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The Philippines still rank as one of the top countries to offer outsourcing solutions. As a matter of fact, outsourcing has become a mainstream business strategy that’s been fully embraced in our country. One of the predictions regarding the movements in the outsourcing industry is its major shift in outsourcing Information Technology (IT) development as well. More entrepreneurs are gaining confidence in outsourcing their IT. What’s more, a good number of businesses are so much better off not operating their own IT.

Small and medium enterprises (SME) are slowly contemplating on fully outsourcing their IT department in order to get more highly skilled and experienced specialists, who can produce high quality solutions. Must a company decide to outsource its IT, it must make sure to find a reliable IT provider that is genuinely interested in their business. With someone else to take care of the IT development, not only is the company able to save money, it is also able to focus on its core business. Finding the perfect IT provider can largely benefit the entrepreneur as he can have more time to follow the latest trends and technologies and take care of the other important aspects of his business as well, such as marketing and sales.

Outsourcing your IT development may be a big risk and a hard decision to make for any entrepreneur or business entity. There may be advantages along with it, but the fear of losing control over your IT structure is understandable. One thing’s certain though; the shift in outsourcing IT development is inevitable and is bound to happen.

If you decide to outsource your IT, here are the top ten good reasons why you should do so:

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1.   Cost Reduction

Even though it was predicted that cost saving would eventually not be the no. 1 factor for outsourcing in the future, still at present, it proves to be the main reason for outsourcing due to the economic crisis that’s affecting most nations. The economic recovery is still uncertain, which makes cost reduction ever important at this point. Through outsourcing, you can expect your business to reduce your costs up to 50% or more. Outsourcing is still considered as a clever way to cut unnecessary costs that pose a big advantage to any outsourcing business.

2.   Knowledgeable Resources

SME’s are gradually considering fully outsourcing their IT department in order to gain access to other resources and get the best people on the market. Small businesses are experiencing difficulty in retaining or recruiting IT specialists, thus they need to have access to more skilled and experienced IT experts who can take care of their IT structure. Likewise, IT outsourcing allows the entrepreneur to gain knowledge from other IT specialists who are better equipped to handle and produce high quality solutions.

3.  Work Continuity

This is one aspect that should be seriously tackled by any company. When your IT expert is unavailable, or worse, decides to leave your company, you must be prepared for it. Partnering with a good IT provider that you can fully trust can ensure continuity in your resources. It is wise not to rely on just one specialist to deliver IT knowledge to your company.

4.  Latest Trends and Technologies

You can never be sure of how well-informed or up-to-date your current IT workforce is. That is the reason why engaging in IT outsourcing could be advantageous for your business because you can gain a wide range of ideas regarding the latest trends and technologies in the IT field from a different perspective. Employee turnover issues are also unavoidable so grooming new employees will definitely cost a fortune. This is where IT outsourcing becomes handy. You just need to choose a responsible IT service provider.

5. Time-Saving Benefits

In any business, time is gold. That is true because as businessmen the value of time is precious and must not be wasted. Initially, you may have to pay close attention to your outsourcing scheme. That is okay because later on you will be able to save time as you don’t have to take care of all your remote working IT partners.

6.   Core Business

Employers or businesses need to focus their attention on other core tasks as well, aside from IT matters. The content, marketing plans and sales schemes of a company are some of the equally important aspects of a business that needs thorough attention. Through IT outsourcing, there’s a lesser need to closely watch your IT matters so that you can devote more time to your core business and your clients.

7.  Flexibility

It’s quite expensive to maintain your own IT staff and most companies think that it is costly to be prepared for the highest possible demand.  It is then a good idea to extend your development team with skilled outsourced resources so you will be more flexible in handling other aspects of your business.

8.  Efficiency and Productivity

The advantage of IT outsourcing is that service providers are able to fully focus on the project at hand because they are not involved in the internal affairs of their outsourcer. Thus, the productivity rate of the IT specialists is much higher.

9.  Reliable Services

IT experts within a committed IT company are bound to develop faster because of better career prospects. They are able to gain more knowledge and access to their colleagues’ expertise and are able to impart their strengths as well for the betterment of their IT structure. Generally, this will result in a more secure, stable, and reliable service delivery.

10. Expertise

Outsourcing does make you think twice, but there’s a pretty big chance you cut your costs considerably, especially in software development. The software development team usually goes through many modification requests while developing an in-house application. It is then very important to point out in detail your specification needs. This is where a good IT provider can be of help as they can specify your needs and share their expertise in order to get to the core of the solution.

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Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) companies are fast emerging as viable businesses in the Philippines. In fact, Cebu is considered as one of the major hubs for BPO companies. Since 2006, the Philippine BPO growth rate has increased to 46 percent annually. Mainly, this was driven due to the demand for offshore call centers.

In the Philippines, the growth spurt of the outsourcing industry comes in various services, with the call center industry at the top of the pack. Other outsourcing businesses range from legal and medical transcription services, corporate backroom operations, or software development services. Undeniably, all of these offshore services are being embraced by the Filipino community in the hopes of having a better income and an improved way of living.

With Philippines as the top global BPO destination, there’s no doubt that the Philippine BPO companies are earning billions of dollars. Given that, you might ask, are these big businesses giving back something in return to society? Are they doing proactive steps to help others, especially the poor, or are they just busy making money?

This leads me to think whether you’ve ever heard of the acronym CSR at some point. If you are employed in a call center, you’d probably say that CSR means Customer Service Representative.  Actually, you are right. But, there is also another meaning for CSR that I would like to tackle – and that is Corporate Social Responsibility.

I have high regard for businesses that take time to give back to their local communities in big or small ways. Increasingly, BPO companies are embracing CSR initiatives to help impoverished communities, especially the indigent families by introducing livelihood programs or trainings.

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It’s a good feeling to know that high revenue-generating companies, such as call centers, also thrive to impart their blessings to others. The growing social awareness of premiere companies in being able to extend something good to their communities in which they work and serve is very inspiring. Take for example, the initiatives taken by one of the top call centers in the Philippines who led the construction of 70 homes in TELUS GK Village way back in 2007. This outreach program made a significant impact to hundreds of homeless families.

I believe that making CSR a key component in BPO companies would set a good example to their workforce in promoting social consciousness. Here are a few ideas that can motivate your employees to participate in CSR efforts while boosting your company morale:

(1)    Community Events Participation. Engage your company to participate in local charities by volunteering at fund raising events or loaning your products and services. There are a lot of charity events that allow companies to donate products or services, which will be auctioned in order to raise money. Not only will you be able to help charities by doing this, you get to spend only small amounts of money.

(2)    Volunteerism. Encourage your people to volunteer at local charities in your community. You can allow your employees to render an hour off from work, maybe once a month to go and volunteer in charity works.

(3)    Sponsorship. You could sponsor your employees to participate in charitable events. You could schedule a group from your team to take part in a charity Fun Run event or bike race. You may be shedding a certain amount of money, but what is that compared to the happiness you’ll bring to those who need help.

(4)    Book Sale/Garage Sale. Another idea is to have a book or garage sale, with part of the proceeds going to your outreach programs. Encourage your employees to donate or sell their old books and other stuff for a cheap price.

(5)    Competition for a Cause. You can host an inter-departmental competition in your company by having a fun contest in the form of food or school supplies that will in the end benefit the poor. Initiate a food drive competition wherein each department will compete on who collects the largest quantity of dry goods in terms of weight. This can be a fun and rewarding competition that will boost the morale of the participants for doing something good for the poor.

(6)     Charitable Donations. Encourage your employees to donate for charitable causes. Even though money is tight, you can match employee contributions to charities to a certain amount, no matter how small that amount might be. As long as your employees see their contributions coming to fruition, I’m sure they will feel better about the help they’ve extended.

The idea of corporate social responsibility is now gaining wide acceptance and is becoming part of the global business agenda. There will definitely be obstacles along the way that you will need to overcome. The key challenge is to be able to disseminate your CSR strategies in a way that will convince your employees to be involved in your CSR initiatives and to make your efforts appear trustworthy. The rewards could be vast and satisfying once these initiatives are realized, benefitting not just you and your company’s image, but your employees as well.

It’s uplifting to see that call centers are not just concerned about maintaining their service metrics, such as Key Performance Indicators, Average Handling Time or First Call Resolution. They are taking positive steps to be good corporate citizens too. I’m sure there are a lot of other companies practicing CSR that are not known to the public. Hopefully, the move towards social consciousness in providing assistance to those in need would infect all business sectors.

CSR not only has a lot of advantages to offer to the business. It actually gives your company a competitive edge once linked to the strengths of your business organization. In fact, CSR strengthens your brand and company reputation. You will gain the respect of your employees and more likely inspire them to be socially involved in helping out the society. Not only that, you will also earn the trust of your customers and promote more business partnerships and dealings with other vendors in the future.

In the Philippines, we have a lot of talented individuals in our work force. A good number of these employees complain of either being overworked, underpaid or unappreciated. They know the extent of their capacities and are upset with their current situation. Majority of these frustrated employees are thinking of jumping onto the freelancing wagon, but what’s keeping them from doing so? If they have the necessary skills to be able to make money online, why aren’t they freelancing already?

One can only speculate based on the ongoing crisis in the country that these people may not really have the power to let go of a consistent paying job over one that may not deliver as promised. We would assume that the “bahala na” mentality, which is a known characteristic among Filipinos, would encourage their risk-taking nature to take over. But in this case, there is too much at risk for the Filipino.

Other than the risk of not getting paid, freelancers do not enjoy the health insurance and security of tenure benefits afforded by working for a legit company. Freelancers have to fund for these themselves. They also need to pay their taxes. A freelancer has to take time and exert effort to take care of all these, including queuing in long lines for government agencies and having to explain the art of freelancing to the clerks at the Bureau of Internal Revenue. These exhausting tasks are avoided when one works for a company since these are usually the responsibilities of the Human Resource department.

So, what do Filipinos do? Usually, when the freelance project is very tempting, they keep their jobs and work as freelancers when they are off from their regular employment. This way they continue to have the consistent pay with the benefits of a bona fide employee while earning extra money. Compared to working two legit jobs, working on a regular job and having a freelancer project is preferred. Most legit jobs keep you in the office and away from home, while freelancers can work in the comforts of their own humble abode and in the company of loved ones.

Because the family is very important to the Filipino, the decisions we make are usually dependent on what works best for the family and this includes having a consistent source of income.

As a client of freelancers, one may experience several frustrations, including not hearing back from them. There are several reasons why a freelancer would not call return your call or respond to your email/chat.

Power Problems

One reason why you won’t hear from the freelancer again can be due to a power outage. In the Philippines, power outages or more commonly known here as brownouts are serious problems. Some areas even have them every day. And some interruptions can last as long as 12 hours. And the situation, as Google would tell you, is very common. What can you as a client waiting for their projects to be completed do about it? Not much, actually. When the electricity does get back on, if you have a reliable Filipino freelancer, they’d be apologetic about it and would be kind enough to make up for the lost time. If they don’t, then there’s still not much recourse for you. It’s probably best to look for another freelancer. If the situation causes a serious concern, you can try hiring people from Cebu or Manila, which have less power problems compared to other areas in the Philippines.

Too Shy

Another reason why you won’t be hearing from your freelancers again is because they are not as frank or as direct as Americans. Filipinos are typically non-confrontational and they are too shy to ask questions even if they do not fully understand your instructions. Communicating with Filipinos is easy because they are fluent in both written and oral English. However, at times, what you communicate to the other party may not always be received as well as we assume they are. Some freelancers will just say yes. They won’t ask much but you probably won’t hear from them again either. What do you do? To avoid this complication, be sure you communicate using as simple instructions as possible. Always ask if they fully understand the instructions and let them know that you are open to questions. Be patient in explaining and giving directions. Also, build rapport with the freelancer to keep communication lines open.

Embarrassment

Another problem with establishing and maintaining communication with freelancers is that you’d find many of these Filipino freelancers are quite embarrassed to tell you that they won’t be able to do what you asked them to. The freelancer may feel that he or she cannot fulfill the task because of a lack of knowledge or skill set. The freelancer will not, however, tell you that they are not capable of doing the task. Rather than admit they don’t know how to do something, some freelancers would prefer to simply fade out. Indeed, a very common trait. However, if you take time to look at the credentials of potential freelancers for your project and take quick feedbacks from their previous clients, you can minimize the chances of landing on an inexperienced freelancer.

There are many possible reasons why you won’t hear from your freelancers again but these three are the most common. As long as you build a good communication line and have a solid rapport with your employee, these issues won’t be issues for long.

The Philippines first received the prestigious award in 2007, then in 2009. This is the third time the country was cited as the “world’s leading global outsourcing center.”

The country has definitely made its mark in the global outsourcing industry after beating other nominees that included Sri Lanka, Egypt and Ukraine.

According to a report by Manila Bulletin, NOA said that the Philippines is becoming an absolute offshore giant for the UK Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market because of its abundant graduate workforce.

NOA also recognized the country’s 92 percent literary rate and 36- million labor force with 450,000 university level graduates per year, with about 100,000 finance and accounting graduates. The Filipinos’ ability to understand and speak English with a neutral and understandable accent was also given importance.

What contributed to the country’s winning chances are the world-class telecommunications infrastructure and unparalleled government support in the form of income tax holidays of up to six years, and other fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, which also boosted the country’s chances in bagging the title. Also, the judges recognized the flat 5 percent income tax rate on gross income for locators of office buildings and installations accredited as Philippine information technology (IT) economic zones, after the initial 4-6 years of income tax holiday has passed.

The Board of Investments, in cooperation with the Philippine Outsourcing Industry, Business Process Association Philippines and other major players prepared and submitted this year’s outstanding winning entry.

The NOA is the only well-established and recognized outsourcing trade association in the United Kingdom that has been operating for over 20 years.

Developed in 1981 by Motorola USA, Six Sigma is a business management strategy that follows the usual business processes but introducing Six Sigma efforts, process leaning, and process innovation. As of 2010, the Six Sigma strategy is now applied to a number of sectors. From being a simple strategy to identify and reduce variations in items that are critical to the customer, the Six Sigma technique is now being used for effective process transformation and creating a positive business impact.

These are the steps a BPO company will take to employ the Six Sigma advantage:

1.       Process transition

2.       Transfer to operations group

3.       Measure and report Service Level Agreement (SLA) and metrics

4.       Statistical process control check

5.       Six Sigma efforts

6.       Process leaning

7.       Process redesign.

The first four steps are the typical steps followed in the BPO transition process. The additional three steps are the keys to moving up the industry ladder.

The benefits of BPO service providers moving up the value chain with lean Six Sigma include:

• Process improvement leads to more savings, better product quality, and greater speeds of production at lesser costs;
• Proper documentation of business processes, including workflows, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and SLAs, for legal and contractual purposes; and
• Formal and diligent process measurements of SLAs and KPIs.

Moreover, if your service provider gets the lean Six Sigma advantage, you can also benefit from it. Among other things, moving up the value chain changes the vendor’s perspectives from being purely competitive to becoming true business partners. This gives you the chance to develop more productive, long-term relationships with your service providers.

With the Internet explosion, the business world has changed. People are now able to share information without geographic constraints.  Companies can also place staff in the lowest-cost locations. Many prefer to outsource or sub-service jobs to different parts of the world to minimize the costs. Asian countries, including the Philippines, are becoming the key locations for backroom operations where skilled labor is less expensive. Many large businesses are seeing the potential of outsourcing to the Philippines because the country offers skilled yet inexpensive English-speaking staff.

The IT and electronics industry, which centers on computers, communications, software and other services, represents the fastest growing business around the world. Since the technology sector is getting larger, IT jobs are among the most sought after. Almost all businesses depend on information technology because they need a well-functioning technological system in order to operate. Companies rely on computers to automate their traditional processes. They also utilize information technology to solve mathematical and logical problems. They need someone to take care of the process of storing, processing, securing, transmitting, receiving and retrieving vital information.

Take advantage of the growing IT world! Whether you are an entrepreneur or an employee, enroll in a three-month Virtual Assistance course. Learn to compete with other companies by making Search Engine Optimization (SEO) an essential part of every marketing strategy.

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Thousands of Filipinos get attracted to work in call centers because of the benefits they are offered. These include high salaries and bonuses. Fresh graduates are offered as much as P15,000 and those with experience can go as high as P35,000. Employees with managerial and supervisory positions can even earn more.   Aside from their basic salary, night differential pay is also given to those assigned to the night shift. This is definitely higher than what employees with day jobs get. To add to the high salary, call center agents receive other benefits like insurance coverage and allowances like transportation and rice.  Another factor that draws applicants to work in this industry is the absence of discrimination in age and educational attainment. Courses do not matter as long as the applicants meet the requirements. Even people over 40 years old and those in college level may apply as call center agents as long as they pass the series of exams and interviews.

Despite the huge sums of money that call center agents get, there are still those who think twice. Working in the call center industry poses health issues. One of the biggest downsides is experiencing burnout. A lot of stress comes with this type of work. Routinely taking calls day after day and performing the same functions can get tiresome. Because of the monotonous nature of the job, it is common to hear agents complaining of having “brain drain.”  Dealing with irate customers plus the need to keep volumes up, with no time in between calls, add to the burnout.  The build-up of stress leads to illness and absenteeism. Some call center agents suffer from Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), a condition that is caused by doing an action repeatedly like typing for hours, without adjusting your position. RSI can lead to pains in the arms, hands, wrists, shoulders and backs. As if working the night shift isn’t difficult enough, working in a callcenter entails adjusting to different shifts. Rest days also vary, so agents have to always adjust to the constant change in schedule.

As with any other career, there are positive and negative things to consider. Are you willing to routinely work nightshifts and deal with customers over the phone? If not, then the call center industry is definitely not for you. Why don’t you enroll in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) training, instead? Try enrolling in a three-month Virtual Assistance course and explore your potentials. A career in SEO is waiting for you!

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Schools who didn’t offer a nursing course suddenly took advantage of the nursing boom and joined the bandwagon. Profit became the priority, rather than teaching. These schools lack the equipment and staff, unfortunately resulting to incompetent graduates. Although most students are able to graduate, most of them fail to pass the local board examinations.

Today, the oversupply of nurses in the Philippines is quite evident. The fortunate ones who are able to pass the local board exams are faced with more challenges. Because of the global economic crises, countries with high demand for nurses opt to employ their own citizens. Aside from this, a diploma and a license are not enough tickets to go abroad. Nurses are required two years experience before they could apply overseas. Hospitals don’t have vacancies so nurses are forced to apply as volunteers where instead of getting paid, they are the ones who pay the “training fees.” After acquiring the two years experience, nurses still have to pass other nursing exams like the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (GFNS) and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) to name a few.

Most nurses are discouraged with their chosen profession because the required two-year experience is difficult to attain, since volunteer positions only last three months. Aside from the hundreds of thousands of pesos they spent to finish their education, they still pay for more exams, volunteer fees and visa applications. They shed large amounts of money, defeating the purpose of taking up their course so they can go abroad and provide for their families. Instead of pursuing their carriers, nurses are forced to work in call centers and English as Secondary Language (ESL) schools. Some companies wouldn’t accept nursing graduates because of the fear that they would just leave after their applications abroad would be accepted.

Hence, the current dilemma, what is in store for our dear Filipino nurses? Sadly, not much. If you’re willing to wait in queue for your one-in-a-million chance of hitting the nursing jackpot, then go ahead, get a nursing degree. But if you’re in it for the huge boon, get Search Engine Optimization (SEO) training instead. Or enroll in a three-month Virtual Assistance course and immediately earn back your investment.

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http://outsourcingopinions.com/2010/01/outsourcing-cebu-bpo-updates-2/

Metro Manila is the capital of the Philippines; the political, financial, educational, and social-cultural center that comprises nearly 30% of the entire country’s GDP.

It receives a large portion of the government budget, and Philippine events tend to focus more on Manila’s happenings. Of course, having a large population means more business opportunities, more workforce allocation, and consequently, more profit. Imports and exports are largely centered here, and grounding a business in Manila means having every resource at an arm’s reach away.

So why are outsourcing companies moving or relocating to Cebu? Or moving out to other major cities like Davao, Iloilo, or Bacolod for that matter? If Manila is so rife with economic opportunities, why do BPO companies prefer the remoteness of these outlying cities?

1) To escape the excesses of Metro Manila. Well, the list of negatives is long. The country’s capital is the most densely populated city in the world, with a population density of around 43,000 people per square kilometer. The density congests every area in the city and, with migrants from provinces coming in droves, crime goes up and safety for ordinary civilians plummets.

The city’s air pollution is also one of the worst in the world, with the pollutant particles making up nearly 60 micrograms of particles per cubic meter, almost 300% above acceptable levels.

Intense traffic problems is also a turn-off for most foreign investors wanting to establish businesses in the country. One hour or more traffic delay times are common in its congested streets.

The political turmoil in Manila is real and tangible, and even the rest of the country is easily swept by its chaos. Red tape and corruption among the government agencies are widespread.

With this list of harmful factors, no wonder BPO industries are trying their hand on other urban areas.

2) Cebu has established its integrity as a true BPO hub in Asia. A few years ago, Cebu emerged as one of the Top 50 Emerging Global Outsourcing Cities in a Thornton study, besting all other Asian cities in India and China. The achievement has convinced potential BPO investors to come to the city and set-up their businesses here.

Additionally, the quality of benefits offered by Cebu does not differ so much as with Manila’s. Literacy rate is high among the workforce. In fact, BPO companies actually work with the local schools and universities, producing graduates that are highly employable and competent. The cultural adaptability of Cebuanos with foreigners is the same, if not, better than their counterparts. Furthermore, Cebu already has the IT infrastructure capable of supporting a robust BPO industry.