From the Editor’s Desk
Martin Conboy, President – Australian BPO Association (ABPOA)
Well here we are then. It’s 2012 and it’s a new blank piece of paper – well not really as we have a lot of things in the pipeline.
So welcome back to work and if you have been in Sydney you might be grateful to be back at work. We have had a very ordinary holiday season as we have had the wettest summer in something like 50 years – thanks, La Nina.
We have lots of good stories this week and as you can see from our snippets, we have some consolidation happening in the sector.
The good news is that it looks like the US may avoid that double dip recession as all the economic indicators are heading in the right direction, although Europe’s path is still not clear so fingers and toes crossed as we march forward.
As I write there are two days of data capture left on our Australian BPO study, which we will be launching in February with our sponsors IBM & Fuji Xerox. If you are a ‘buy side’ BPO player and you are in Australia you might like to let us know what’s going on inside your firm. Please visit http://valuenotes.co.in/survey/index.php?sid=47518&lang=en
Your opinion counts and we will give you a free executive summary if you fill in the survey, plus put you in the draw for a brand new iPad2.
I will be sharing the results at the COPC event on Feb 8th in Sydney (Ian Aitchison CEO, COPC – Mobile +61 423 021 291 – if you want to come) and the Law Institute of Victoria conference on Feb 28th in Melbourne.
With our sponsors we will be having an Australian road show and will let you know the dates when we have finalized them.
Another very exciting bit of news is that in conjunction with UK Outsourcing magazine, we are taking a BPO tour group to the Philippines in late March.
We will be visiting Clark/Subic, Manila and Cebu. The Tour starts on 23rd March until the 1st April. It is an action packed agenda, and if you ever wanted to know what the Philippines BPO industry is all about then this is the tour for you. We are going to sneak in a couple of games of golf as the courses in the Philippines have to be seen to be believed. It’s five-star all the way and we have had a fair bit of interest from as far a field as South Africa, USA, UK and Australia, so do yourself a favour and come on board. http://thesauce.net.au/2011/12/calling-for-expressions-of-interest
Another world first initiative this year will be a 10-page Philippines supplement that we will be producing with UK Outsourcing magazine for their May/June issue. So if you are interested in promoting your BPO business to the world then let us know so that we can send you the media kit. This will be a big piece of quality journalism and will really help to put the Philippines on the map.
Last but not the least is the Australian BPO Association (ABPOA) Annual General Meeting in late February. It’s hard to believe that the ABPOA is just over a year old and now starting to get a head of steam. We are looking for new members and new office bearers and even a new President if anyone is interested in putting their hand up. This is your chance to lend a hand and make a difference
That’s all folks and here’s to a successful year to all of us.
The title alone raises questions that have lingered in our minds for the last couple of years. Call it downturn blues, but there are subtle but real signs that sourcing as a solution has reached a plateau where any gains are negligible and big strides are what headlines are made from. Reality tells us that in order for a business discipline to sustain and grow it must be subjected to a stable code of conduct, definitive development, constructive assessment and a driver that is more than just to secure business. On each account there is room for improvement, some demanding more than others. So while we aren’t quite ready to give up the cause its time that those involved need to stop feeding and start producing real substantive and socially responsible development.
Martin,
Looking forward to hearing about the survey results on 8th February at the Vibe Hotel, North Sydney.