Cyber-attacks have topped the list of biggest threats to business for the second year in a row, followed closely by data threats and an unexpected IT/telecoms outage – according to the fifth annual Horizon Scan Report published by the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) in association with BSI (British Standards Institution).
Last week I had the great and highly enjoyable privilege of hosting a webinar given by Jeff Seabloom, Alsbridge’s Chief Revenue Officer, entitled ‘A 360-Degree View of IT: Six Key Questions’.
Today companies are being exposed to a changing business landscape due to macro-economic factors, greater-than-ever globalisation, and rapid advancements in technology.
The global economy is recovering but still sluggish. Companies have been engaging in significant cost savings and restructuring initiatives over the past several years to meet shareholder expectations. But business leaders are now beginning to realise that they cannot cut their way to growth. So companies now have a greater appetite to invest in developing new products, services and market reach.
Cloud-based contact centres have taken off in a big way. With business process outsourcers (BPOs) needing flexibility and scalability to respond quickly to changing conditions, the cloud is best placed to enable these desires.
The latest research from the Cloud Industry Forum has found that 46 per cent of UK-based organisations use cloud-based contact centres today, a figure that is expected to increase to 68 per cent over the next few years. These results confirm the value of cloud-based contact centres and their ability to transform customer service and engagement.
Outsourcing providers consistently create and deliver quality services that are capable of beating in-house offers across the board – yet many organisations remain reluctant to use outsourcing to its full potential.
This tends to be the common complaint from outsourcers.
The world of sourced services is developing rapidly. Gone are the long-term, rigid forms based on lease funding and assumptions of slothful corporate evolution. The cloud, rapid innovation and globalisation have put paid to that. So what emerging trends of the sourcing market are noteworthy for commissioning directors?
Robots
As companies have started to internalise (and for that matter, practice) the triple bottom line concept of sustainability, the focus now has shifted to issues beyond their walls of operations and manufacturing. In the world of outsourcing, globalisation and interdependence of suppliers, companies must look into making their supply chains more sustainable.
All too often, businesses are faced with bold promises about the services they will receive from their outsource providers; they are drawn in by the “ideals” pitched to them and ultimately, find themselves disappointed with the outcome as those services fail to live up to expectations.
NEW YORK: The international outsourcing community is in disarray following last night’s shock announcement by the UN Security Council that all outsourcing and offshoring activity has been criminalised “with immediate effect”.
“I can’t believe it,” lamented the anonymous CEO of a major multinational service provider. “Decades of constant, overwhelming, economy-rejuvenating success – give or take a few multibillion-dollar failures – and they do this to us. Talk about a kick in the nuts.”
‘Advice For The Offshoring And Outsourcing Young At Heart’
by Fear of Gears[1]
Advice for the outsourcing young at heart
Soon we will be older
How are we going to make it work?[2]
Too many vendors living in a secret world
While they play movers and shakers,
We play digital in a whirl.[3]
How are we going to make it work?[4]
I could be happy; I could be quite naïve
Just labour arbitrage in my shadow, happy in a make-believe[5]
Soon…
We know that digital processes create leaner, more agile operations, not to mention financial and time savings. So why are so many businesses still unable to part with the millions of pieces of paper which are printed across the globe each year, despite the fact that the majority of this paper will be used once, then thrown or filed away?
In the 1980s it was simple: there was little sourced service. Then came the bandwagon and many jumped on, keeping the thinnest retained shell. What are the challenges now as the pendulum of fashion and practice continues to swing?
Trends in the market
As enterprises make significant investments in their sourcing and procurement function, they rightfully expect a solid return on that investment. One of the more significant value creation elements of a sourcing and procurement function is the team and process that focuses on strategic sourcing.
Over the last month, British businesses have been bombarded with other people’s opinions. In the outsourcing industry, this is quite normal: everyone and their dog has a strong opinion on how outsourcing companies should and shouldn’t operate. But this time, we’re being told that our businesses are on the line because of a vote.
On Wednesday the world - well, that portion of it that registered, anyway - was treated to the delights of our first Outsource Talks webinar, our foray into the world of the talk show as seen in the outsourcing space... Nerve-racking though it was to host the first in this series, in an untested format, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the experience - thanks, of course, to the sheer excellence of my guests, to whom I must issue my heartfelt thanks.
