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com
ISSN 1985-1006
Living in a world
of constraints
Surviving the
downturn
Offshoring: Integral Penang a future
part of market BPO star: KPMG
research value chain Asian CIOs
Global Market are more
business-savvy
plement
See Inside: Special Sup
Outso u r c in g S u m m it
2009 Asia-Pacific Held for the first time
in Asia
Outsourcing | Insights
20
Sur
do
24
36
E N T S
6 Rhythm & Hues taps into MSC Malaysia
Hollywood’s leading visual effects studio
to set up high-tech studio in Cyberjaya
Leadership Extraordinaire
g
36
the
38
Telco giant seals contract with Big Blue
to further enhance services
w n turn
o 26
40 Brisbane CC staff reveal strange calls
ISSN 1985-1 0 0 6
Living in a world
of constraints
Surviving the
downturn
Offshoring: Integral Penang a future
part of market BPO star: KPMG
research value chain Asian CIOs
Global Market are more
business-savvy
ement
See Inside: Special Suppl
urcing Summit
2009 Asia-Pacific OutsoHeld for the first time in Asia
Clearly, the economic gloom has blanketed much of the content
in this issue of Outsourcing, dominating the minds of our columnists,
theteam feature writers as well as our interviewees as the unprecedented global
situation trudges on with no foreseeable cure in sight.
Managing Editor/Publisher: As much as we could like to put on a positive outlook for the year,
Sritharan Vellasamy the threat and sense of danger is unmistakable.
Consultant: Regarding the American economy, a recent interview saw investor
Sundra Surian
extraordinaire Warren Buffett chillingly declare: “It’s fallen off a cliff”.
It seems no one is sure when it will hit the ground but the American
situation has undoubtedly hauled the rest of the world down with it.
editorial: sri@wordlabs.com.my
The Oracle from Omaha, however, remained optimistic that
Sub Editor: Simon Vella
Art Director: Steven Choo America’s best days are ahead, but he says the country will likely face
Graphic artist: Shafie Osman higher unemployment and eventually inflation because of the current
Contributors: Tamyne Menon,
Dorothy Llew, Mohd Arshad economic crisis.
Coordinator: James Wee
But it’s not all gloom in the outsourcing industry as experts are betting
their money on the surge of outsourcing activities in Asia for the coming
times as corporations look to reduce their costs and risks.
sales: sales@wordlabs.com.my
Michael Corbett – the chairman of The International Association of
Vikraman Visno Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) – is one.
Resh Nathen
He stresses that Asia’s role in the global outsourcing marketplace will
be important in moving forward. “Challenges create opportunities,”
he says.
contact: admin@wordlabs.com.my
As such, the upcoming IAOP Asia Pacific Summit in Kuala Lumpur
from May 12-13 is surely a timely event.
An exciting occasion is on the cards as the world’s top outsourcing
practitioners and business leaders get together for a one-of-a-kind annual
gathering to explore and set the future of outsourcing in Asia.
WORDlabs MEDIA (001645509-W)
Be sure to check out our Special Focus editorial supplement for more
27-1, Metro Centre, Jalan 3/146,
Bandar Tasik Selatan, information on this grand event to be held for the first time in Asia
57000 Kuala Lumpur;
Phone: +603 90564770, 90580971; Pacific. – Sritharan Vellasamy
Fax: +603 90564771, 90580972
Outsourcing | News bits
a
t cen
five
) has won a
Irrigation and
-year deal.
Multimedia Development Corporation its MSC Malaysia Job Camp programme Drainage (JPS) und known as
(MDeC) hopes the government will con- this year from 7,000 graduates last year to The JPS Contact Centre, hotline,
ne” wil l hav e a sin gle
“JPS Careli
tinue to relocate certain functions through meet the demand from industry. eral public
business process outsourcing (BPO). He said the programme was open 1-300-80-1010, for the gen enquiries,
ke
MDeC CEO Datuk Badlisham Ghazali to those underemployed who decide to to get information and ma ns on all
give sug ges tio
said that through BPO, the government upgrade their skills, the unemployed, complaint and
could concentrate on its core responsibility fresh graduates and those who have been JPS related matters. agreement,
Under the 5-year service
and competency. retrenched. rce d ser vice provider
TM is the outsou
“It will also provide more confidence “The programme will be promoted
t will pro vide the com munication
tha
in the Malaysian public sector,” he said to other states like Terenganu, Penang, tact centre
at MSC Malaysia Job Camp BPO and Pahang and Johor in near future,” he infrastructure for the con iary of
, a sub sid
while VADS Berhad
Contact Centre Management (BTEC) added.
wil l ma nag e the con tac t centre
Certification Graduation Ceremony in To date, the total number of knowledge TM, ipping
operations tha t inc lud e equ
Cyberjaya. workers contributed by MSC Malaysia is contact
Earlier, Badlisham said MSC Malaysia 79,000 and this is expected to increase to the centre with the right with
er
100,000 by 2010. centre technology togeth
aimed to produce 10,000 graduates under ple and
the recruitment of the peo vice
inin g of the cus tom er ser
tra
representatives.
JP Morgan to
up outsourcing,
says report
India still
a top location
The second-biggest bank of the US, JP
Morgan Chase, which acquired Washington
Mutual and Bear Stearns recently, will
increase its outsourcing to India by 25%
this year to nearly US$400 million, it was
reported.
The firm will also manage the integra-
tion of the acquired companies from India to Global financial firm Moody’s In his first address to the joint ses-
bring down the cost of integrating different has said India will remain a top sion of the US Congress last month,
information technology (IT) systems, ac- outsourcing destination. Obama had stated his adminis-
cording to a news report out of Bangalore. “India will remain a top out- tration would end tax breaks for
The strategy is being driven by JP Morgan sourcing destination because of its corporations that ship the US jobs
CIO Guy Chiarello as part of his wide-rang- tech-savvy and English-proficient overseas.
ing efforts to cut costs, it was claimed. urban workforce whose wages are On asked whether increase
According an article in India’s Economic much lower than their western in protectionism of the domestic
Times, JP Morgan is one of the first banks in counterparts,” Moody’s economist industry in the US and the devel-
the US to have fleshed out its outsourcing Sherman Chan said. oped countries is hitting the Indian
strategy ever since the banking meltdown Chan further said India’s out- outsourcing badly, Sherman said, “I
happened. sourcing industry will certainly be don’t think businesses leave India
The article did not say which Indian hurt by this global downturn, as mainly because of protectionist
companies had won the bidding for the demand for IT support or telemar- sentiment.”
additional US$100 million of work, but it keting has weakened significantly “A more likely reason is that
did state that JP Morgan currently spends in recent months. activity is being scaled back in the
between US$250 million and US$300 mil- However, it will recover well af- light of a slowing global economy,”
lion with Cognizant, Tata Consulting, and ter the global economy rebounds, she added.
Accenture. In addition, JP Morgan also though the recovery is expected to The US$40 billion Indian software
operates its own captive IT operation in be gradual as businesses will remain and BPO export industry, mainly
Mumbai. cautious with investment plans, she driven by outsourcing, draws 60%
added. of its revenues from the US.
FOR ENQUIRIES
EMAIL: admin@wordlabs.com.my,
vikraman@wordlabs.com.my,
sri@wordlabs.com.my
PHONE: +603 90564770
FAX: +603 90564771
WEBSITE: www.wordlabs.com.my
Outsourcing | News bits
OUTSOURCING
“PROVIDING
THE RIGHT STAGE
FOR OUTSOURCING
SERVICES PROVIDERS
AND SEEKERS”
CONTACT US:
Penang a future
BPO star: KPMG
Penang could become a centre favoured prompted a new rush for outsourcing boom, were always going to reach satura-
by business process outsourcing (BPO) services across IT and that a number of tion point,” said Edge Zarrella, Global Head
players, a study by KPMG said. new locations are emerging as viable BPO of IT Advisory at KPMG.
Large labour pools, proximity to the hubs. “Though established locations may still
major client bases and multiple language According to KPMG’s Exploring Global be considered as epicenters of outsourcing,
skills could help the Malaysian city or any Frontiers report, places like Bangalore, entities are beginning to look at alternative
other of 31 spots nominated by KPMG Chennai and Shanghai could soon be locations due to favorable business environ-
become potential alternatives to established approaching saturation point. ment, access to a good supply of talent, good
Indian cities. “Traditional sourcing locations, which quality of life and lower costs.”
The auditors said the credit crisis has have been at the forefront of the outsourcing Zarrella added: “Corporates now need
Penang skyline …
The Northern state
has been listed as one
of the 31 outsourcing
hubs of the future by
KPMG.
Lim says
the recent
listing
proves
Penang’s
future
potential.
Others 50%
March – April 2009 | Outsourcing | 17
Offshoring at least one service Outsourcing and Offshoring of Services
40%
Offshoring at least one service Source: ESOMAR,ValueNotes Research
Outsourcing | COVER
Source: ValueNotes Research
Problem Formulation
In-house
Malaysians
take
pride in
their work
A study by Kelly Services revealed ABOVE ... from their jobs. Some 94% said their immediate future.
that Malaysian workers were pre- Across all the work gave them a sense of pride Across all the generations,
pared to accept a lower wage or a generations, and 87% said that it raised their self females were more likely to be
lesser role if their work contributed female workers confidence. concerned about career prospects
to something more important or were more likely • 57% of baby boomers were and career direction.
meaningful. to be concerned prepared to forego salary and Norman said that the findings
The latest Kelly Global Workforce about career position for more meaningful highlighted the importance of em-
Index, which sought the views of prospects and work. ployers in helping to bring out the
nearly 100,000 people in 34 countries career direction. • 71% of Gen X (aged 30-47) plan best in their workforce by tailoring
including almost 2,000 in Malaysia, to look for a new job within the work that is engaging, stimulating
found that 48% of people would next year. and which encouraged people to
forego income or status to do some- • 28% of Gen Y (aged 18-29) learn new skills.
thing more meaningful, with baby said they would not choose the “Employees’ aspirations will
boomers (aged 48-65) the most likely same field of work if starting out change markedly over the course
to make such a sacrifice. again. of a career, so it is important to
Kelly Services (Malaysia) Sdn The findings reveal Gen X recognise the things that are impor-
Bhd’s VP and Country General Man- and the baby boomers as those tant at each stage in order to build
ager, Melissa Norman said that a most concerned about their career and maintain a motivated, stable
significant number of people were directions with Gen X likely to and high-performing workforce,”
actually prepared to give up some switch jobs in larger numbers in the Norman added.
of their salary and their position
if they could do something that
was important to them and their
organisation.
“They place value on work which “By global
is personally satisfying, which builds standards,
competence and self-belief, and
which helps to advance long term Malaysians
career goals,” Norman said. derive a high
The survey demonstrates the
value of work in building pride
degree of
and self-confidence, and highlights pride and self-
the differing views across the gen-
erational divide. Amongst the key
confidence from
findings of the survey: By global their jobs.”
standards, Malaysians derive a high
degree of pride and self-confidence
Manufacturing era …
Some pundits were
forecasting the demise of
manufacturing in the US
and the rise to dominance
of service industries.
But this did not happen.
Instead, major changes
in management thinking
resulted in completely new
ways of doing business from
one end of the value chain
to the other.
Asian
region…
destination
of choice.
Bringing the
and showcase the vital role Asia
now plays in the global outsourcing
landscape.
“And while today’s economic
slowdown certainly impacts all aspects
outsourcing
of business, we feel that the Asian
region will provide some answers
in moving forward in terms of
outsourcing and offshoring.”
Staged for the first time in the
world to Asia
continent, the event is part of the
world-renowned Outsourcing World
Summit Conference Series.
IAOP Chairman Michael Corbett
said: “Asia’s role in the global
outsourcing marketplace will be
pivotal moving forward, despite the
Get ready for landmark APOS 2009 economic downturn, which is why it is
in Kuala Lumpur this May so important for any global company
to understand how outsourcing is
changing and evolving in the region.”
S p e c i a l F o c u s
Wong … ‘The
Summit will
explore and
showcase the
vital role Asia
now plays in
the global
outsourcing
landscape.’
compromising on value creation and or more outsourcing in response to Volatile … Asia’s this industry will create thousands of
cost-savings options,” Wong said. the financial crisis. They also said that role in the global technical and managerial jobs within
Despite the current global greater contract flexibility is their top outsourcing the country. This is important to grow
economic bad weather, he is confident need. marketplace will the number of skilled ICT workforce
that outsourcing business will thrive be pivotal moving for the industry.”
on in the region and around the world. Malaysian scene forward – despite He explained that outsourcing
He said:“I am confident that The coming summit, acknowledged the economic remained one of the most promising
companies will continue to outsource Wong, will also help shift the local ICT gloom. sectors in Malaysia. “There is no talk
more, definitely not less. Their outsourcing industry into a higher gear. of retrenchments in this sector and
focus however will shift toward cost “This landmark event in the Ministry of Human Resources
savings with built-in needs demanding Malaysia will act as a catalyst for the is allocating funds for retraining and
variability with costs or pricing, and outsourcing industry in the region,” re-skilling of fresh graduates and
also increased focus on performance.” he says.“Events such as this are very unemployed people for business
Varanasi chips in:“Gone are the promising and draws strength from the process outsourcers. By 2012, there
days when providers could grow on combined efforts and vast experiences are expected to be 300,000 nationwide
input-based pricing models. Today’s of respected organisations such outsourcing jobs in Malaysia.”
demand for performance-based as IAOP.” He adds that there is Some other important OM
and or output-based pricing will strong support for the outsourcing efforts include providing substantive
push providers to really focus on industry from MDeC. “In addition, information about the industry itself.
core capabilities with verticalised the outsourcing industry in Malaysia The group will undertake a focused
impacts, rather than just at the level of is still looking at positive growth of custom research, an ongoing exercise
services.” 15-20%, even during the downturn, in that gathers, evaluates and analyses
Recently, IAOP surveyed 450 comparison to overall ICT growth of both data and information related to
organisations from 20 countries about 5%.” the industry. Wong said:“We firmly
that attended its recent annual Job creation and human capital believe that such information is vital to
conference. The survey found that development is one of the key targets sustain the attractiveness of Malaysia
75% of organisations will do the same of OM, says Wong. “The growth of within the outsourcing eco-sphere.”
S p e c i a l F o c u s
Sunday, 10 May
• Optional Networking Event:
Tour of Kuala Lumpur.
Monday, 11 May
The 2009 Asia-Pacific Outsourcing • Networking Reception for IAOP
Summit, being held 12-13 May, 2009 in Corporate Members and Speakers:
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in association Get a head start and make
with Outsourcing Malaysia and the most of your time at the
PIKOM, the association representing event by introducing yourself to
the information and communications colleagues and potential partners.
technology (ICT) industry in Malaysia,
brings the worlds top outsourcing
practitioners and business leaders
together for a one-of-a-kind annual Tuesday, 12 May
gathering to explore and set the future • Customer-Only Networking
of outsourcing in Asia. Breakfast:
Join fellow delegates for
Introducing The 2009 Asia- networking and experience
Pacific Outsourcing Summit sharing early in the conference
Presented by the International so you can make stronger
Association of Outsourcing connections.
Professionals (IAOP), this must-attend
event is part of the world-renowned • Networking Luncheon and IAOP
Outsourcing World Summit Chapter Showcase:
Conference Series. Designed to meet Enjoy lunch with colleagues who
the business and educational needs of share similar interests.
outsourcing professionals with a real
understanding of the differences in • Cocktail Reception in the
creating and implementing outsourcing Exhibition Forum:
strategy in the Asia-Pacific region, Exchange ideas and experiences
this event will ensure you are ahead over cocktails.
wherever the outsourcing market
goes.This is a unique opportunity to • Gala Dinner:
learn the best outsourcing practices • Rob Cayzer, Director, Marketing Join IAOP as the Outsourcing
from both global and regional points of and Business Development, MDeC Hall of Fame Award is presented
view, and for customers and providers Malaysia for the first time in Asia.
of outsourcing services to make • Matthew A. Considine,
powerful connections. Director of Strategic Operations,
athenahealth Inc
• Snjezana Cvoro-Begovic, Wednesday, 13 May
Renowned for its keynote speakers: Senior Development Director, • Networking Breakfast:
• The Power of Outsourcing: Electronic Arts, Canada Start the final day with coffee and
Leadership Lessons from One of • Leila Chirayath Janah, conversation.
the Worlds Top IT Executives Founder and CEO, Samasource
Marty Chuck, COP, Founder,The • Jag Dalal, COP, Managing • Networking Lunch:
CXOs LLC Director,Thought Leadership, IAOP Meet your peers at a networking
• Philip Hadcroft, GM – Strategy lunch, where you will have
• Long Distance Innovation: & International Development, Salmat the opportunity to form new
Overcoming the Hurdles to BusinessForce relationships and potential
Value Creation in Global • Aman Mustafa, Director IT, business opportunities.
Relationships Offshore,ACS India
Danny Ertel, COP, Partner,Vantage • Eus Pontenagel, COP, The Exhibition Forum at The
Partners, LLC International Business Development, 2009 Asia-Pacific Outsourcing
Quint Wellington Redwood Summit is an integrated
• The Future of Outsourcing and • Asif Quadir, Senior Counsel,The networking and social venue
the Culture Surprise Bank of Nova Scotia within an event that is, by
Beverley Honig, CEO, Honeylight • Eric Rongley, CEO, Bleum design, educationally focused.
Enterprises Pty. Ltd. Incorporated Delegates attend the Summit
to gain insight and guidance
• Mritunjay Singh, AVP, Infosys
and treat its exhibitors not
Additional speakers include: Technologies Limited as vendors, but as a valued
• Mark Boyle, Managing Director • Bobby Varanasi, COP, CEO, part of their educational
Outsourcing APAC,Accenture Matryzel Consulting experience at the Summit.
SPECIAL FOCUS
S p e c i a l F o c u s
From page 20
outsourcing (Lacity et al., 2003; as in the actual fabrication of a
Feeny et al., 2005), and offshore in product.
2003. Later, Rottman and Lacity The three authors contended that
interviewed 238 people, including technological change in services
53 supplier employees in India and offers strategic opportunities. Service
34 in China (Lacity and Rottman, companies that employ advanced
2008). Ilan Oshri, Julia Kotlarsky, technologies are able to offer services
and Willcocks also began a large at lower cost and higher quality
research project on offshore out- than the same services generated
sourcing (Oshri et al., 2007). inside the firm. Instead of analysing
The collective work of these eleven market share, they urged managers
researchers formed a research base to analyse the strength of the service
of over 500 companies on five con- components of their business rela-
tinents, covering most industries tive to competitors and outsource
as well as central, state, and local non-core functions.
governments. Outsourcing permits organi-
This multi-part article traces sations to devote more time and
the history of outsourcing over the attention to the core activities that
past twenty years. We begin with provide competitive advantage,
the initial drivers of outsourcing, and outsourcing, they argue, can
including the early thinkers and reduce the size and layers of the
proponents of change, who set the organisation, allowing executives
stage for the shifts in managing to focus on obtaining, developing,
thinking and the transformation of and motivating the people who
American enterprises. create value. It also frees manage-
The pressures of a competitive ment to focus attention on strategy,
global economy stimulated the need coordination, and the capabilities
for cooperative relationships with that increase competitiveness.
other companies, and these organi-
sational and economic changes set Proponents of organisational
the stage for the phenomenal growth change
of outsourcing. Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, Walter
Powell and other prophets of change
Global competitive pressures decried hierarchically structured
The 1980s and 1990s were periods organisations, and promoted less
of pivotal change in the way US centralised, more flexible, and re-
management thought and acted, sponsive organisations structured
due to the intense pressure of global around teams of knowledge work-
competition. As the US rose to super- ers. According to Drucker, the task
power status during and after World should be the focus of organisational
War II, its manufacturing prowess structure, not the division of the
was based on mass production of Corporate service industries. But this did not organisation by function which
standard goods. Low-cost production juggernaut happen. Instead, major changes prevailed in earlier decades when
was achieved with long production … Whatever in management thinking resulted General Motors, DuPont, and other
runs of standardised products and advantages in completely new ways of doing classical companies were highly
integration that went backward to bigness by itself business from one end of the value integrated firms.
sources of inputs and raw materials used to confer chain to the other. US management These huge organisations in-
and forward into distribution and on a business learned quality, product diversity, cluded almost every stage in the
marketing. The bulk of US manufac- have largely flexible manufacturing, just-in- value chain from production and
turing output in the industrial age been canceled time supply, value chain analysis, delivery of raw materials through
was consumed in internal markets. by the universal outsourcing and the necessity for the production process to sales,
Foreign markets did not influence availability of constant change. delivery, and after-sales services.
major design, manufacturing, or management and Corporate strength was measured
marketing decisions. information. Early influencers by the extent of vertical integration
Managerial mindsets shaped by One influential development was forward and backward along the
World War II and the aftermaths the recognition that services are a value chain.
were soon shaken by the steep rise in competitive differentiator for many Drucker argued in the “New
global competition of the 1970s and companies, a concept advanced Society of Organisations”, that
1980s. Companies from countries in a Harvard Business Review knowledge is a factor of produc-
that previously were no competition article written in 1990 by James tion, along with land, labour and
for American goods entered the US Bryant Quinn, Thomas Doorley capital. Drucker explained that
market with higher-quality products, and Penny Paquett. They described every organisation must build the
a greater variety of products closely the corporation as a collection of management of change into its very
attuned to the tastes of discriminat- services that provide value. Even in structure. Neither is large nor small
ing consumers, and less expensive manufacturing firms, most workers size a necessary advantage to an
products based on more efficient are in service-type functions, such industrial firm.
foreign technology and cheaper as research, logistics, maintenance, Economies of scale no longer
labour. design, IS, accounting, and law, and conferred advantage for the produc-
Shoe and apparel manufacturing account for about 75% of all costs tion of products. What counts for
went abroad, Japanese autos almost in most US industries. To think in more are quality, flexibility, agility,
ran US vehicles off the road, and terms of services, they argued, is to and the ability to meet diverse con-
the US steel industry was in tatters. concentrate on the activities that sumer demand. As Drucker stressed:
Some pundits were forecasting the create most of the value. Value is “Whatever advantages bigness by
demise of manufacturing in the added in style, image, durability, itself used to confer on a business
US and the rise to dominance of after sales maintenance, as much have largely been canceled by the
CONTINUE PG 22
March – April 2009 | Outsourcing | 21
Outsourcing | analysis
Outsourcing permits
organisations to devote
more time and attention
to the core activities
that provide competitive
advantage, and
outsourcing, they
argue, can reduce
the size and
layers of the
organisation,
allowing
executives
to focus on
obtaining,
developing,
and
motivating
the people
who create
value.
From page 21
universal availabil- internal processes
ity of management for more flexibility
and information. What- and faster responses, and
ever advantages smallness creating alliances to access
by itself conferred have largely new skills and innovation.
been offset by the need to think, if For the past two decades, the
not to act, globally”. global economy has presented companies
Constant change meant that companies worldwide with unprecedented opportuni-
needed new and different organisational ties and challenges, and influenced by the
models. Peters lectured widely and taught to alliances, downsizing, re-engineering, early writers and proponents of change,
US managers that change will always and outsourcing for solutions. many companies responded with outsourc-
be with them, and that companies must When the need is to reduce costs and ing relationships.
constantly innovate to survive. Powell made increase management control over alloca-
the case that outsourcing, alliances, and tion of resources, Powell sees outsourcing
reengineering are logical responses to the as the rational response. But when world- The second article in this series, to be published
shortcomings of large, integrated firms that class skills and innovation are needed, in the next issue of Outsourcing, describes the
are unable to respond rapidly to competitive companies look for alliances and other col- influence of continuous change in IT on the
changes. laborative relationships that complement growing demand for outsourcing in the 1990s
He argued that hierarchy reduces worker existing capabilities and compensate for and traces the meteoric rise of offshore outsourc-
motivation, the desire for promotion makes shortages of needed skills and capabilities. ing in the first decade of the new century.
people avoid criticism of supervisors and When internal tasks are too slow and
other managers in the hierarchy, and the unresponsive, firms turn to reengineering, Dr Jones is a Professor of Management and a
fear of making a mistake stifles worker which entails rethinking and radically former senior executive at Compaq, NASDAQ,
initiative. Although large organisations reorganising business processes, reducing and McDonnell Douglas. He is recognised as a
may work well for repetitive, predictable management layers, and substituting leading outsourcing practitioner, advisor and
tasks, Powell contended that repetition leads information technology for labour. thought leader. He has written many articles,
to formalisation of rules and creates barriers Powell emphasised that increased compe- and he co-authored a book still recognised as
to open information flow. Therefore, the tition stimulates outsourcing of standardised one of the best outsourcing references. His book
lack of agility motivated companies to look tasks, redesigning and re-engineering was recently released in a Chinese edition.
Tholons:
Top 10 trends for 2009
The ripple of the global eco- kets as a means to hedge against “It’s an opportune time for the
nomic downturn continues to impact the volatility of existing offshore larger players to continue their
the foundation of the outsourcing contracts.” string of strategic, niche acquisi-
industry, both near and long-term, These shifts will significantly in- tions,” added Paul Santos, man-
advisory firm Tholons says. duce a high degree of consolidation aging director, Tholons Capital.
Service providers are experiencing ñsmaller and less efficient providers “In an increasingly competitive
impact of sluggish growth, decreased may face difficulties in tapping market, and improbable economic
margins and employee downsiz- “Buyers will new revenue streams and would state, the mantra of only the strong
ing. Service buyers are reducing IT need to be prone to acquisition or outright will survive has never been more
budget allocations but still under re-assess dissolution. relevant.”
tremendous pressure to reduce cost their
and survive. strategies
Despite this lingering cloud of and
uncertainty, Tholons maintains implement According to Tholons, the top 10 trends that will shape global
that the long-term demand for out- a better mix outsourcing in 2009:
sourcing remains intact. Decreasing of multi- 1. The market downturn will impact revenues during the first two to
margins will push providers to better sourcing, three quarters;
utilise existing resources, leverage near-shore 2. Focus on domestic market to increase;
operational levers, implement new and offshore 3. Global economic downturn will lead to increased outsourcing
technologies efficiently to differenti- models, in Healthcare, Education, Retail,Telecom and Legal Process
ate themselves and improve service
delivery processes.
while Outsourcing (LPO);
providers 4. Governments to take special initiatives in promoting destinations;
Clients, with reduced IT budgets 5. Clients will increase geographic diversity in their service delivery
would be more selective ñ demanding
will look to locations;
stringent SLAs, greater contractual
tap growing 6. Pricing pressures will result in reduced rates and new measures to
flexibility and output/result based domestic achieve cost savings and higher productivity;
payments. markets as 7. Consolidation imminent for small players – focus away from large
CEO Tholons Avinash Vashistha a means deals;
said: “Service buyers will need to to hedge 8. Outsourcing revival by 2009 end – driven by small to mid sized
re-assess their outsourcing strategies against the (SME) clients;
and implement a better mix of multi- volatility 9. Strong focus on innovation, R&D and technology adoption will be
sourcing, near-shore and offshore of existing key differentiators for providers;
models, while service providers will offshore 10. Sourcing deal sizes will increase for large clients.
look to tap growing domestic mar- contracts.”
Living in a
world of constraints
ABOVE ...
By Aditya Bhalla & to be to maintain the cash flow and Managers • ITO and BPO service providers
Shree Phadnis to focus on cost cutting. clearly have are being asked by their clients
Two trends seem to be emerging to learn to to find ways to improve their
The economic downturn and from this turmoil: perform in a productivity levels within the
the fate of some fairly large organi- • Management at large MNCs world with same constraints.
sations have cast a shadow on the (the outsourcers) is demand- higher level
world of outsourcing as well. ing evidence based on cred- of constraints Both the above scenarios are
Management across the board ible benchmarks to help them than opportunities for service providers
has become extremely cautious decide whether to outsource or experienced to demonstrate their mettle.
when it comes to any new invest- to perform the same function earlier. Managers very clearly have to
ments. The current mantra seems in-house. learn to perform in a world with
By Atul
Vashistha
ivin g
Surv e
th n
w n tur
do
This recession has been a the demand, risks and opportunities eager to unchain their key execu-
burden to thousands of companies related to globalisation and spending tives from routine tasks, in order to
in the West who are struggling to patterns. In a survey conducted with capitalise on their innate potential
survive. With sales plunging and 57 C-level respondents, including by outsourcing standard, yet much
revenues and profits dropping faster Vice Presidents, Directors and Global needed requirements.
than ever, this has meant closure for Heads of Offshoring programmes; This is a newer trend that is emerg-
a number of firms. 2008 in particu- some salient key points emerged ing globally and one that makes
lar was a hard year for economies that shed light on the direction outsourcing seem even more impor-
around the world and the economic and pattern that outsourcing will tant and cost efficient. Better resource
downturn has forced major players be taking over the next couple of management, more products at the
to reassess their growth, costs and months. same cost, efficient customer service
profit margins. Both the big players and emerging at minimum dollar; all this makes
As before, during such times, a contenders are even keener on the outsourcing continue to be a viable
number of companies have turned overused catch phrase – budget. “Organisations and profitable option.
their attention to outsourcing in Most organisations have kept New contenders are emerging as
their search for bigger savings. The their non-discretionary budgets
have also companies struggle to balance shrink-
question that’s now being asked is; untouched, but are closely monitor-
realised ing budgets with rising outsourcing
what will the impact of this economic ing their discretionary spending the need to fees. India for example, has witnessed
downturn have on outsourcing as they experience an increasing capitalise an increase in costs related to real
budgets and how deep will it effect pressure on growth and reduction on the estate and infrastructure, coupled
the current outsourcing that most on margins. multilingual with salary inflation to the tune of
players have in place? And with the big layoffs that 2008 options a staggering 12%-15% – making it
Recently, neoIT and Goldman saw, can one expect to see bigger newer less attractive as a destination for
Sachs partnered to develop the outsourcing deals in 2009? While a emerging cheaper outsourcing labour. This has
Global Services Confidence Index lot of companies have been forced geographies been tempered by the downturn.
(GSCI), to provide an indication as to to downsize, an equal number are offer.” Yet, the outsourcing spend for
New contenders
are emerging as
companies struggle
to balance shrinking
budgets with rising
outsourcing fees.
the first six months of this year is Under pressure West continues to grow. Similarly, for outsourcing; and seeking to
expected to remain the same with no … Most corporations are spending a sizeable reap maximum additional benefits
great leaps that 2008 saw continue organisations amount of their budgets in Eastern such as a dual language deal that
into the new year. As organisations have kept their Europe as they continue to fulfill the workers in these countries can offer.
continue to be under pressure to cut non-discretionary language requirements of European Investment in these new regions
costs, a new and significant trend budgets markets. could free up hundreds of millions
will emerge as companies leverage untouched, China is vying for position as a in cash flow annually. And smart
near shore destinations such as Latin but are closely dominant contender in the play- use of offshoring can step up the
America and Eastern Europe. monitoring their ing field and one can expect to performance of current players on
Companies seeking to realign discretionary witness an increase in companies the market.
their spending will do so more in spending as moving towards China, despite the In the end however, the ones that
ADM and BPO and infrastructure they experience current political and intellectual emerge winners will be eventually be
spending may likely remain the an increasing concerns. Will stringent contracts those companies that are adept at
same level of onsite-offshore spend pressure on and implementation of stricter se- maximising the benefits outsourcing
rate. Manufacturers and tech growth and curity codes address these concerns? offers, while minimising the risks
companies will continue to learn to reduction on That remains to be seen. and costs involved to the betterment
capitalise on global talent pools, to margins. In addition, many American in- of themselves, their workers and the
increase products at a rush rate and vestors are reaching out to nearshore industry.
lower costs. destinations such as Canada and
Organisations have also realised Mexico as a cheaper alternative,
the need to capitalise on the mul- and one that fulfils the growing Atul Vashistha is Founder & CEO of
tilingual options newer emerging time-zone and language require- NeoGroup, a firm focused on providing
geographies offer. Latin America ments. outsourced programme management
can provide the Spanish and Portu- As companies work out the and governance. He is also Chairman
guese support that is much needed smaller details, they are now looking of neoIT, a leading global services
as the Hispanic population in the to question actively their own need management consultancy.
Putting
flexibility
into the
mix
be reflected according to the higher Better chances electricity network to deliver a lower takes an active role to pursue a
efforts in the various resource catego- … A successful cost service based on economy of selection of complementary organi-
ries; and Usage-Based scale. In the IT industry, although sations to share such usage-based
3. It to be customer-centric and Outsourcing the specific usage behaviour of a services.
not IT service-centric as the service Model is possible single department within an organi-
element needs to be aligned to the only if it is based sation is unpredictable, the overall How?
business process and criticality. on a commercially enterprise consumption is known The Usage-Based Outsourcing
A simple way to understand the mutually and can be anticipated due to the Model is deployed through a flexible
usage-based model is to compare this beneficial large number of potential users. pricing structure (refer to Figure 1)
against our electricity utility model arrangement Therefore the workload balance with an agreed and specified service
at our private household. It is based between the within an enterprise among various definition. The outsourcing vendor
on a simple usage-based model with outsourcing business units should translate to would need to ensure delivery of
a metering system through an entry vendor and a lower risk usage-based model. If the required service within the
point for account monitoring and customer. some of the non-core or support func- boundaries of a certain usage ca-
charging purposes. You may use tions can be shared among multiple pacity according to the anticipated
the electricity as you desire based on organisations it will further acceler- consumption for each of the services
pre-defined technical specifications ate the cost efficiency measure. provided.
– in this case kW per hour. While this is not a novel idea, the In most cases, in order to ensure
This concept works because it is security and competitive barrier is long-term commercial viability,
based on a standard pre-specification hard to overcome for most organisa-
of utility services through a common tions unless the outsourcing vendor CONTINUE PG 32
Accurate
measurement
… the service
element
identified must
From page 31 be measurable,
consistent,
there will be a base or basic charge granular,
on a periodic basis (such as monthly) complete and for
for fixed cost incurred for a mini- periodic review
mum level of service. Additional or enforcement
services used will then be charged by technical or
accordingly based on consumption administrative
on a periodic basis (either monthly staff.
or quarterly in some cases to reduce
administration cost as agreed by
parties involved).
S er v ic e U s a g e U ppe r
B a nd w idt h
S er v ic e
B a s elin e
L o we r
B a nd w idt h
T im e
Figure 1 Usage-Based Service Model
Definitions: or standardisation process, required
Service Baseline = The quality of service element or level of services complexity of governance structure,
provided expected growth pattern and alloca-
Service Usage = The quantity of service element used tion between fixed versus variable
Lower Bandwidth = The area of allowed consumption below the costs (this will determine the level
service baseline of risk undertaken which leads to
Upper bandwidth = The area of allowed consumption above the pricing competitiveness).
service baseline In summary, the Usage-Based
Outsourcing Model definitely of-
fers greater degree of flexibility for
A successful Usage-Based Out- clear (and not a complex math- an organisation that is trying to
sourcing Model is possible only ematical formula which may lead manage their IT operating cost
while inheriting ability to scale the
if it is based on a commercially
mutually beneficial arrangement
to dispute, misinterpretation or
become expensive to manage) for
“The required level of services when there
between the outsourcing vendor periodic review or enforcement by flexibility is an increase or decrease of such
and customer. Both parties need to technical or administrative staff. gives the service requirement.
work in partnership to standardise
the service elements to enable better
The pricing flexibility can be
built on different levels of pricing
management This notion of variable cost
management indeed is very attrac-
forecasting of the required invest- for each identified service element ability to tive from a commercial perspective.
ment or disinvestment depending or for the amount used for each of scale the IT The key is to ensure a dependable
on the needs to reduce stranded cost the service elements. There is no services as outsourcing vendor for such a long
while maintaining a degree of flex-
ibility to the customer’s benefit.
best option as it is highly dependent
on the nature of relevant service
required, term mutually beneficial partner-
ship.
This also benefits the outsourcing elements in accordance to the nature which is
vendor by leveraging economy of industries. sensitive
of scale to reduce or divert spare However the degree of flexibil- to the CK Mah specialises in the area of
capacity for other commercial
consumption. The service element
ity depends on the service element
accepted by the customer, agreed
surrounding infrastructure outsourcing, applica-
tion outsourcing and business process
identified must be measurable, minimal level of services, types of economic outsourcing and has written numerous
consistent, granular, complete and assets transferred, speed of transition situation.” articles on these subjects.
Asian CIOs
it was predicted.
In its latest study, Manufacturing
Insights Asia/Pacific, an IDC com-
pany, forecasts that manufacturing
are more
IT spending will reach US$23.4 billion
in the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan
region (APEJ) in 2009. This represents
a Year-on-Year (YoY) growth of 2.9%
business-savvy
but a 7.3% drop compared to the
previous forecast published in May
2008.
Debashis Tarafdar, Associate
Research Director of Manufacturing
Insights Asia/Pacific says, “During
an economic downturn, manufactur-
Analysts from research firm Gartner ex- from September 2008 to December 2008. ers face the challenge to contain
pect chief information officers (CIOs) in Asia Seventy-one respondents were from coun- costs. Often, the response is to reduce
to play a more integral role in transforming tries in Asia, such as Hong Kong, India, workforce and outsource non-core
their companies’ business processes with Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand operations.
the use of IT this year, compared to their and the Philippines. “However, when the next growth
counterparts in North America. cycle starts, it is not always possible
Mark McDonald, group vice president Budget growth to ramp up the workforce quickly,
and head of research, Gartner executive The survey also showed that CIOs in Asia particularly where skilled labour is
programmes, said such a scenario would expect their IT budgets to grow this year, involved.”
likely occur due to the relatively compact despite challenging operating conditions. Tarafdar added: “Manufacturers
corporate hierarchies in Asia. Results from CIOs in Asia expect an IT budget increase need to think long-term and be stra-
a recent Gartner survey showed 54% of CIOs of 5.32%, compared to the global figure tegic about cost-cutting measures in
in Asia report directly to the chief execu- of 0.16%. order to survive this economic crisis.
tive officer (CEO), compared to just 38% CIOs will need to utilise their IT budgets Effective use of IT can in fact help
worldwide. Seventy-five per cent of CIOs in to restructure the organisation, McDonald reduce costs, and improve agility and
Asia also reported having responsibilities said. “Enterprises expect IT to contribute decision-making capability.
outside of IT. results in an uncertain economy. This is “This creates a platform for the
ìIn Asia, it’s not unlikely to find a CIO more true in Asia, where CIOs plan to existing workforce to be more produc-
who comes to the job from some other part allocate 24% of their budget to growing tive. It also enables collaboration
of the business,” said McDonald. “Executives the business and 20% to transforming the across the value chain, and connects
teams here have the tendency to know each business. “ outsourced facilities seamlessly with
other very well, and we find that CIOs in CIOs in Asia listed business process internal operations.”
Asia Pacific are much more business-savvy improvement, cutting enterprise costs and
than in North America,” said McDonald. improving enterprise workforce effectiveness
Gartner surveyed 1,527 CIOs worldwide, as their top business goals for the year.
M’sian services
The availability of affordable skilled
labour is expected to support this shift.
3. Cost savings to drive service-
oriented architecture
market to survive
Although companies are expected to tighten
their budgets in an economic downturn,
they will also look for services and solutions
that help to save costs. One such solution is
economic storm
Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), which
enables business process standardisation
across multiple clients at a lower price.
IDC predicts that 2009 is the year that
vendors will start to take notice of the vast
opportunities in the SOA market and step 6. Government to adopt Web 2.0 “Green IT” being promoted across Malaysia
in to educate customers about the long-term The government has always been an advo- to generate awareness of the concept and
benefits of SOA. cate of growth in the IT services industry in the benefits that it can bring. IDC believes
4. Increase in network consulting and Malaysia. In a financial crisis, the role of the that 2009 will finally be the year where
integration opportunities government as a growth catalyst becomes companies convert awareness into execu-
Vendors will have ample opportunities even more prominent. The government is tion.
in 2009 to strengthen their position in expected to be one of the largest spenders 9. Advantage for vendors with
the network consulting and integration of IT services in 2009. IDC sees Web 2.0 strong verticalisation strategy
services (NCIS) market. In addition to tax applications as a viable option for the Businesses have shown a marked preference
deductions, the government has committed government to adopt in 2009. for vendors that understand their business
to invest RM400 million (US$100 million) 7. SMBs to move back to traditional and can deliver solutions or services specific
to kick start the High-Speed Broadband ways to their business environments. CIOs prefer
(HSBB) project, targeted to increase the IDC predicts a trend in the smaller startups industry-specific solutions so that they can
nationwide broadband penetration rate to (typically less than 20 personnel) to revert to see the business benefits of investing in
50% of households by 2010. the traditional way of doing business by us- specific technologies and services.
Service providers are also upgrading their ing equipment, infrastructure, and services 10. Software as a Service to provide
infrastructure to meet the growing demand from a third-party outsourcing firm. opportunities
for larger bandwidth. Most SPs will continue These small and medium-sized busi- The concept of offering alternative delivery
to invest in the next-generation network nesses (SMBs) do not operate from an office, and deployment methods for software has
(NGN) in addition to the HSBB project. therefore requiring a PO Box address and a long-standing history.
5. Virtualisation will gain momentum professionally manned phones for busi- IDC predicts that Software as a Service
The benefits of virtualisation cannot be ness dealings. As business owners look to (SaaS) will make greater strides in Malay-
ignored in the era where time means money. downscale operations in a tight economy, sia in 2009 due to the changing market
The adoption of virtualisation technologies IDC sees this form of hosted business services dynamics.
is expected to gain traction as companies as an innovative solution that provides Trying times such as this will be a push
look for flexibility in their IT infrastructure attractive market opportunities for SPs. factor for organisations to adopt the SaaS
on top of the existing pressure to cut energy 8. Green IT to walk the walk model because of its low upfront cost com-
cost and maintain high ROIs. The past couple of years has seen the term pared with traditional licensing.
From page 29
can be done either by joining with
Make ITO a cost-saving tool other jurisdictions in building
Without new revenue, it’s often difficult out common IT infrastructure
to make government more cost effective. or by teaming up with another
Many public sector entities freeze their jurisdiction that has already made
technology in place the moment an the upfront investments in creating
economic downturn hits and keep shared services centers to handle
systems in place until revenues start non-mission critical functions
to improve. This is a major mistake. such as HR, payroll, financial
Consolidating and modernising an management and procurement/
IT infrastructure is often one of the contracting services.
easiest ways for governments to achieve Adopting a shared-services de-
large costs savings with a relatively livery model could reduce current
fast payback. operating costs between 20 to 40%,
One of the most cost-effective and free staff to focus on matters of
programmes governments can greater strategic significance.
implement is deploying Enterprise It also helps provide a new source
Resourcing Planning (ERP) software of revenue for the government that
across multiple functions — human layed — such as replacing desktop For countries that has already made the investment.
resources, finance, and procurement, computers — with more strategic experimented The same approach could be tried
to name a few — to drive efficien- investments. early with in partnership with private sector
cies, better manage the function, In many cases, however, these government entities. Governments can look for
get access to integrated data and kinds of investments will be difficult. outsourcing, new ways to team with commercial
eliminate the cost of maintaining Which brings us back to outsourcing. the demand firms in the building, owning and
duplicative legacy applications. Outsourcing IT projects is often the for outsourced operating of critical public assets,
Another approach that could most cost-effective way to modernise solutions including new transportation infra-
have an impact is to deploy Web- and upgrade an IT infrastructure continues to be structure, technology infrastructure
enabled tools to provide citizens — making the provider responsible strong and is and share in the proceeds of those
easy and more effective access to for both the upfront investment and growing. investments.
government services. This can help the upgrades. These are trying times for the
a government improve its services It provides an opportunity for public sector around the globe. The
while actually reducing its “head- governments to deploying new ap- depth of the economic crisis makes
count”. plications — and to make major it clear that governments cannot just
Do governments have the means efficiency improvements without hunker down and wait for the crisis
to make these kinds of technology adding to their staff. to pass, they must transform the
investments? New line items are way they deliver services. Whether
hard to come by in this economy, Explore other options, too through outsourcing or other in-
but managers that have a good If outsourcing is not an option, novative approaches, the time for
handle on their budgets should there are others. Collaboration experimentation is over, the time
be able to redeploy funds from with other governments and for action is now. – Source: Global
expensive projects that can be de- agencies is another option. This Services
By Dr ArLyne
Diamond
Leadership
Extraordinaire
We make distinctions between leading and
managing and often say leaders can manage
and managers should also learn how to be
leaders. But, what do we really mean by those
words? What is great leadership?
In my courses on Leadership and Or-
ganisational Behaviour, my MBA students
struggle with these terms, often describ-
ing leaders as “visionaries” and manag-
ers as “making sure the tasks get done.”
I recently read a definition of workplace
leadership as “the ability to build a team that
achieves sustained, long-term performance”.
(WJM Associates, Inc. – from their website)
I like this definition because it reminds me
of the incredibly effective and cooperative
team one of my CEOs built. Let me describe
it for you.
Coming from India, working together
in the same company, the more risk-taking
and visionary of the group decided to form a
company and he invited some of his friends
and colleagues to join him and become his
executive team. They did. Together they
formed a boutique high-tech company here in
Silicon Valley. Since I didn’t obtain permission
to write about them, I am going to disguise
some information and the names of the
executives.
Having consulted in many other compa-
nies, I am always interested in observing how
executive staff meetings are conducted. Most
of the time I find that the executives have had
their staff create sexy power-point presenta-
tions and that they talk at each other, rather
than with each other during those meetings.
Typically they don’t interfere with each other’s
Ready for offence “sandboxes” or “silos” – except if they are
… Leaders backstabbing, of course.
Extraordinaire Not so at this little boutique company
encourage the – which I will name Milpitas Tech just for this
disagreement article. When I attended the first staff meeting
– don’t allow – and many others after that I observed six men
attack – and bring (no women, I’m embarrassed to report) come
out the best from into the room as equals with a common goal of
all their team doing what was best for the entire company.
members. Under the leadership of their warm, person-
able and friendly CEO, who I am naming Joe
for convenience, this group actually talked with
each other, problem solved together, helped
each other make departmental decisions, and
although they were careful not to step on each
other’s toes, they never hesitated to make sug-
gestions for improvement. Indeed, one of my
tasks with them was to collaborate with some
of their executives to improve processes.
As they grew they looked for an they learn, they synthesise. Great
infusion of money. The venture leaders know they must listen to
capital community made offers
– but these offers included wanting
“Great leadership their other executives, but ultimately
make their own decisions. Ronald
to replace some of the executives, includes the ability to Reagan was this sort of leader and
especially Joe, the CEO with “profes- create trust and safety Harry Truman gave us the phrase,
sional management”. Because of
how powerfully positive the team among those you lead “The buck stops here.”
When I work with CEOs, Ex-
was under Joe’s leadership, I advised so that they can talk ecutive Directors of Boards and
him to hold out and not leave the
team. He agreed. freely with each other Associations, and managers at
all levels, I stress the importance
Some time later they received an without posturing and of developing a relationship that
offer they couldn’t refuse – money
was great, integration with another showing off.” encourages mutual support, respect,
honesty and cooperation. Hiring
company had marvelous potential well, developing teams that really
and best of all the team was respected respect each other and don’t get
as a team and left in place. defensive or on the attack, and lead-
I really believe that great leader- ing those teams through example
ship includes the ability to create are significant contributors to the
trust and safety among those you companies reputation, value and
lead so that they can talk freely of course, bottom line.
with each other without posturing Leaders Extraordinaire are men
and showing off. The executive and women who deeply care about
team members should not be in other people as well as their visions
competition – or conflict – with each and desire for success within their
other, although disagreement due to companies. Are you one?
different needs and points of view
should be encouraged. Dr ArLyne Diamond is an Organi-
Leaders Extraordinaire encour- sational Development and Human
age the disagreement – don’t allow Resource Consultant with over 30
attack – and bring out the best from years. She can be contacted at www.
all their team members. They lead, diamondassociates.net
Maxis rings
a vital part of our efforts to propel
Maxis to the next threshold of pro-
viding future-ready and reliable
services that will bring tangible
benefits to our subscribers.”
up IBM
Under the agreement, IBM will
support Maxis’ transformation
of key business processes over All smiles
the next five years, including – Ou Shian
customer relationship manage- Waei, IBM
for 5-year
ment, service delivery platform Malaysia’s
to support value-added and data Managing
services, business intelligence and Director
dealer management. (left) and
In addition, Maxis and IBM Sandip
IT deal
will also jointly engage in in- Das after
novation projects with a focus sealing the
on extending existing business deal.
capabilities to address new market
opportunities and drive business
process innovation to achieve new
benchmarks in service quality.
Sealing
the deal ...
From left:
Lin, Loo,
Badlisham
and Ng.
Hike
in SAP
software
revenue in
Malaysia
SAP Asia Pacific Japan
(SAP APJ) announced it
had outperformed the
business market across
the region last year.The
company remains SAP
AG’s fastest-growing
region with a 23%
Sun Microsystems,
software revenue
growth to 594 million
euros.
While software
revenue in South East
MDeC to develop
Asia grew by 20% last
year, Malaysia’s revenue
increased by 24%.
“The steady growth
shown by SAP across
talent pool
the region and in
Malaysia demonstrates
the pull of our
products, especially
in the current trying
economic conditions,”
SUN Microsystems Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Sun) recently of open source software adoption in the country. said SAP Malaysia
signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) “Under this MoU, students will gain relevant managing director
with the Multimedia Development Corporation IT skills and improve their employability, whilst Krish Datta in a
(MDeC) to train university graduates in Sun Learn- the global IT industry will have access to a pool statement.
ing and Certification solutions. of trained manpower on emerging technologies,” At the same time,
The alliance will see Sun providing course said MDeC chief operating officer Datuk Badlisham software and software-
materials for Java EE, Java SE, Java ME, MySQL and Ghazali. related services
OpenSolaris, with the relevant certification frame- “Sun is committed to helping the next generation revenue grew at 24%
work as well as training sessions for graduates. of entrepreneurs spur innovation through the to 1.192 billion euros.
Successful candidates will also have the op- transformative power of open source technologies,” In South East Asia,
portunity to do a three-month apprenticeship at said Sun Malaysia’s managing director, CP Loo. it grew by 19% while
MSC Malaysia Status companies. Also present at the signing ceremony were MDeC the revenue in Malaysia
This collaboration is in support of the govern- vice-president (Capacity Development Division) Ng increased by 18%
ment’s initiative to develop a pool of talented and Wan Peng and Sun Microsystems vice-president in the financial year
skilled engineers to meet the increasing proliferation (Global Communities) Lin Lee. ended 2008.
Kiwi agents
stage hunger
strike
Up to 20 agents at a market
research companyís contact
centre in Auckland went
on a 24-hour hunger strike
in protest over wages and
conditions.
Around 110 workers
are based at the site where
wages are said to be as
low as US$12.50 per hour,
compared with US$21.72 an
hour made by their Australian
counterparts.Trade union
Unite is demanding pay of
US$17 per hour for full timers
and US$15 an hour for part
time staff.
It is also asking for its
members to be paid for shifts
cancelled at short notice, five
minutes break for each hour
worked, and guaranteed hours
for long-serving staff.
Brisbane CC
staff reveal
strange calls Some more un
o
usual calls includ
w w ha t de pa
• “I doI’vn’etfoknund an ant in my house.”
think
ed:
rtment to call bu
tI
Brisbane City Council’s contact fully to pump it out and wanted the
centre staff have revealed some of the council to try.
say she wante d the air
to
more unusual calls fielded among Another caller made a complaint
that swooping birds had made her
• A itlaydyin her street tested, as the ees were
w ho ra ng tr
the 1.6 million phone enquiries qual ade of green.
they receive each year, Australia’s cat a nervous wreck. “I’ve had to not the right sh
Courier-Mail reported. take time off work to be with my cat
One distressed caller rang for the to protect her. I have a lawyer and I
plained about the noisy
m
council to help find his lost clothes want to sue!” she said. • A cas he feared could damage hearing.
ller w ho co his
peg. He said he always hung wash- Brisbane mayor Campbell cicada
ing with matching pegs and losing Newman said the council’s contact
about the tree
up to complaiinng leaves. He
the red one meant he no longer had centre staff won awards for prompt
a colour-matched set. handling of serious issues, and prob- • A mdeanhiras ng
property drri opp
Another woman lost A$200 ably deserved awards for keeping a outsi
at it w as litte ng and someone
stuffed in her bra down the toilet. straight face on the not-so-serious advised th
.
Her husband had tried unsuccess- issues as well. should be fined
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-3# -ALAYSIA n "EST OF !LL 7ORLDS
s 3TRATEGICALLY LOCATED GATEWAY TO THE !SIA 0ACIlC REGION
s )NDUSTRY DOMAIN EXPERTISE n &INANCE %NERGY 3UPPLY #HAIN %LECTRONICS AND 2ETAIL
s 3TRONG EMPHASIS ON HIGHER VALUE ACTIVITIES n 2$ )4 %NGINEERING 3OFTWARE $EVELOPMENT AND &INANCIAL 3ERVICES
s 7ORLDS THIRD MOST ATTRACTIVE LOCATION FOR 33/ n !4 +EARNEY BASED ON PEOPLE SKILLS lNANCIAL STRUCTURE AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
9OUR ONE STOP SUPER SHOP TO -3# -ALAYSIA