Welcome to The 2013 Outsourcing World Summit in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona!

It's Saturday – pre-summit and the staff at IAOP has been super busy preparing for the event. The JW Marriott Desert Ridge Phoenix is fantastic – couldn't have asked for a better location. We're looking forward to having everyone here soon, so get ready...we have lots in store for you!

The Summit program includes one hundred speakers and more than 50 educational sessions, including the new Wednesday “Fun, Fast and Focused” programming; 15-minute mini-sessions that are informative, inspiring, profound and provocative.

We have some great special events planned for this year's summit:
Are you here all day on Sunday? Well, keep on reading...
New for Sunday the IAOP Publishers Cup – you'll be mixing it up on the green with colleagues, clients and fellow outsourcing professionals for a round. Not a golfer? Check out our “Getting to Know You” Networking Event – join us by the pool on Sunday for an informal meet and greet. Later Sunday evening, our Champagne Welcome is sure to entice – come down to the registration desk, pick up your materials and raise a glass to another year! New this year we have the Global Services Mall Sneak Peak – in addition to fun and informative networking receptions on Monday and Tuesday evenings, you’ll have an additional chance to check out the exhibit hall on Sunday evening following the champagne welcome.

Once the summit begins, we'll have many refreshment breaks...be sure to stay hydrated here, it will keep you energized for 3 action-packed days:
-> Two Global Services Mall Receptions: Join the conversation - meet potential partners
-> Customer-Only or Provider/Advisor-Only Networking: Identify delegates like you and share how you turned challenges into successes.
-> A Taste of Nova Scotia: Your hosts, Nova Scotia Business Inc., invite you to share in some fine wine and savories from their neck of the woods.
-> Awards Luncheon: See who’s next to be inducted into The Outsourcing Hall of Fame, who will receive IAOP’s GEO Awards and celebrate IAOP’s Member of the Year.
-> By Popular Demand! New Advanced Track: Advanced sessions in every round led by IAOP’s Certified Outsourcing Professionals (COPs)!

Year after year, The Outsourcing World Summit brings the global community of outsourcing professionals together for an unparalleled knowledge sharing, networking and personal and business development experience you can count on. The 2013 Outsourcing World Summit will continue this tradition of excellence.

See you soon!!
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Kate Tulloch-Hammond, IAOP Manager of Media & Communications

Seeking Employment in Outsourcing? Here's 5 things to consider

As the economy continues to slowly improve, many are looking at opportunities outside their domestic markets and often with companies that are global players.  We particularly heard from jobseekers looking at the global players such as Softtek, Genpact, Neusoft, Luxoft, TCS, Infosys, Cognizant and others.  We also heard from employers and talked to them about how they attract employees.  What are the most important things you need to know about seeking employment with a global services provider?


To find out, I talked to our professional connections on looking for ideas applicable to evaluating global (or multinational) service providers, rather than strictly domestic employers. The ideas range from micro issues, such as knowing the leadership style of your direct supervisor, to macro issues about the company's financials and reputation of its senior leadership.




To help encourage discussion and debate about these ideas, I am going to rank them from 5th to 1st in importance to you, a global job candidate.  




5 – Company Culture


Does the company have a strong record of diversity? Does it employ leaders from outside of its home country? Does it promote women to key positions of authority? Is the company culture primarily top-down or a bit more collaborative and entrepreneurial? What are the stated and actual expectations for your work hours? Is work-life balance something embraced by this firm? Does the company donate money – or employee hours – to advance any social causes?
 


4 – Compensation & Benefits


Some global service providers provide stock options or warrants to employees, while others do not. Is the company public or privately held? What percentage of the compensation is tied to variables goals that are beyond your span of influence? Has the company met its group compensation targets despite the downturn?
 Executive education is also a factor for executives looking to assume more responsibility. Does the company provide continuous education for all of its employees? Does the company have a commitment to provide paid executive education? 
 


3 – Working Globally


Does the company have competitive and generous relocation policies? Does the company provide relocated executives with perks such as housing and transportation stipends?  Where are the company's main offices? How long has the company been in that location? (That demonstrates a commitment by the company to the location.) Does the location provide good quality housing, schools, infrastructure, and security? Could your spouse work in that location – and would he or she be happy there? 



2 – Management


Find out about the reputation of the firms and its leaders. Are executives rotated through different positions to give them a range of experience? Are executives in that organization cherry-picked or recruited by competing firms? What's the leadership style of your direct supervisor? Is he or she flexible and interested in advancing your career? 
 


1 – Know the company's financials


Find out if the company is profitable. How does the company's earnings compare to its peers? What's the target profit margin on a sale? Which lines of business drive its profits or losses? Will you be asked to work in a group that is under-resourced or in need of a transformation?

I am hoping that as many of you look at career options in this economy, you still take the time to make sure that you are looking at the above five keys to evaluate the employer.  Finally, I hope that employers look at this to build an inviting work environment.

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Atul Vashistha is Founder & Chairman of Neo Group, a global firm focused on global supply monitoring, outsourced program management and sourcing advisory. His latest venture is BestOutsourcingJobs.com, an online job portal focused on outsourcing careers. Atul is also a Founding Board Member of IAOP.

Seven Steps to a Successful BPO Strategy in 2013 by guest blogger Ben Trowbridge

Two things are certain about Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) in 2013. First, it will continue to grow. Second, many companies will enter BPO arrangements without a clear BPO strategy and without being absolutely clear about the rationale and expected benefits for their businesses.

By applying some degree of strategic planning upfront and with some 'due diligence', the chances of getting a good result are much improved. A BPO strategy is the route map to achieving the best way to transform your company's business processes - whether through outsourcing, in-house shared services or through another vehicle. It must nest within and support your overall business strategy, just like the company's sales, production, marketing or IT strategy. A successful BPO strategy should include the following steps:

1. Process/solution strategy - This is the 'what': what do you want your processes to look like, what is the required output and what are the required service levels? Which processes should be in line for outsourcing and which should be retained by the business? How will the interfaces be managed and who will be responsible for controls? Are you prepared to have the processes delivered remotely from another country, either near-shore or offshore? What will happen to the staff that currently provides the service?

2. Sourcing strategy - This is the 'how': how will the processes be delivered?
How do you organize the business to provide those processes, how do they integrate with the other business processes and how should they be organized? This point is critical in determining whether outsourcing is appropriate at all.

3. Supplier strategy - If outsourcing is the answer, next you need to decide whether you choose niche suppliers, best of breed, one or many suppliers, an established player or a start-up. What relationship do you want with the supplier? How do you want to share the risk and the rewards with the supplier? How do you want to incentivize the supplier?

4. Commercial strategy - How do you want to structure the deal? Should it be a fixed-price contract, or are you looking to develop a partnering structure - whereby both parties share risk and reward and are jointly incentivized to reduce costs and improve efficiency over the lifetime of the deal? Or are you looking for something in between?

5. Systems strategy - Are your systems stable or are you looking to implement new systems in the foreseeable future? Do you do this before, as part of, or after the outsourcing/shared services implementation? Are you looking for the outsourcer to take over or use your existing systems, or do you expect to use the outsourcer's systems?

6. Transition strategy - How will you handle the implications of the Acquired Rights Directive (ARD) or Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations - TUPE in the UK? Are you prepared to handle a 'big-bang' transfer of responsibility or do you want to plan a phased implementation? Is this going to be by process or business unit?

7. Operations strategy - How is the new operating environment going to be managed and governed? What is the relationship going to be with the service provider - whether in-house or outsourced - and how is the performance going to be monitored and controlled? What will be the mechanism for reversing the service transfer should delivery not be up to the required standard?
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Ben Trowbridge, Founder & CEO, Alsbridge, Inc.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2013 from IAOP and the IAOP Pulse Blog! We had quite a 2012 – record breaking attendance at the Outsourcing World Summit, the 2nd annual Latin America Outsourcing Summit and China Week. We launched several new chapters, the IAOP Member Hub, Pulse magazine and the IAOP Pulse blog, not to mention building onto the COP program and introducing Global Supply Risk Monitor (GSRM) to help our members monitor risk through country and city reports…just to name a few of the IAOP happenings last year.

In 2013 there will be no rest for the wicked. The 2013 Outsourcing World Summit is fast approaching and we have several new items on the agenda: the IAOP Publisher’s Cup golf tournament, the Global Services Mall Sneak Peak, new advanced COP tracks, keynote speaker John Brandt and so much more!!

We’ve got travel on the brain! Later this year, we’ll be traveling to Costa Rica for the 3rd annual Latin America Outsourcing Summit; we’ll be spending a week in Europe for, you guessed it, Euro Week; we’ve got COP Master Classes in Denver, Toronto, Hong Kong and the Netherlands – and we’re thinking maybe Kuala Lumpur and a couple other destinations would be nice, too. On top of that we’ll be launching more IAOP chapters!!

So, as you can see, 2013 is rounding out to be a busy year here at IAOP. We look forward to working with everyone and making this another successful year.
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Kate Tulloch-Hammond, IAOP Manager of Media & Communications

What do you like best about The Outsourcing World Summit?

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Taking the Pulse; latest issue fast & furious – no medication required.

What do politics, elections, trends, forecasts, emerging destinations, jobs, taxes and the global economy have to do with each other? Pulse magazine, of course. Our team takes the Pulse on all these topics in our new issue which came out last week. Here is what you can expect:

• Find out how outsourcing is expected to play out around the world; hint – the forecast is looking explosive.
• Before and After: We predicted the trends and forecasts before the election. Read everything here. Now that it’s over, comment below and tell us your thoughts on the future of outsourcing in the coming year.
• Find out why Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) should be at the forefront of every outsourcing contract.
• Businesses will consider outsourcing “locally” or will consider bringing offshore work back onshore.
• We’re giving you the top 10 outsourcing predictions; risk, energy, analytics…
• Buyers and providers will work together more closely to co-create value, transformation and innovation.
• Destination Africa – is it the “lost” continent or the “last” continent as far as outsourcing is concerned…or is it both? The infrastructure is available to connect nations & cities with the rest of the world. We think Africa is a hot spot!
• Avoiding IT service contract pitfalls; three common mistakes.
• Beyond cost; achieving business stability and strategic flexibility through outsourcing.
• View from the C-Suite – fresh face, Bill Concannon – real time with the CEO of Global Corporate Services for CBRE Group. 

We asked. You answered. We listened. This 2nd issue of Pulse delves deep into the future of outsourcing as shown throughout the magazine with contributions by our many members and thought leaders. 

We might be a new magazine, but with IAOP’s 120,000 members and affiliates worldwide, we’ve got legions of followers. Haven’t read it yet? Check it out here.

How to Take Advantage of Asia by guest blogger, Tom Browne

Asia booming
China now has a larger auto market than the US(1). Nearly half of US companies surveyed
saw their China-based businesses outperform the overall company(2). Southeast Asia, including Japan and China, holds almost 30% of the world’s population (and that doesn't count India). So you understand all that, not to mention the GDP growth figures and “consumerization” happening as well. The question is “how to take advantage of it?”

Asia is a tough market for US companies to enter
If you’re going into China, first thing is you’ll need someone who speaks Mandarin, right? Well, it’s a good start, but then you’ll need to address the 600 million people who don’t speak Mandarin. Greater Asia is home to 150 languages. And in addition to the language proliferation there is the cultural diversity within Asian lands and (the big one) the East-West “chasm.”

About that chasm: Western business culture is generally contract-driven. Asian business culture is generally relationship-driven. As you can imagine these worlds often collide: the Western businessman, red-faced and bursting at the seams, waving a contract in front of his Asian counterpart.  The Asian: stoic and disinterested. This cultural divide is the major hurdle to Western companies doing business in Asia and many, many companies have crashed and burned failing to fully grasp this.

Furthermore, the concept of guanxi. You may want to look this one up(3) as it is both vitally important to success in Asia and quite interesting to a Westerner. In brief, it’s an extension of the relationship-driven culture; “it’s not what you know it’s who you know" — a giant quid-pro-quo system, and Westerners enter it with no “quid." The Chinese prefer to know you before they transact with you. But what if you don’t know anybody?

Finally, a big problem facing many Western companies is self-induced: failure to commit. CEOs of thriving companies are torn between missing out on the Asia Opportunity and messing with the status quo. So rather than tell the board "we'll take a pass on China," he'll stick a toe in the Chinese water, playing not-to-lose rather than grabbing the market by its throat. No surprise then when results are very modest and attention is turned elsewhere.

Local partners can help
So operating in Asia is a different deal than we're used to. What to do about it? The first step is to acknowledge that you have a problem (just like that famous 12-step program) and that you are best served getting help; and that help should be from someone local to the market you're interested in.

Local partners can't force you to commit - that's up to you - but once you have committed the benefits are many. With a properly constructed, i.e. win-win agreement in place, local partners can provide a wealth of assistance: speeding up bureaucratic hassles; making connections; navigating the court system; providing dual-language speakers; extending some of their "guanxi"...the list goes on.

Sources
1. JD Power
2. US-China Business Council
3. http://www.gcis.com.cn/China/Regarding%20Guanxi.htm 
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Tom Browne is Management Consultant at hiSoft.

Election 2012...Before and After

Before the U.S Presidential elections were known, Pulse asked: How will political changes affect the global outsourcing industry in 2013? Read the answers here.

Let us know...now that the U.S. Presidential election is over, how do you think the results will affect outsourcing?

IAOP Needs Your Thoughts...

What is your prediction on how the global economy will impact outsourcing in 2013? Either comment below or email your thoughts to pulse@iaop.org.

Obrigada!! Thank You to All Who Supported The 2012 Latin America Outsourcing Summit!

It’s a wrap! The 2nd Annual Latin America Outsourcing Summit was a great success and we want to take this moment to thank our speakers, our partners Brasscom and Fortune, as well as sponsors Accenture; Andi; Baker & McKenzie; BRQ; Groupo Assa; Infosys; KellyOCG; Softtek; Toutatis and Wipro. And thank you to our delegates, who traveled from Peru, Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, France, Nicaragua and the US to learn and network with industry leaders and fellow outsourcing professionals.  Some of them are still stuck in Sao Paulo traffic. 

A quick run-down – it was a two-day info-packed conference covering innovation outsourcing in Latin America, reducing the impact of manpower shortage in IT, mitigating risk – outsourcing best practices by multilatinas, maximizing sourcing value through supply intelligence and outsourcing trends in Latin America. Our panel discussions were an attendee favorite as the discussions were thought-provoking; with a vibrant back and forth dialogue.

Marco Stefanini, President and CEO of Stefanini IT Solutions was honored with the Hall of Fame award at a delicioso luncheon attended by over 100 people.

Delegates enjoyed strawberry and passion fruit Caipirinhas – Brazil's national cocktail – while visiting exhibitors in the exhibit hall and dined on traditional Brazilian fare – churrasco.

Social Media!! Wow - thanks to social media, those of you who were unable to have joined us at the summit, had the play-by-play as both IAOP and many attendees were tweeting the happenings of the conference.

It was an eventful two days! Many thanks to all who helped make this fabulous summit happen; we look forward to the next LATAM Summit and planning is already underway.  Want to host it in your country? Drop us a note and let us know! 

Obrigada, Brasil!
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Kate Tulloch-Hammond, IAOP Manager of Media & Communications

Calling All Writers...Pulse Magazine Wants You!

For our upcoming Pulse Magazine November/December issue, we are looking for authors to contribute pieces on the impact of the U.S. presidential election and global economic situation on outsourcing in the coming year. This can be a “viewpoint” story with your own views or a researched journalistic piece looking at both sides of the issues that have been largely in the media. It can also take a predicting, “look ahead” approach to how things may shake out in the coming year, depending on the election results and how the economic situations around the world play out. To be considered, please send your ideas and credentials to Sandy Frinton, PULSE editor, at pulse@iaop.org by Sept. 28th.

The GEO…or as we like to say, the outsourcing customer’s best friend.

Word on the street is the 3rd annual Global Excellence in Outsourcing (GEO) Award is already spurring lots of competition. With only nine days left to apply, IAOP is seeking outsourcing buyers to join the ranks with winning teams from Cisco, Procter & Gamble, Bancolombia and Microsoft! Now those are some big shoes to fill!

Recognizing outsourcing professional teams at organizations that are leading the effort to make their companies more successful through outsourcing, the GEO has such diversity that teams are awarded in two categories; the GEO Award for Best Practices and the GEO Award for Innovation. 

Nominations (technically they’re self-nominations…so if you’ve got what we’re looking for, then self nominate today!). Open to IAOP member and non-member customer teams globally, applications for the award are prepared and submitted by the outsourcing professional team itself. Nominations are accepted through September 30, 2012 and will be reviewed by a panel of independent judges selected by IAOP’s Membership Committee and led by Bill Hall, committee chair and founding partner of Pretium Partners. 

So…why would you want to apply for the GEO Award? Aside from the free application and the team morale it builds, the process of documenting your team’s efforts and accomplishments enhances awareness — both inside and outside your company — for its accomplishments. Recognition of this type can help you attract and retain the best talent and establishes greater credibility and influence with other organizations, including current and potential providers.

We’re sure you have more questions for us, so we’re going to make it easier on you. Just click here and we’ll take you to the GEO section of IAOP’s website. 

IAOP continues to strive for excellence in recognizing you, the outsourcing community, with our different award programs. We believe hard work deserves recognition…especially at a destination like the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge in Phoenix, Arizona (which is where the winners will be recognized next year, in front of hundreds of their peers). 

We are honored that the responses we receive each year continues to grow, raising the bar for all of us. With that said, get those applications in! You have nine days.
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Kate Tulloch-Hammond, IAOP Manager of Media & Communications

Buddy, can you spare some talent? by guest bloggers Rick Bertheaud and Bryan Furlong

It's the conundrum of 2012.  People are out of work, but companies are running out of talent. What’s a shared service center to do?

By Rick Bertheaud, Principal, and Bryan Furlong, Global Management Consulting, KPMG

Global business services (GBS) demand high-performance from the latest new hire to the most successful executive.  Whether it’s outsourced, insourced, or a combo, your GBS should strive to be a preferred employer, a career shaper and a market changer.

Transactionals vs. professionals

If you look at your shared services centers as a warehouse of clerical staffs, your outlook may be sorely limiting.  While most shared service centers have focused on transactional and some segment knowledge, (i.e. accounts payable, onboarding, and the like) we are seeing more and more that the centers can be a significant proving ground for leadership beyond the centers.  

Today’s shared services skill sets are becoming more about the future of management and a career path that is about being able to create and sustain organizations and third parties in a cohesive manner.  It’s about building a global brand with extended global business services.  What you learn managing all the pieces and parts of a shared service center for accounting, is readily applicable to managing a service center for pharmacovigilance or R & D.  This leadership isn’t just in accounting or paperwork for example, but for leaders in a new management category that some have termed the Chief Integration Office.  

Strength in leadership

Remember that your GBS organization, first and foremost, is in the people business. People need strong, visible and accountable leaders.  It’s easy to look afar at shared service center workers as assets, or worse, children.

We have seen proactive and outperforming shared service leadership take a formative role in development, enhancement and management by treating everyone like an adult. From conception to implementation, these leaders shoot straight from the start, involving everyone as a team.  They don’t sugar-coat the need for change, they take input, make strong decisions, keep the momentum going, and involve the CEO, CFO and other executives in the process.  

A little anecdote: while we were working on a shared service implementation a while ago, our client’s global CFOs became quite engaged. After a series of regular meetings, one executive said, “This has been a great experience; it’s the first time we ever got together to do work.” Not that their organizations didn’t work together, but by becoming visible and involved, they were able to create a solid GBS that worked for everyone.

Not once and done

Thriving GBSs are always changing.  As you expand your organization globally and across cultures as well as to include more functions, processes, and expertise, you will need different kinds of talent–for GBS leadership, process managers and ultimately your entire staff.

For example, when you have a global portfolio of services, with a mix of internal and external providers, you may need to manage some resources by influence versus direct control – that requires managers with a special set of skills. You may also need to consider the cultural nuances involved in process delivery for one country versus another.  Take it a bit further, and you might even need to consider which city has the best talent to offer on an ongoing basis.  

While some consider the GBS a good farm team for the business, others view them as true centers of expertise and talent.  As such, your standing as an employer of choice will attract and retain the right talent. This goes both for the process leadership level, where you need innovation to support the business, and the production level in offshore markets such as India, where talent competition is fierce and turnover is high.

The proof is in the future

The classic journey for GBSs is to first establish a sound strategy and implementation for the service centers, and then to continuously improve, to provide end-to-end processes and full functions.  If you are doing it right, the centers will be sought after by the businesses they support.  And when someone outside your business wants to buy services from you, you and your team can then claim victory.
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Rick Bertheaud, Principal, KPMG 
Bryan Furlong, Global Management Consulting, KPMG

Don't Miss a Beat! Read the Pulse!

IAOP is pleased to announce the launch of PULSE magazine! It's been a very busy summer for the team, who has been working tirelessly on the launch issue, which IAOP’s chairman Mike Corbett is calling “Amazing. By far, the best I've ever seen in our industry.” Ok, so maybe he’s slightly biased, but we concur. PULSE is relevant, fresh, fun and full of information you can use today. Judge for yourself (and get entered to win a free seat to The 2013 Outsourcing World Summit). Special thanks to our editor, Sandy Frinton and creative director, Pam Zarrella for their ability to work at an inhuman pace to bring you Pulse: The Magazine Driven By & For The Outsourcing Professional. Enjoy!

Caliente! The Latin America Summit is fast approaching, and we thought it time to bring out the hot sauce. You’ll discover why Latin America is muy caliente and why Costa Rica is Hot, Hot, Hot!! You’ll meet IAOP Hall of Fame inductee, Marco Stefanini (COP), President & CEO of Stefanini, a global IT services company in São Paulo, Brazil. He’ll share his spicy views from the C-Suite.

We’ve got it covered. We’re talking industry, issues, trends. We’re sharing geographies – where it’s at, where it’s not. Vertical sectors and functions; thought leadership and case studies, probing Q&As, C-level interviews and profiles; exclusive and insider coverage of IAOP events, programs, awards, research, training, certifications and surveys. We’re telling you, it’s in there. 

Fast! This first issue is fast. How fast? Fast Company – An Insider’s Look into the Global Outsourcing 100; The Sandbox – we’ve got customer, provider and advisor opinions on how organizations achieve innovation and who pays for it; The Beat – top headlines from leading news sources as told to you by IAOP’s Director of Thought Leadership, Jag Dalal!

And there’s more. So much more. Such as…the 2013 Outsourcing World Summit – one lucky reader will win a seat to OWS13 in Phoenix, Arizona. And still, there’s more...but you’ll have to read it to find out.

We really couldn't have hoped for a better response, or a better inaugural issue! We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we’ve enjoyed compiling and editing it. Pulse magazine is available bi-monthly, and is free to IAOP members. 

Fast enough for you? Great. Now go read Pulse and let us know…mild, medium or caliente?

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Kate Tulloch-Hammond, IAOP Manager of Media & Communications