BPO NEWS/ BLOG 
Outsourcing Strategy
According to the January 2011 issue of Industrial Engineer, “The trend toward outsourcing both locally and offshore has increased dramatically throughout the world’s developed economies.” This is due to a drive for greater efficiency and cost reduction. “Leading firms have been adopting more sophisticated outsourcing strategies and have been outsourcing core processes such as design, engineering, manufacturing and marketing.” The problem is that many smaller firms fail to capitalize on the opportunities provided by outsourcing. They don’t know how to strategize their outsourcing efforts.
“Effective outsourcing involves analyzing a number of key dimensions, including relative capability in the process, contribution of the process to competitive advantage and the potential for opportunism from outsourcing the process.” This means that outsourcing is most valuable for processes which are not vital to competitive advantage.
The graphic below describes the how outsourcing should be prioritized among business processes.
Image Source: Twobee
MIT did a study 2 years ago to find average response times from companies who only use email submissions for customer questions. Here are their findings.
The average time for both email and phone responses was just over 54 hours.
Live Chat capabilities on your website allows prospects and customers get their questions answered immediately.
A recent study by MIT sampled 1 million people who showed interest in a product online. The study found that contacting these potential sales leads became more difficult over time. The likelihood of reaching these sales leads decreased sharply over the first few hours. Using live chat eliminates this problem by engaging potential sales leads immediately after they show interest online.
Image Source: Digitalart
Growing in today’s market
Who BENEFITS from a weak economy?
Innovative industries always benefit the most from weak economic conditions. IT service providers opened 32 new outsourcing delivery centers in the third quarter this year almost doubling the second quarter’s 17. According to an October survey by analyst firm HfS Research, “more than 40 percent of corporate, IT leaders said that a double-dip recession would lead to increased outsourcing in their organizations.” There is certainly a high demand for more competitive labor.
Why do corporate organizations decide to outsource?
Every company strives to cut costs and increase output. Outsourcing allows them to do both at the same time. According to further research by analyst firm HfS Research, “While 40 percent [of IT decision makers] said immediate cost cuts were a strong motivating factor, 43 percent cited greater flexibility to scale global operations as a strong impetus.”
How can YOU benefit from the weak economy?
Adaptation is key in today’s market place. Many sma
ll to midsized companies are now taking advantage of outsourcing that hasn’t been available before. Companies like Zylun bring large enterprise quality outsourcing to smaller scale clients, saving them 60-80% on labor costs.
Image Source: ddpavumba
Oxzen Case Study
Client: Oxzen specializes in Internet marketing strategy, web design, and search engine optimization.
Problem: Oxzen was finding that local programmers, SEO specialists and web designers were too expensive for efficient and profitable operations. In addition, there was a high turnover rate for these positions in the local market.
Solution: Oxzen Media contracted with Zylun to recruit, hire, and manage a highly skilled team of developers and link builders in the Philippines at a significant cost savings and a turnover rate of nearly zero.
Result: As a consequence Oxzen was able to experience a 90% cost savings over US labor prices with almost zero turnover.
Testimonial: “Over the past year, Zylun has saved us at least 4 times what we would have paid for in house employees. Thanks to our Zylun employees we have grown a healthy business by being able to support an increased work load at a minimal cost.”
Ben Anderson, President of Oxzen Media
The Philippines has been an important player in the Outsourcing Industry. Being named 
as the “Offshoring Destination of the Year” by the United Kingdom’s Outsourcing Association and having Manila City as the “2nd Top Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)” destination in the Asia-Pacific region by the International Data Corporation (IDC),validate that Philippines is recognized as a “premier regional and global destination” for Information Technology-Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) services.
What makes different organizations have a pleasant experience Outsourcing in the Philippines compared to other destinations?
Philippines has one of the highest literacy rate in the Asian Region. According to surveys, Philippines’ literacy rate has risen from 72% to 90% in the last 30 years. In the 2005 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO), 48.4 million or 84% of the estimated 57.6 million Filipinos who are 10 to 64 years old are said to be “functionally” literate. The statistics easily translates to a fairly college educated society with good English speaking talents. English being an international language of business is virtually indispensable for IT-Business Process Outsourcing. Another advantage is the existing infrastructure that can meet even the most demanding outsourcing partner. The Philippines has more than enough buildings or office structures fitted specifically made to cater for international contact center operations, medical or legal transcription, web development or I.T. outsourcing, etc.
Lastly, on a cultural level, Filipinos are naturally friendly and fairly hospitable. The accommodating and accepting nature of Filipinos makes it easier to connect to potential clients. The Philippines is also blessed with a significantly younger population in their 20′s or 30′s, and most prefers to work for outsourcing firms due largely to the lure of prestige as well as the highly competitive and attractive salary and/or benefits.
During the press conference of the 3rd Annual International Outsourcing Summit (IOS) at the Sofitel Plaza Hotel last October 11, 2011, Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) reported that the country’s IT-BPO Industry is expected to grow to $270 billion by 2016. This aggressive growth validates the way Filipinos deliver stellar performances not only in call centers but also in high-end services.
Indeed, outsourcing to the Philippines is the best option to ultimately achieve cost-efficiency and greater customer satisfaction.
Image Source: Ambro
Last month, President Benigno Aquin
o of the Philippines gave a speech in New York highlighting key elements of his vision for economic growth in the Philippines. Fundamental to his vision is fostering an environment that is friendly to Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) providers. President Aquino recognizes the huge potential for growth in the BPO industry in the Philippines, even though the BPO market in the Philippines is already the second largest in the world. Why is BPO flourishing so well in the Philippines? And how is the Philippine government working to help it grow even more?
Several key factors have contributed to the growth of BPO in the Philippines. One of the foremost reasons for the success of BPO in the Philippines is the large English-speaking workforce that is well-equipped to provide quality customer support and other services to American companies and consumers. Not only is the Philippine accent very easy to understand, but also these workers, many of whom are college graduates, are dedicated to a career in customer service. Other factors that have contributed to BPO’s growth in the Philippines include competitive labor costs, reliable telecommunication infrastructure, and strong partnerships between the public and private sectors.
This positive relationship between the public and private sector is one reason that the Philippine BPO industry is projected to grow from about $11 billion of revenues in 2011 to $25 billion in 2016. President Aquino has worked to make Business Process Outsourcing a priority in his administration. His efforts have been noted by top executives of major outsourcing providers, who have publically thanked the Philippine government for its efforts in supporting the BPO industry. Some of President Aquino’s initiatives include increasing the opportunities for Filipino workers to receive training that will provide the necessary skills for BPO and aggressively pursuing charges of corruption within the government while advocating for stronger democracy in the Philippines. His efforts in the latter area are paying off as the Philippines has jumped up 10 spots over the past year in the Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum.
As these governmental initiatives continue to improve the environment for Business Process Outsourcing, the Philippines will become an even more attractive destination for BPO providers, who are already flocking there to tap into the great potential of the Philippines.
Image Source: Jscreationzs
Today Zylun was able to listen to the success story of Tom Dickson the founder and invento
r of the Blendtec blender. Tom has started several different companies and been a pioneer of several new products. It was a pleasure to meet him. Unfortunately we didn’t bring anything to blend…all we know is that outsourcing and live chat blend very well with cost savings, increased productivity, and scalability.
Image Source: Ambro
According to a recen
t IBM survey, the Philippines employs more call center agents than India—350,000 in the Philippines compared with 330,000 in India. Though India has long been the leader in many outsourcing sectors, the Philippines has been growing rapidly for many reasons.
One key reason for this rapid growth is the high population of fluent English speakers in the Philippines, due in part to the significant American influence in the country since World War II. Also, because of this American influence, those who speak English in the Philippines speak with an American accent rather than a British accent, which enhances their ability to communicate with American customers.
Another reason for rapid growth of the business process outsourcing (BPO) market in the Philippines is the strong support for the industry from the Filipino government. This support from the government translates into a strong regulatory environment combined with BPO friendly policies. In addition, the Filipino economy is growing rapidly, having survived the 2008 recession without contracting, and it ranks fairly high in several global economic indicators, including a lower unemployment rate than the U.S.
Although call center outsourcing and other BPO services have long been popular cost-saving solutions, global demand for BPO services is projected to grow significantly in the wake of the 2008 recession. Companies that are restructuring as the economy emerges look to outsourcing as a means of increasing productivity and reducing costs. The Global Industry Analysts estimate that the global market for BPO will exceed $930 billion by 2015.
Offshore staffing companies, such as Zylun, offer the cost-saving appeal of outsourcing without the headache of increased HR and administrative responsibilities. Therefore, companies wishing to outsource call center, live chat, web development, and other BPO services will enjoy lower up-front costs along with long-term cost savings as the staffing firm takes care of recruiting and hiring employees as well as providing office space, computers, and other essential tools for offshore employees.
Image Source: Renjith Krishnan
Zylun (www.zylun.com), a leading business process outsourcing firm, was recognized by the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) as one of the top 25 companies under five years old in Utah. Based on its financial growth and employment opportunities, Zylun demonstrated its place among UVEF’s “winning companies” for 2011.
Zylun, which is based in Lehi, UT, provides innovative business process outsourcing (BPO) services to a variety of industries. Zylun implements an efficient offshore model to reduce costs while increasing productivity for its clients. As of June 2011, Zylun has created over 450 jobs in both the USA and the Philippines. The company has become a leader in the BPO industry, with areas of expertise such as call center services, live chat customer support, graphic and web design, and internet marketing management.
“We are honored to receive this award,” said Brigham Tomco, Zylun’s CEO and co-founder. “Much of our success has resulted from our ‘Win-Win-Win’ culture: Clients Win by receiving high-quality, cost-effective service, Employees Win by having high-paying jobs and positive work environment, and Zylun Wins by building a fun, profitable, and scalable business.”
In considering nominees for the Top 25 Under 5, UVEF evaluates companies based on certain criteria, such as revenue, equity funding, and job creation. This award highlights emerging businesses in Utah, and in past years has honored successful companies such as Omniture, Skull Candy, and Xango.
For more information on Zylun, visit www.zylun.com
With Text messaging and other instant forms of communication becoming widespread throughout the globe, customers are seeking similar instantaneous communication as they browse websites. Hence, live online chat is rapidly becoming an essential customer-service tool for any website. However, most companies have neither the staff nor the means to provide 24/7 web chat customer support; this would be akin to suddenly increasing a brick and mortar store’s hours from 8-5 to 24/7. Yet websites never close, so having a website without 24/7 live chat would be akin to having a store open with no sales clerks. Outsourcing online chat to an offshore staffing firm such as Zylun Staffing provides many benefits. Below are some of the pros and cons of live chat outsourcing with a staff leasing firm:
Pros:
- Lower overhead costs – no need to acquire office space, computers, and live chat software for agents
- Reduced HR/Management effort – the staffing firm takes care of recruiting/hiring, and day-to-day management of employees. You work with the firm to train agents.
- Lower staffing costs – hire a team of college-educated employees for the same cost as one employee in the U.S.
- Scalability – potentially much easier and less, depending on the capabilities of the outsourcing provider
- Flexibility – if site traffic is low, agents can be shared with other clients to further reduce costs
- Simple to implement – can roll out on entire website or only on certain pages at first, then increase reach over time
Cons:
- Time Zone differences can make communication with offshore team less convenient
- Language barriers in some countries can also hamper communication
- Potentially less direct management of support reps
As live online chat continues to become more critical to a website’s effectiveness, companies must seek for low-cost solutions for effectively implementing live chat. Although outsourcing this service has both pros and cons, the benefits of live-chat outsourcing far outweigh the cons, making live-chat outsourcing a practical, low-cost solution for any company.
Image Source: Photostock