Strategy

Outsource talked without me!

Posted: 12/07/2016 - 07:17
Author: Jamie Liddell

Regular readers will know that each month I publish a column waxing lyrical about that month’s Outsource Talks webinar (typically a passionate, exuberant piece written from the heart, as I genuinely greatly enjoy hosting these “talkshow”-type events and, along with the audience, tend to learn a great deal from my invariably superlative panellists) and will probably have noticed the absence in November of such a column.

IT outsourcing is being transformed, but do the outsourcers understand?

Posted: 12/07/2016 - 00:28
Author: Mark Hillary

The Register likes to put the boot in when they comment on IT stories, so it was no surprise to see a recent feature about Fujitsu in which The Register summarised that Fujitsu needs to "get a move on" if they are going to transform their business to meet the expectations of customers today.

Why South Africa can capitalise on Brexit

Posted: 12/03/2016 - 03:33
Author: Gareth Pritchard

Recently I attended the Brexit & Global Expansion Summit in London, an event that brought together politicians, businesses and investors for discussions on the investment implications of Britain’s tectonic decision to leave the EU.

One of the sectors we discussed in depth was offshoring and outsourcing. No one has a crystal ball, but what is clear is that Brexit has challenged so many fundamental economic assumptions about the value proposition for a British business operating a customer service centre in the UK.

Robots versus humans: creating an economy in a new world

Posted: 12/02/2016 - 20:59
Author: Kit Cox

When the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee released its 'Robots and Artificial Intelligence' report last month, it was a much-needed shot of adrenaline, encouraging the government to take seriously the impact of robotics and artificial intelligence on the future UK workforce. However, what was not clear was the focus companies should take in order to be on the upside of the jobs outlook in an increasingly automated world.

To summarise the report:

Emerging market drivers are creating a renaissance in nearshoring tech development

Posted: 12/02/2016 - 20:57
Author: Carlos Meléndez

Nearshoring as a way to outsource critical business processes and product development is nothing new to key markets such as software engineering, yet emerging technology, market trends and government mandates are sparking a renewed interest in it as a means to cut costs, enable greater collaboration and provide a competitive edge.

Life Lessons: Piotr Zygula

Posted: 12/01/2016 - 05:13
Author: Piotr Zygula

Piotr Zygula is the President and CEO of JCommerce SA, a Polish IT outsourcing provider specialising in custom software development. He's also, now, the latest participant in our Life Lessons interview series: Q&As featuring set questions designed to showcase learnings from the careers of sourcing and outsourcing professionals from around the world and across the space. Everyone ready to learn? Then let's proceed...

 

Reliance upon ERP systems alone could be damaging your growth ambitions

Posted: 11/04/2016 - 19:59
Author: Eddie Groom

The world is growing increasingly complex. As such, agile capabilities and the ability to quickly adapt to changes in global environments are becoming more and more important. Events like the rise of extremist terror organisations and the dissemination of technology across the world have significantly changed the way in which enterprises interact. Businesses are quickly waking up to the rising demands placed upon them by this new international marketplace. However, too often changes caused by worldwide events catch organisations off guard.

Does location really matter when offshoring your IT services?

Posted: 11/04/2016 - 19:52
Author: Ashutosh Agarwal

Not too long back, many global IT service providers were known to move delivery of IT services of their clients to offshore locations (like South Africa, Latin America or India) without informing their clients. This was seen as an internal lever to make customer contracts more profitable in a multi-year deal as services were first stabilised in a high-cost onshore delivery location before being shipped to an offshore location.

The other shoe just dropped

Posted: 11/02/2016 - 07:47
Author: Chris Niccolls

For years, the outsourcing world has been buzzing about reshoring (or "backshoring"), taking the jobs we sent offshore years ago and bringing them back to the US and Europe. Low wages, cheap property, and favourable taxes made offshore manufacturing very attractive. But in recent years property values rose, staff turnover increased, and wages just keep heading up. Despite weakening economics, offshore still made sense. Until today!

Is the Philippines' political unrest an opportunity for other BPO markets?

Posted: 11/01/2016 - 00:34
Author: Mark Hillary

I visited Cape Town and Durban recently as a guest of BPESA (Business Process Enabling South Africa) and attended the South Africa BPM Summit 2016. The summit featured local business leaders, industry influencers, and politicians eager to create jobs in South Africa by riding the wave of business process outsourcing (BPO).

Getting smart with migration

Posted: 10/25/2016 - 01:33
Author: Daniel Olsson

Large organisations face very similar IT challenges. Regardless of industry, they need to continually innovate, increase profits, decrease costs and drive efficiencies throughout their operations.

Considering that as much as 80 per cent of an organisation’s IT spend goes towards maintaining systems and infrastructure, it’s no surprise that many business leaders are looking to migrate their IT foundations to more functional, up-to-date technologies.

Do you have your instrument flight rating for your business?

Posted: 10/07/2016 - 19:54
Author: Thom Mead

Every pilot/flight trainee knows the importance of trusting what the plane’s cockpit instruments are telling them. With very rare exception, the cockpit’s instruments don’t lie. What’s happening to the plane can be counter-intuitive to what your human senses are telling you. I can recall several instances in my flight training when I had to fight my senses (and fear) and rely on the data in the cockpit as my only gauge of what was actually happening and what I needed to do to get the plane to back to straight and level flight.

Are underdeveloped business practices holding back your growth?

Posted: 10/04/2016 - 04:28
Author: Amanda Littlecott

For outsourcers, a commitment to best practice processes is absolutely vital for success. They not only ensure that your business is offering best-of-breed services, but they also go a long way in reducing overall business costs and working capital by as much as 15 to 20 per cent. These result in a highly competitive enterprise, able to maintain growth while driving business-wide efficiencies.

Brexit migration controls will lead to more offshoring

Posted: 10/02/2016 - 04:44
Author: Mark Hillary

One of the key arguments that really defined the Brexit referendum in the UK was migration. British voters supported an exit from the European Union largely because they wanted more control over their borders. Those arguing for Brexit say that they are not trying to end migration entirely, just they want to ensure that the people who enter the UK have the right skills. Nobody should be able to enter just because they were also born in Europe.

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