The summer sun blazed down upon London today, a raging nuclear inferno of staggering power – yet it was as a mere birthday-cake candle when set alongside the brilliance of the panellists on this afternoon’s Outsource Talks… Yes, today saw the fifth episode of our webinar talkshow, and if my introduction might be considered just a fractionhyperbolic we were nevertheless treated to a feast of outsourcing opinion and insight, wit and wisdom – and a few chuckles – which made for a fantastic hour’s listening and, overall, a very worthy addition to the Outsource Talks catalogue.
After the least auspicious of beginnings – a technical hitch leaving me muted but unaware of that fact – and then a decidedly more excellent appearance by my colleague Eleanor Winn, who popped in to talk about our GBS Roadmap events in Zurich and Copenhagen (more on that below), for today’s main event I was joined in the Outsource Talks virtual studio by three stalwarts of the outsourcing space: long-time BPO and shared services advisor Howard Spode of BPOpronet; Mario Vollbracht, Managing Director at Alsbridge; and the legendary Mark Lewis of law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner. As usual, I spoke with each panellist in turn individually before moving to a group discussion and Q&A – and, as is invariably the case with Outsource Talks, so much good stuff came up during those one-on-one sessions that we could easily have had an entire webinar with each of the three alone, and I found myself thinking once again how truly fortunate I am to enjoy the involvement and support of such superbly professional and perspicacious panellists.
That good fortune, of course, was also shared by those attending the webinar – and I can now extend it to those of you who weren’t able to join us today, as the recording of Outsource Talks #5 is now live. Therefore, if you’re interested in hearing (among much else) Howard’s opinions on technology, hype and the importance of focussing on what’s truly valuable; Mario’s investigation into the retail and consumer products sectors and what is (and isn’t) driving outsourcing there; and Mark’s thoughts on the significance of Brexit (a truly superb summary which I urge all of you to hear for yourselves regardless of where in the world you might be), or if you merely want to chortle at my realisation at the start that I’ve been speaking into thin air, you can now do just that: click here for the recording, and feel free to share this link with any colleagues you think may also benefit from it.
The next Outsource Talks takes place on August 17th at the same time (3pm UK; 7.30pm India; 10am Eastern; 7am Pacific) and I invite all of you to join me and my panel – including Vested guru Kate Vitasek and KPMG’s Don Ryan – for another smorgasbord of outsourcing thought leadership. To register for Outsource Talks #6, click here – see you there!
(Talking of KPMG: as Eleanor told our webinar audience earlier, our GBS Roadmap events later this year in Zurich and Copenhagen are looking awesome and well worth investigating by anyone involved in global business services – wherever you’re based. For more information, and to register, see the series website at www.gbsroadmap.com…)
