the implementation of the Distinctive Offerings, the management of the new consultancy model and the strategic alignment of global accounts. He reports to Charles Dehelly, Senior Executive Vice President of Atos Origin, in charge of Operations.
Gouvêa is Brazilian, 49 years old, an electrical engineer with a master degree in Business Administration. With over 28 years of experience, of which 12 were in international positions, Gouvêa worked for 5 years with Orange Business Services, …
India Investors Sess LATAM as a ‘Land of Plenty’
February 10th, 2010Trade between China and Latin America has been a symbol of strengthening ties between developing economies, but India, too, is now looking to increase its footprint in the region.
More and more Indian companies are looking to do business in Latin America as they seek exposure to growing markets. The ties are also manifesting themselves on a policy level with trade agreements between India and South American countries picking up.
Like those of its Asian neighbor, Indian companies are seeing Latin America as a more secure investment destination, thanks to broadly stable government and economic policies. These markets are also increasingly becoming a potential lifeline as India deals with food shortages and droughts.
“In India, consumption is growing while the land is diminishing but here in Latin America we don’t have any such land-shortage problems,” said Rengaraj Viswanathan, India’s ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, who has been pushing for …
Five Keys to Getting the Most from Your IT Outsourcing Deals
February 10th, 2010Renewing an outsourcing contract provides businesses with an opportunity to revive existing deals and transform the quality of their IT services.
The key to businesses getting what they want when renewing their contract lies in good preparation for negotiations with their supplier, according to outsourcing advisory firm TPI. Debora Card, associate partner at TPI, said it is vital for organisations to fully research what alternative suppliers have to offer before starting negotiations to renew an existing deal.
She said: “Effective contract negotiations leverage comes from developing viable alternatives that are financially, technically and tactically feasible.”
Here is a summary of Card’s tips on how to get a good deal when renewing an outsourcing contract.
Start early
Businesses should start planning for contract negotiations with their existing outsourcing supplier more than a year before the deal is due to expire.
This will leave enough time to pass the service to another supplier or to bring …
India Inc. Sees Outsourcing Surging to Nearly 20% Annual Growth
February 9th, 2010Source: HinduBusinessLine
With anticipated recovery in IT spends and a positive outlook putting the sector on a high, Indian IT honchos said that achieving growth rates of 18-20 per cent in the coming years would be “quite possible”.
“It is possible for the Indian industry to move to a 20 per cent growth rate if we are able to overcome some constraints. In fact as the industry has set itself a target of $175 billion (in exports) by 2020, we will have to look at such growth rates,” Mr Ashank Desai, Founder of Mastek said.
However, India would have to move quickly on issues such as infrastructure, education, power among others, he added. Mr Desai also did not want to comment on the timeframe for the industry to go back to the 20 per cent growth numbers.
Most of the top industry representatives attending the summit seemed upbeat about industry growth trajectory.
Mr …
