Outsourcing: “Experience excellence, experience Philippines”
This is the new branding slogan of the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP). Local BPO firms launched this marketing campaign as it seeks to attract more companies to outsource in the Philippines not just for the quality of services, but also for everything else the Philippines has to offer.
According to BPAP CEO Oscar Sañez, “The Philippines has a secret weapon to propel it to the top: excellence. Investing in the Philippines is more than business — it is the total experience that our clients get when partnering with Filipinos, namely English proficiency, work ethic, hospitable culture, infrastructure and lifestyle.” The idea behind BPAP’s marketing concept is to get the world to recognize Filipino excellence in outsourcing services.
The world seems to have already recognized the Philippines strive for excellence. A new study by Global Services, the media platform for global IT outsourcing and BPO industry, and Tholons, a global investment advisory firm, suggests “India may lose its pole position in the outsourcing industry to emerging competition from countries such as China and the Philippines.” The study ranked the top 50 emerging global outsourcing cities in the world, wherein India and the Philippines both had four cities each mentioned in the list.
The Philippines’ Quezon City and Mandaluyong City were among the cities who managed to make it on the list for the first time. India, on the other hand, only managed to get one new city into the list, Jaipur. “India has lost place in the elite list of Top 10 emerging global outsourcing cities as well. Analysts say outsourcing will move beyond India as other countries start promoting their cities aggressively,” says the Deccan Herald.
Back in 2007, India dominated Global Services and Tholons’ list of the best 50 emerging global outsourcing cities, with Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune holding the top 3 spots. Cebu, back then, came in fourth. But things have changed, as this year Cebu City ranked first as the top outsourcing city in Asia followed by Shanghai and Beijing. Makati City was also amongst the top 10 outsourcing cities in the world for 2008.
The study suggests that clients are getting increasingly sophisticated in their choice of outsourcing locations. In the past, outsourcing clients based their decision on the overall strength of countries. Now, clients are closely looking at the strengths of individual cities, even those considered as tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
Outsourcing clients are increasingly identifying and profiling emerging tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Clients are trying to identify destinations that may be able to provide an equal level of effectiveness and operational efficiency than other existing locations. With this, BPO firms are also increasingly focusing their efforts on business expansion and distribution of their outsourced processes across multiple cities within their local country. In the Philippines, Cebu City and Davao City are considered as tier 2 cities while Angeles City, specifically Clark, is classified as a tier 3 city.
As countries continue to promote their cities aggressively, competition in the offshore outsourcing market will become more severe. Reinvigorating a country’s marketing strategy will prove to be vital in the race for market excellence.
Author: Kim G.
Tags: philippine outsourcing