Contact Center Outsourcing in Pakistan

The Future of Call Centers in Pakistan

2010-04-07T01:57:00.000-07:00

By Munawar Iqbal

Some experts claim that Pakistan is at the brink of a technology revolution but when we analyze the ground realities thing seems to be totally otherwise. There is nothing wrong in being an optimist but to have an objective conclusion we ought to have a pragmatic approach. When we talk about growth in IT sector, it would not be a pessimistic view that progress is too little, too late. Moreover sometime it looks like even deteriorating. It's a fact that in the past few years we have witnessed positive growth in many areas of the industry. One of the growth phenomena was of call centers. But now I seriously doubt that call centers are here to stay.

The people who think the business of call center should thrive in Pakistan present the argument that our neighbor India, has been in this business for last so many of years and is able to earn more that $ 18 billion every year. This viewpoint further suggests that by providing these services Pakistan could also fetch a huge amount as Pakistan has all the tools required to catch up India. They further claim that Pakistan is now an alternate to the west for call centers and that is the theme, they want to catch on.

While making comparison with India, several factors should be considered who have contributed and as a result India has emerged as a major location for IT-enabled services such as call centers and customer support centers. Lower input costs, reasonably good infrastructure, a trained English-speaking workforce and a favorable time zone differential vis-Ã -vis the US that has spurred the growth of the call center industry in India.

Yes, Pakistan is blessed with almost all of above mentioned attributes and the folks who bank on these similarities with India have some other reasons to be hopeful. According to this viewpoint Pakistan could grab the opportunity as government of India is all set to impose a income tax on all call centers owned by foreign companies and a proposal is under consideration in New Delhi to tax activities conducted over International Private Leased Connections (IPLC) that carry India's voice and data traffic.

I do believe that comparative analysis is a must to lay solid foundations of success. But before turning the weaknesses of our competitor into our strength we must not commit the mistake of being selective or wishful in the process of making comparison. I wonder how we can overlook the recent report of Springboard Research, which says that the introduction of the 15% Sale Tax in the financial year 2006-07 increased the price of computers which increased the cost of doing business. The average price of PC reported by local assemblers and retailers increased up to 20%.

The above mentioned report further elaborate that this is one of the factors which have negatively impacted the growth of the IT sector as evident by export figures for the first six months of the financial year 2007-08. If the value of exports for the first six months is extrapolated to the full year it would be 149.37 Million, which is a growth of 28.7% over the previous year. This is well below the growth registered in previous years. The question is very simple that if we are dealing with same mind set at the helm of affairs who can not comprehend the disaster that our computer industry is facing how and why they would be any different in regard with call centers.

Read More at Pakistan Computer Association

Pros & Cons of Outsourced Call Center and Inhouse Call Center Setup

2010-01-27T00:25:00.000-08:00

Whether you are planning to setup your own call center or you are thinking to outsource it, you must keep all the pros and cons of both the options in mind in order to make a rational decision.

Pros & Cons of Call Center Outsourcing

PROS

No infrastructure investments
Predictable and manageable costs
Latest updated contact center technology
Access to specialized skills
Saving on manpower & training
Ease of accommodating changing business needs
Reduced operating cost & overheads
Easy scalability of call center operations
Save on cost of changing technology
Enhanced Productivity and Customer Service
Increased efficiency
Allows business to focus on core business functions
Cost effective competitive edge
No Human Resource & Management Cost
Redundancy

CONS

Dependency on third party
Loss of direct operational control
No direct contact of Contact Center staff with Marketing staff
Difficult integration with other internal company functional organization or applications

Pros & Cons of In-house Call Center Setup

PROS

Fully owned call center infrastructure and technology
Constant monitoring on premises
Direct contact with Marketing and Administrative teams
Company own administration
No sharing of resources or premises with any other company

CONS

Capital intensive
Very high cost of infrastructure deployment
High maintenance and upgrade cost (hardware, software, and consulting services)
High costs of employment recruitment, training & retention of employees
Deviation from core business functions
Slow or difficult scalability of operations
High start to end time frame

Call Centers Agents and their Health Issues

2010-01-26T01:31:00.000-08:00

By Silent Voice at ProPakistani Blog

The call center has been established as an industry in corporate world of Pakistan only over the last ten years. This industry has given thousands of unemployed graduates an opportunity to start their career without any particular work experience.

Particularly in Pakistan where unemployment rate is very high, fresh graduates take this opportunity as sunshine towards their bright future. This job is not only easily accessible but also does not have any boundaries in entrance.

Job seekers also take this opportunity as a first step towards the corporate world, but unfortunately only few happens to be successful. Most of them remain stucked in this job forever.
Following article, in my opinion, stands valid for both the call centers, serving local customers or abroad customers.

Furthermore they face number of health issues like:

Burnout stress syndrome
Pressure building
Ear problems
Heart diseases
musculoskeletal disorders
Stress
Loss of sleep
Lack of social activities
Stomach problems

And some other psychological factors like:

Self De-motivation
Dis-respected

Now let’s discuss the above mentioned problems and the reasons causing them in detail.
Working environment in call centers
Long hours of work, permanent night shifts, incredibly high work targets, loss of identity are the major reason that threatens the employees of call center in Pakistan. The odd timings and nature of work in call center makes an agent work on a chair for 9 hrs, continuously taking calls and reading a pre-scripted document to gain the customer around the globe.
His every day performance is calculated and is appraised accordingly. A little distraction messes up with his work. All his senses are continuously in action and not only this, the stress he has to face while working could not be measures.
Health issues caused by the working conditions

Computer vision syndrome (CVS): according to Wikipedia it is a temporary condition resulting from focusing the eyes on a computer display for protracted, uninterrupted periods of time. Some symptoms of CVS include headaches, blurred vision, neck pain, fatigue, eye strain, dry, irritated eyes, and difficulty refocusing the eyes.

This is a common problem faced by call center agent since the system designed is according to the technology not the employees’ health.

Digestive disorders: the employees of call center have also complained about stomach related problem.
Losing their voice: it is also suspected that the employees due to frequent speaking are also facing the possibility of losing their voice. For example cough irritation, breathing difficulties and etc.
BOSS stands for burnout stress syndrome: as we have already discussed that call center employees have to face continuous work pressure this ultimately result to stress.
Heart diseases: the stress also effects heart of the employee and also leads to sleep disorderness.
Ear disease: due to sudden high frequency noise, ear of an employee also damages. This may cause permanent deafness.
Muscular pain: body pain is a common complaint by call center agents.
Social life is also effect affected: due to irregular timings the most important thing that is affected of employee is their social life. An employee especially working at night sleeps at morning so that lessens employee’s social meetings with his friends and family.

Caller abuse:
The employees of customer care have to deal with different type of customers which include some polite customers while others are really aggressive.
Read More at ProPakistani

Acquire Competitive Edge using Contact Center Outsourcing

2010-01-14T05:06:00.000-08:00

In today’s competitive environment every brand is trying hard to improve the brand image and provide value added services to acquire the competitive edge. Customers’ expectations and product’s perceived value is also increasing due to stiff competition and less differentiation. On the other hand, increase in telecom usage has provided an opportunity to approach individual prospects and create a more personalized two-way-communication platform profitably.

Companies collect leads from different methods but usually they are not captured in a proper database and such marketing activities are not materialized / monetized up to its full potential.

Contact Center Outsourcing can help your organization acquire the competitive edge by providing exceptional customer services beyond their expectations.

Why Contact Center?

The Contact Center will increase the monetized results of marketing activities by converting the hot leads into long-term customers
The addition of contact center will portray the image of your company as more customer friendly brand which will set it apart from competitors.
The customer database can be created and utilized in meaningful way of persistent communication with the prospects.
Your company’s advertisements will not only create awareness among prospects but its will also push “Call to Action” i.e. getting their queries answered and placing order via contact center.
Effectiveness of advertisements will also be measured and monitored with the number of leads generated during the specific time.
Market research activities via contact center can be performed on demand basis to evaluate and improve brand positioning and image.
Customers’ feedbacks and complaints can be recorded to monitor the areas of improvements

Why Outsource?

Reduce overheads, free up resources
Avoid capital expenditure
Improve efficiency
Offload non-core functions
Get access to specialized skills
Save on manpower and training costs
Be reliable and innovative
Increase customer satisfaction
Avoid the cost of changing technology

Activities which can be performed in contact center

1. Creation of a segmented database of Customers / Prospects

a. Advantages of customer database
A segmented database of customer can help you identify key trends and important information such as your most and least profitable customers or segments. You can use this database to manage customer relationships in order to increase both sales and customer satisfaction.

b. Database creation strategies
The existing data (If available) can be converted into a segmented database. The database can either be created using specialized data entry operators in a particular timeframe or it can be gradually entered into database utilizing the contact center agents.

2. Order taking (from Consumers)

a. Advantages of Order-taking via Contact center
The order taking service through contact center will ensure that you will never miss a single sale. The customer retention will definitely increase because once a customer has placed an order through contact center and get himself / herself registered with database. You can set up a reminder call or courtesy calls to increase the brand loyalty.

b. Order-taking strategies
The efficiency of order taking services relies on the order-taking CRM and the efficient mechanism of timely delivery. Since we are already providing the similar kind of services for few other customers so you will not have to reinvent the wheel, we will simply replicate the system with some customization to get thing moving very fast.

3. Customer Services / Helpdesk

a. Advantages of Customer Services via Contact center
Contact center plays an important role to convert prospects into customers by answering their basic queries about the product and company. Finding new customers is an expensive business which is why it pays to invest in hanging onto your existing customers. Good contact center service can also give small companies a lead over their bigger rivals.

b. Customer Services / Helpdesk Strategies
We will make the customer call a delightful experience by putting all our expertise and technologies together at work for you. The callers will be greeted with a pleasant recording with light background music which will be entertained by our professionally trained customer service representative. Our quality assurance and training team constantly evaluate and improve the quality of service provided at our contact center.

4. Lead generation / Lead qualification
a. Advantages of Lead generation via contact center
Every single lead can produce a new wave of sales, if it is nurtured till the final stage of being a loyal customer.

b. Lead generation / Lead qualification strategies
After answering the basic queries of the prospect the customer services representative shall generate lead by registering him/her in the customer database.

5. Complaint Handling / Lodging / Forwarding
According to a survey only 1 out of 26 customer complain, rest switch to competitor’s product without complaining.

a. Advantages of Complaint handling via contact center
Customer complaints can provide valuable information about your company’s weaknesses which you can take it as areas of improvement.

b. Complaint Handling / Lodging / Forwarding strategies
With our contact center and complaint management CRM you will be able to track each and every complaint along with its status. This information can help you gain continuous improvement from outside-in perspective.

6. Market Research / Surveys
a. Advantages of Market Research via contact center
Market research through contact center will complement and support the research and analysis from your main sources.

b. Market Research strategies
You can conduct frequent surveys via outbound calling and verify the results that you get from research companies about your product’s positioning, market availability etc.

7. Order taking (from Retailers)
a. Advantages of Order-taking via Contact center
Order taking from retailers will ensure the product’s availability on the shelf which in turn means the minimum possibility of product shortage at a particular area or retailers shop. It will also provide the inside information about distributor’s performance and retailer’s feedback about the product.

b. Order-taking strategies
This will be an ad-on in the existing distribution system which will increase the overall sales of the product. The contact center will perform proactively by giving a reminder call / courtesy call for the order or disseminating the latest promotions to high performing retailers.

Chevron Pakistan Call Center Outsourcing Success Story - in Customer's words

2010-01-11T05:22:00.000-08:00

Chevron Pakistan call centre (CSC PK) was started on March 10, 2006 when the first call was received at CSC. It was started with the objective of improving professionalism and enhancing standards of service of our customers.

This new unit has joint owner ship and cost sharing between lubricant business unit and Marketing. Marketing has managed the centre since July 2008. It has been formally inducted as a unit of area marketing support since August 20, 2009.

Chevron Pakistan call centre handles the following: -

Order taking and preparation of sales orders in SAP PC8.
Account information to customers.
General information to customers related to product and services.
Management of SMS counterfeit systems.
Tracking of shipments from depots through SAP PC8.
Co-ordination with terminals when necessary fro expeditious delivery to customer.
Managing maintenance queries and forwarding them to the respective maintenance staff.
Managing star card queries.

It’s a professionally run outsourced facility provided by a reputed call centre company, Arwen Tech (Private) limited, this company provides chevron with the office space at their premises and their staff.

Recruitment & selection of CSC agents is done through a stringent process to ensure the Quality of team members in order to maintain and meet expectations of management, client and customers. To guarantee quality of work and productivity conducive environment, CSC hiring includes good academic background preferred experience in related field, good communication and interpersonal skills, fluency in English and urdu and knowledge of regional languages. Other competencies include positive attitude and ability to work under pressure. Training programs completion with a minimum of 90 % score is also mandatory for a candidate to become successful in entering the CSC team.

CSC was the entry point for Olympic in Pakistan. Successful implementation of Olympic at the entry point was crucial for the success of the entire project. CSC exhibited outstanding performance during Olympic go-live. Due to CSC’s remarkable efforts order taking to delivery was seamless right from the start of Olympic. We recognize CSC team for this effort.

Since Olympic go-live in October 2008, order taking is entirely handled by CSC fro refined oils and lubricants. CSC PK handles approximately 18,000 calls from various 13,000 orders per month. Additionally, all maintenance queries are managed through CSC.

We have identified gaps in certain processes and marketing support PERM has taken it on as a challenge to make this unit a center of excellence across the globe. Initially as a first step we have acquired benchmark metrics from the customer service centre, South Africa and are tracking the performance of CSC PK based on these metrics.

CSC Pakistan is lowest call centre in the region with all combined total cost of less than US $ 9,000 per month (including all staffing, overheads etc), which is shared by both lubricant and marketing business units.

Marketing’s vision is to offer and extend this service and standards to other geographies with in and outside the region.

Call Center Technology—Is It a Help or a Hindrance In Your Company?

2009-11-17T23:12:00.000-08:00

By Kristina Evey

Customers and companies alike are relying on call centers to manage large portions of their business functions. Companies are using their call centers to serve as a resource for customers to answer questions, schedule repairs, take orders, process purchases and for possible upselling. Customers rely on call centers to answer questions that are not clearly explained online, to purchase, to get more information or to simply have a human being and call center representative be their connection to the company, not the Internet.

Therein lies the challenge—how to effectively utilize and manage a call center to best serve the needs of both the customer calling in and the company itself. The main purpose of the call center is to provide excellent service in order to increase customer satisfaction and retention. In the mind of the customer, the person with whom they are speaking is the company. The smart companies are using their call centers to partner with the customer in order to enhance the experience that their customers are already having with them in order to generate retention, loyalty, and increased profits.

Focus On the Customer By Using Technology

Call centers are striving toward high efficiency and effectiveness. This is aided by new technological developments that have appeared on the market at lightening speed in recent years. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software provides amazing tracking and scheduling for customer touchpoints and purchases. Call center technology has advanced to the point where calls can be monitored and tracked, queued at the point of inception, as well as time per call demonstrating work flow and scheduling needs, etc.

All of this technology is extremely useful provided the focus remains on the needs of the customer. Technology is a wonderful thing, but steps need to be taken to ensure companies aren’t using it as an obstacle for the customer or losing the personal aspect of the interaction. Automated attendants, voice queues, time per call measurements are useful and have their place, yet the “live person” is what so many consumers prefer and appreciate. Once we lapse into having technology “process” our customers, the quality of the call suffers in the drive to minimize the duration of each call.

Your Call Center Presents Opportunity

The call center is an excellent opportunity to focus on customers and grow business. It is an avenue of communicating with customers during which customer expectations can always be exceeded. The goal is to maximize the relationship between the company and the customer through the call center. The key word here is "relationship."

Customers are buying the relationships that we are promising them, not merely our product or service. When the customer has an excellent experience with the call center, customer loyalty and retention improve. Technology improves the effectiveness and efficiency of true partnerships with customers. It serves as the foundation of information for the call center employees to carry the experience to the next level. CRM software can relay the previous purchases of the customer, yet the call center staff themselves are developing the sustainable and loyalty driven relationship when they actively and genuinely engage with the customer to anticipate needs before the customer is even aware they have them. When customers feel that the call center staff and company is truly on their team, they reward the call center and the business with their loyalty and dollars.

About the Author

Kristina Evey helps companies improve the way they connect with their customers. She is the owner of Centric Strategies, a firm oriented toward developing a cultural mindset focused on the customer. Her strategy is to ensure that everyone within a company or group is of the same “Customer Centric” mindset. Collaboration between Evey and the client will identify the needs and opportunities to set mutual goals that are both realistic and achievable.

Evey is a professional speaker and educator in all areas of Customer Service.

Originally Published here

Success Stories of Contact Center Outsourcing in Pakistan

2009-11-13T00:05:00.000-08:00

1. Chevron Pakistan Ltd (0800-12122)

• Chevron Pakistan Limited a leader in the global integrated energy business realizes that their customer services need an effective channel.

• They had a decentralized terminal based order taking system which was causing delay in deliveries.

• In anticipation of a significant increase in orders they had a need of an innovative order taking solution. To remedy this, Chevron decided to outsource and partnered with Arwen Tech to examine their processes, recommend potential solutions, implement the most appropriate service, and then evaluate the results.

They Initiated with Customer Support Services only, then they Started order taking services for one location Karachi only. The efficiency provided by the Arwen Tech meant that Chevron was able to speedup adequately the total order taking operation. The Karachi operation was considered to be best practice in the Chevron and this model is now used to drive innovation and expansion throughout Pakistan, Orders taken at our call center directly through their SAP system (Singapore).

2. City District Government Karachi (CDGK) 1339

• CDGK was trying to take a brave initiative to make an effective channel for the citizens of Karachi to hear and solve their problems

• CDGK had a need to develop a system that will act as interface between the citizens and government a trustable platform by which citizens will be able to register their complaints effectively

• They had a pressing need to quickly transition all The Citizens complaints for that they needed to get connected with 18 town offices KBCA, KW&SB and Civic Center and a centralized complaint center in a short time frame.

For The City District Government Karachi, the easy answer was Arwen Tech and Contact Center Outsourcing.

In just five months--from August 2007 to January 2008— Contact Center Outsourcing made it possible for them to be the first ISO Certified District Government in Pakistan including KBCA, KW&SB and all 18 Town Offices. And made it possible to successfully transition all the complaints and connectivity of 18 towns with an outsourced call center to Arwen Tech in record time― and, in doing so, meet the stringent requirements to create a feeling in the populace that government officials are interested in hearing their voice on 24/7 basis.

3. Pfizer Laboratories Limited, Pakistan (0800-DIRECT) (0800-IQUIT)

• Pfizer the world's largest research-based biomedical and pharmaceutical Company became increasingly aware of the need for a solid customer relationship solution.

• Pfizer searched for a partner who could identify with their Needs and provide them with a robust solution that would enable them to gain customer loyalty as well as attract new customers

After searching for a customer service provider, Pfizer recognized Arwen Tech as the industry leader in customer care and chose to partner with for contact center services.

To show appreciation to their customers, Pfizer is offering their consumers a free product Home delivery services as well as an advisory services for an anti-smoking campaign IQUIT (0800-47848) through First ever call center outsourcing in pharmaceuticals industry of Pakistan to promote customer loyalty. Pfizer’s Call Centre providing service 9.30 AM to 5.30 PM and 6 days a week customers can call at their Toll Free Number 0800-DIRECT (0800-34798) from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad & Multan and inform operators about product and contact details. Once they confirm an order, Area distributor contacts them and delivers the product at their home within 2-3 days from the date of placement of an order.

Further To build the rapport and the relationship with customers they invite them to give feedback by giving them a Courtesy calls.

4. Adamjee Insurance Company, Pakistan (0800-00242)

• Adamjee Insurance Company Limited, already among the top insurance Company of Pakistan, hopes to attain industry leadership by combining the best product range with outstanding customer service.

• A large part of its business is conducted by telephone, and the company needed a complete and detailed picture of all its customer interactions in that channel. It needed to gain full visibility of the pattern of all its telephone contacts with customers.

• In order to deliver on its commitment to continuous improvement, Adamjee Insurance needed a clear view of the quality of customer experience when contacting the organization.

Adamjee Insurance Company Limited the leading insurance company of Pakistan partnered with Arwen tech to setup the 1st insurance call center in Pakistan after seeking a business partner who recognized the importance of a customer care program. Having exceeded the client’s initial goals, the client sought assistance from Arwen tech for help increasing revenue by implementing a solution selling component to its program.

An Interview with Mr. Kashif Siddiqui

2009-10-04T01:43:00.000-07:00

I was browsing through my linkedIn connections and I found an update from Mr. Kashif Siddiqui from Oracle Pakistan where he used to work as Applications Sales Consulting Manager and CRM Presales Principal Consultant, have now joined salesforce.com.

I watched a great interview of Mr. Kashif Siddiqui who shared valuable information about CRM and I feel privileged to share this interview at my blog

A Trip to the Top... that Broke the Mould: An interview with Ziad Bashir

2009-06-17T03:57:00.000-07:00

This month we speak to Ziad Bashir about how he stepped out of his family's business and changed Pakistan's IT industry.

Ziad Bashir should have had a relatively easy life. He could have stuck to his family’s financial, energy and textile business in Pakistan. Alternatively, he could have developed an enterprise in a tried-and-trusted business sector in his native country. Or he could have simply offered the same services as other companies in the IT sector.

After all, IT spend in Pakistan is growing at a staggering 30% every year, so being moderately successful in the industry would have been fairly straight-forward.

But just being fairly successful at anything just isn’t Ziad’s style. The founder and chairman of global enterprise solutions provider, Arwen Tech, has taken a few moments out of his busy schedule to tell us how he developed the company into the hugely successful organization it is today, and what he thinks it takes to make a Trip To The Top.

Promising beginnings to end results

“Before Arwen Tech, no one was providing end-to-end IT solutions in Pakistan. No one was taking responsibility for the end result, and no one was offering the breadth of services required. It’s not too easy to do!”

But Arwen Tech and Ziad Bashir are not daunted by a challenge.

“In July 2004, I was working in my family business, when I saw the opportunity of IT”, he recalls. “Technology like that has the power to bring many different, disparate things together. And it affects everyone’s lives. Something of that nature is obviously the shape of things to come.”

But let’s go back to the beginning. What is Ziad’s background? “University and business school in the US”, he explains, “with a stint in the family business during the holidays – which is where I ended up for the first six years of my career.”

Was that a safe option, then? “No – not at all! I always say that there’s no school for entrepreneurship – so I decided to use the opportunity of the family business to launch a textile retail venture and educate myself.”

New Challenges

Having learnt how to incubate new businesses and take them forward as successful ventures, Ziad was looking for a new challenge. His experience of the problems involved in setting up new IT systems for his ventures gave him the idea of providing the end-to-end solutions that Pakistan business lacked.

“I bought a small company – 8-10 people, with a turnover of around $700k. It had small IT agencies for different specialities and was an Avaya partner. It also had a very small call-center operation, affiliated to the fast-food sector in Pakistan.”

Did he make any major changes? “Well – one was to switch from Avaya to Cisco”, he says, laughing. “It was clear that they had the range of products we needed.”

A complete reorientation of the company led to the first year’s profits jumping to $1.2 million. A substantial increase to be sure, but nothing like the $17 million turnover the company generates these days. What allowed him to make the transition to the major league?

“Two major projects really made the difference for us”, he explains. “Our first big contract was with the service provider Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd (PTCL), who is behind the Pakistan intranet exchange. After that, we didn’t look back.”

“The next significant job was the Lahore Expo center. It was important because it leveraged all that Cisco does – and shows how well we put it all together! In fact, you could say it showcases everything under one roof – surveillance, telecommunications, access control, public address – even display and signage.”

Why was the bid successful? Ziad is adamant. “We felt that our Silver certification, plus the breadth of Cisco Products made Arwen the front runner for this project.”

Breaking with Tradition

Did Ziad feel that it was a break with tradition to leave the family business?

“Yes and no. I may have made non-traditional choices by focusing on IT and the economy of tomorrow, and not just tried-and-tested industries. But I couldn’t have made those choices without the advice of my family. So I suppose you could call me a traditionalist in that sense.”

What does the future hold for Arwen Tech? Considering that IT spend in Pakistan is increasing so rapidly, this innovative organization might be tempted to ride the wave. For Ziad, however, resting on his laurels is not an option. His target is to achieve an astonishing 100% growth per year.

Ziad has become one of the most influential people in Pakistan’s IT industry. But despite the long hours he inevitably puts in staying on top of his game, Ziad still finds time for interests out of the office. Asked where most would like to be right now, he replies: “Outside, having a barbeque!”

In fact Ziad if an aficionado of all types or international cuisine – not so surprising for a man who has such a great recipe for success.

Is there one piece of advice that Ziad Bashir would share with any aspiring IT Mover or Shaker?
“The pace of the world is changing so fast – so you need to stay one step ahead and look at trends and anticipate what will come tomorrow.”

Originally posted at Cisco's Blog here

Pakistan, A Popular Outsourcing Destination? : Business Week Artilcle

2009-06-07T23:51:00.000-07:00

Pakistan has become the 20th most attractive outsourcing destination, according to consulting management firm A.T. Kearney. Even as concerns increase about Pakistan’s stability and the growing displaced population due to ongoing military operations with the Taliban, the country made a significant jump on A.T. Kearney’s 2009 Global Services Location Index released May 18. Pakistan went from #30 in 2007 to #20 in 2009.

In fact, the report says that as a region, the Middle East and North Africa are becoming more attractive in the ever-shifting geography of popular outsourcing places. Both enjoy large, well-educated populations and proximity to Europe. The index ranks the top 50 countries worldwide for locating outsourcing activities including IT services and support, contact centers and back-office support. Both Jordan and Egypt have entered the top 10 locales.

Countries are measured on 43 different attributes related to financial attractiveness, people and skills availability and business environment. Yet, cost is a huge motivator for many companies and is one reason that places like Pakistan score so highly. When the same index was released in 2007, about 40% of its weighting was given to the financial attractiveness of a country.

This is a global index, so it takes a look at where companies worldwide are outsourcing their work. There are plenty of companies in the Middle East, for instance, that outsource work to Pakistan. I would venture to guess the percentage of U.S. companies outsourcing work to Pakistan is much smaller. Yet, I find it intriguing that even as concern rises about the stability of Pakistan that it can become a more attractive destination to do outsourcing.

CBS News reported on May 19, the day after this index was released, that Pakistan faces a growing humanitarian crisis with up to 2 million people displaced by fighting between the military and Taliban militants in the northern Swat valley. Similarly, Mexico has seen growing violence due to the drug wars since the last Global Services Location Index was released in 2007. Yet, it only dropped one slot in the index to #11 from #10 two years ago.

So, just how much do companies factor in violence and a country’s political stability before outsourcing there? Increasingly, it seems to me if it’s cheap enough, companies are willing to overlook quite a bit in this regard. What do you think?

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/technology_at_work/archives/2009/06/pakistan_a_popu.html?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories

Karachi Rising – The Emerging Offshoring Hub

2009-05-19T04:54:00.000-07:00

The Global Outsourcing Industry

According to different studies conducted by Gartner, Forrester and NASSCOM, the global outsourcing industry is estimated to be over $1 trillion. Of this $1 trillion dollar opportunity, $597 billion is IT Services and Software and $448 billion is BPO. Out of the above spending, $280 billion is potentially ‘outsourcible’. Only 14% of this ‘outsourcible’ market has been addressed, combined with 7% - 10% annual growth, the opportunity is staggering.

Karachi has the highest per capita income in South Asia and its estimated population is 16 million, which is expected to reach 32 million by 2025

Changing the Way the World Does Business

There is no question that offshoring has changed the way that companies do business. Multi-national companies globally continue to take strategic advantage of highly skilled but low-cost workers in developing countries to reduce costs. India and China have dominated the market, India in IT/ITES/BPO and China in manufacturing.

But other developing countries are emerging as fertile land for offshoring, including Pakistan.

Global Offshoring Jobs Growth and Office Space Requirements

Cushman Wakefield forecasts that the US, Europe and Japan will offshore over 5 million jobs between 2005 – 2015 and this will result in outsourcing office space demand of 96.9 million sq meters (1,043,022,919 sq ft) with 35.3 million sq meters (379,966,037 sq ft) going to India.

India – Skills Shortage and Cost Increase

India is by far the global leading offshoring destination with close to 50% market share. India’s success however has lead to many challenges: the Indian IT/ITES/BPO industry is experiencing a skills shortage, with only 10% of graduates suitable for IT/ITES/BPO industry employment. This strain on skills has lead to 15% wage inflation per annum. The skills shortage combined with wage inflation has lead to Indian companies experiencing retention challenges, with attrition rates reaching 50%.

India’s budget in 2008 made no comment on extending the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) Scheme. The STPI provides tax holidays to India’s IT/ITES/BPO industry and the STPI tax holiday expires on March 31, 2009. Further disappointing the Indian IT/ITES/BPO industry was the decision to increase the excise duty on packaged software from 8% to 12% to bring it on par with customized software that comes with a service tax of 12%.

Adding to the aforementioned challenges is the value appreciation of the Indian Rupee, thereby making India products and services even more expensive. Compared to a US dollar the Indian Rupee is now 39.93, its highest rate in 9 years. This has put the squeeze on Indian IT/ITES/BPO margins, cutting margins between 2.5 to 3.0 percentage points since mid-2006.

Furthermore, the success of the IT/ITES/BPO industry has lead to higher real estate prices, leading Indian companies and global companies operating in India to seek other markets with IT/ITES/BPO skills and lower costs.

Karachi – The Emerging Hub of Offshoring

Karachi is the financial, commercial and transport hub of Pakistan and the gateway to the landlocked energy-rich Central Asian economies. It accounts for the lion’s share of GDP and generates 65% of Pakistan’s revenue. Karachi has the highest per capita income in South Asia and its estimated population is 16 million, which is expected to reach 32 million by 2025. Karachi is one of the ten largest cities in the world and has the highest literacy rate and most educational institutions in the country. What the Experts Say on Pakistan as a IT/ITES/BPO Destination

What the Experts Say on Pakistan as a IT/ITES/BPO Destination

	BearingPoint analyzed the top 36 IT capable countries globally in term of lowest cost of labor and lowest occupancy cost. Pakistan ranked 1st at 8% of US cost while India ranked 15th at 30% of US cost (set up of 200 full time IT employees in 30,000 sq. ft of office space). BearingPoint, 2005
	Gartner ranks Pakistan in its list of Emerging Countries with attractive costs Jim Longwood, Ian Marriot, Gartner, February 2008
	“Pakistan as a rising star offers a surprising new home in South East Asia for Outsourced Customer Management” Stephen Lloyd, Program Manager, IDC, July 2006
	“Pakistan has several fundamental advantages over other markets, making it a viable location for the IT/BPO space. The two main drivers of success that Pakistan possesses are its low cost labor cost and sufficient supply of educated workers.” Lehman Brothers Pakistan IT Industry Report, August 2006
	“I have been to Pakistan and I see the future and the future is now.” Ken Morse, Senior Lecturer; MD MIT Entrepreneurship Center March 2007 during a visit to Pakistan

Pakistan IT/ITES/BPO Strengths

Pakistan has the lowest cost base (labor and office space) for a bench mark of 200 full time IT employees in the top 36 countries with IT capabilities
Starting and closing a business in Pakistan is faster than all other countries in comparison
Pakistani companies have over 10 years experience developing software for international export
Pakistani companies have over 5 years experience providing BPO services to international clients
Most senior managers in local BPO companies are seasoned, many of whom have overseas experience
Pakistani companies have developed considerable expertise in Banking, Insurance, Finance and Telecom
The major cities have:
- A large pool of professionally qualified and experienced professionals, e.g., MBAs, Accountants, Lawyers, Engineers and Doctors
- Reliable telecom infrastructure
- Availability of expatriates who can fill middle management positions in the industry
- Average years of education in the middle class households are comparable to any other city in the world
Large pool of English speaking skills, 10% of the 6.5 million can be trained for industry hire within 3 – 6 months
Extremely low bandwidth costs
Asian Development Bank initiatives to mitigate risk by providing guarantee against instability
Foreign investors allowed 100% ownership
Tax exemptions for IT companies until 2016
100% repatriation of profits for IT companies
7 year tax holiday for VC funds
DWDM telecom infrastructure

Pakistan Macroeconomics

Pakistan’s economy continues to maintain its strong growth momentum for the fifth year in a row in fiscal 2006 – 2007. With economic growth at 7% in the current fiscal year, Pakistan’s economy has grown at a 7% average over the last five years. This growth has cemented Pakistan’s place as one of the fastest growing Asian economies. Growth in industry, agriculture and services has been supported by robust investment into the country. The economic forecast for 2007 - 2008 calls for continued at a constant rate.

Agriculture and Industry produced 2/5th of growth while Services produced 3/5th of GDP growth. Real per capita GDP grew by 5.2% and has maintained 5.5% over four year. Foreign Direct Investment has increased rapidly and has reached $6.5 billion. Investment now represents 23% of GDP. Remittances reached $5.5 billion and Foreign Exchange Reserves reached $15.1 billion

Source : http://www.ittowerkarachi.com/outsourcing.html

BPO Conference 2009: Too much Focus on Local Market for BPO

2009-05-10T22:23:00.000-07:00

BPO Conference 2009 was a great event for BPO Industry in Pakistan. You can watch the video comments below if you missed out the live event: -

Also check out the video of Jehan Ara, Chairman PASHA having a few opening remarks about the BPO Conference 2009

The P@SHA-PSEB BPO conference had an analyst from McKinsey & Co - Here is the video of Faraz U Khan, giving his presenation packed with facts and figures about BPO in the region. Faraz was here at the express invitation of TRG, also one of the main sponsors of the event.

The second session of the PASHA-PSEB BPO Conference which took place on the 7th of May was about establishing closer, more effective contact with the customers through an outsourced contact center.

BPO Event: PASHA BPO Conference 2009

2009-05-03T08:13:00.000-07:00

Pakistan Software House Association (PASHA) is organizing the BPO Conference 2009 on May 7, 2009 from 9:00am to 2:00pm at the Institute of Bankers Pakistan.
As the financial tsunami hits worldwide markets, banks & financial services organizations are reeling from the effects as are other business sectors. Outsourcing could play an important role in driving operational efficiency in lean times.

The 2 sectors that are traditional customers for BPO are Financial Services (Banking/Insurance) and the Telecom sectors both of which are fairly well-developed and well established in Pakistan. In the Telecom market, as the market saturates we have already seen the growth stop. Survival will depend upon better customer service and quality. There will be increasing pressure to reduce operational costs. Outsourcing customer service and back-office processes would therefore make perfect sense. Currently the mobile telecom sector alone employs approximately 6000-8000 personnel in the customer service, back-office processing and related areas that could be potentially outsourced.

The Financial services sector is on a similar footing and is also facing increasing pressure on the cost side. The level of understanding of outsourcing in the Financial Services sector is not as advanced as that prevalent in the mobile Telecom sector. However, some banks have started to outsource certain functions and processes. More awareness needs to be created on the benefits of outsourcing.

The idea of holding this conference is to stimulate discussion on the benefits of Outsourcing the back-office and customer service areas as well as Help Desks and other services which do not essentially need to be done in-house.

Conference Stakeholders/Speakers/Content include: Ministry of IT & Telecom
Pakistan Telecommunications Authority
State Bank of Pakistan
PSEB/P@SHA

Case Studies and Presentations by BPO companies and their customers who have deployed BPO solutions.

Who Should Attend?:

Senior representatives from telecom companies and financial institutions
Customer service representatives from telecom, financial, insurance, public sector and multinational organizations
Senior representatives from outsourcing companies

Organizers: The conference is being organized by the Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT & IT Enabled Services (P@SHA) in collaboration with the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB).
Key sponsors include: The Resource Group (TRG), Ovex Technologies, Abacus Consulting and Catcos.
Supporting partners include: The Institute of Bankers Pakistan and CIO Pakistan.

The event is being produced for PASHA/PSEB by the CIO Custom Solutions Group, part of the CIO Pakistan portfolio and an IDG product.

Old Debate of "Call Center" vs "Contact Center"

2009-04-09T06:28:00.000-07:00

It is always helpful to go back to the basics and reinforce the foundation of your knowledge and it is never too late to to that. "Call Center" and "Contact Center" are two terminologies that we use interchangeably during our conversation with our peers or customers, despite of the huge difference between them.

Lets analyze the following two discussions which I found during my search on the internet: -

Many people tend to think of a call center as people neatly organized into rows, sitting beside their phones, answering customer calls. So what is a contact center?

Contact centers are more than headset-wearing switch-board operators. The modern contact center handles phone calls, email, and online communication – including instant messaging.

Traditionally, contact centers have been called call centers. The newer name – contact center – reflects the fact that more than just phone calls are being handled. Many call centers have evolved over the years to do much more than just answer phones.

Some companies choose to separate the handling of customer contacts by medium. For instance, a company may establish a department for inbound calls, one for outbound calls, and a group for email. Some companies, especially smaller ones, opt to create “universal agents” who handle all contact types. Companies create universal contact agents for reasons of efficiency and service, and often because they find it easier to train agents in multiple communication methods than to train multiple agents in product or service information.

Bottom line, it’s up to the customer to decide how they want to communicate with your company, and it’s up to your company to respond appropriately through its contact center.

Source: Avaya Call Center vs. Contact Center

A call center is solely voice focused. Call center agents will answer phone calls from customers, partners, internal employees, or anyone else trying to reach the company. A contact center, on the other hand, answers voice calls but also has multi-channel capabilities. Agents have the training and technology support to answer phones, chats, web-based calls (VoIP) and emails. Contact centers are also referred to as “web-enabled call center” or a “customer interaction center”. In everyday conversation, call and contact are used synonymously. However, essentially, a call center is part of a contact center.

With today’s technologies, it is essential that call center become web enabled and evolve into contact center. We are in an industry that is so attached to the word “call center” even though clients may require more than just voice support.

Even though many clients call still call us a call center, we are multi-channel and can do much more than just answer phone calls. Think of joining a fitness center and only using the weight machines “(i.e. the call center portion), but you have access to the swimming pool and squash court too!

Source: Contact Center Blog "Contact Center" versus "Call Center"

In my view, the Contact Center is a much broader term as compared to Call Center, which encompasses the overall customers communications/interactions using multiple-channels. A multi-channel Contact Center is capable of handling inbound/outbound calls, webchat, email, voicemail, SMS, Fax etc.

Whereas, the Call Center is comparatively a narrow term which limits itself to handling of incoming/outgoing calls only.

In the upcoming posts, I will elaborate upon Importance of Contact Center and How Contact Center Outsourcing can help organizations focus on their core business and avoid capital expenditure.