www.the-outsourcing.

com RM12, S$8, US$8

KDN NO: PP14967/02/2011 (029501)

MICA (P) 140/07/2009 ISSUE #18, 2010

PREMIER MAGAZINE ON BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY SERVICES INDUSTRY

I S S N 1985-1006

Enabling business transformation

through outsourcing practices:

An interview
with CIO of MAS

Sustaining Assign best Picking

virtuous circle people for the mind
of metrics Globalisation of service
framework initiatives buyers
 Malaysian Investment
Development Authority

Malaysian Investment Development Authority

Ad-MIDA.indd 2 5/31/10 7:05:09 PM

 22
CONTENTS
8 Euro bloc will remain major ITO
market: Nasscom

12 An interview with CIO of MAS:

Faridah Abdul Rahman

16 Picking the mind of service

buyers

Sustaining virtuous circle of

20
metrics framework

Assign best people for

22
Globalisation initiatives

38
Establishing safety in 8
workplace

Roaring success at CDP

40
Roadshow

38

16

40

20
3-advert-goldenHorse.indd 1 6/2/10 4:04:42 PM
 editor’s note
sri@wordlabs.com.my

www.the-outsourcing.com RM12, S$8, US$8

KDN NO: PP14967/02/2011 (029501)

MICA (P) 140/07/2009 ISSUE #18, 2010

PREMIER MAGAZINE ON BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY SERVICES INDUSTRY

I S S N 1985- 1006

Enabling business transformation

through outsourcing practices:

An interview
with CIO of MAS

Sustaining Assign best Picking

virtuous circle people for the mind
of metrics Globalisation of service
framework initiatives buyers
“If you deprive yourself of outsourcing and your competitors do not,
you’re putting yourself out of business.”
– Lee Kuan Yew (Ex-Prime Minister, Singapore)
theteam
In this edition, we train our focus on Chief Information Officer
of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Faridah Abdul Rahman, who
FOUNDER / MaNagiNg EDitOR shares with us the reasons behind her company’s continued
Sritharan VellaSamy trust and optimism with outsourcing.
When MAS embarked on IT outsourcing back in 2003, the
CONsUltaNt big target was to transform into a more service-orientated
Sundra Surian organisation with better end-to-end processes – not just to
cut costs.
Outsourcing has also paved the way for Faridah’s Group IT
department to spend more time towards business enablement
instead of being just a support entity.
editorial editorial@wordlabs.com.my Faridah, who joined the company some 25 years ago,
says the cost savings were achieved over time as the Group
sUb EDitOR Simon Vella IT department matured through the projects.
jOURNalist Julia Hoo Today, MAS boasts better understanding on relevant cost
drivers and whether certain costs are necessary to support or
aRt DiRECtOR Steven CHoo enable the business.
gRaphiC aRtist Shafie oSman Recently the airlines inked a five-year outsourcing contract
CONtRibUtORs Tamyne menon with TATA Consultancy Services (TCS) for end-to-end IT
Dorothy llew, mohd arSHaD infrastructure services.
The engagement was in line with MAS’ Business
Transformation Plan (BTP2) to align the role of IT to the
airline’s P&L (Profit & Loss). One of the key initiatives includes
sales sales@wordlabs.com.my fine-tuning its IT outsourcing strategy to deliver the required
business results at lower cost.
Vikraman ViSno During the interview, the CIO also delved on the factors
amol .a. KarKHaniS she considers in evaluating vendor capabilities.
resh naTHen The Cover Story is part of our continuous efforts to infuse
more of “buyer perspectives” in the overall content of this
publication.
Meanwhile, in another related article – “Picking the brain
of service buyers” – regular columnist Jerry Durant explains
contact admin@wordlabs.com.my why an organisation’s readiness is an important component
to the success of outsourcing engagements.
The main drivers of outsourcing initiatives must be able to
manage the organisational change, he writes.
Naturally, people’s reaction to change can be unpredictable
and irrational.
He notes that, somehow, change is difficult even when it’s
considered essential to a business. This is because it requires
someone to move from a comfort zone, albeit marginally
productive, into an arena of uncertainty, but one that has a
worDlabs meDia (001645509-W) strong success potential. – Sritharan Vellasamy
27-1, Metro Centre, Jalan 3/146,
Bandar Tasik Selatan,
57000 Kuala Lumpur;
Phone: +603 9056 4770, 9058 0971;
Fax: +603 9056 4771, 9058 0972
3(CIMA-Ad).indd 1 10/20/08 12:43:11 PM
Outsourcing | news bits

Cisco, MDeC Malaysia’s outsourcing

join hands
Cisco Malaysia, the
Multimedia Development
Corporation (MDeC) and
University Malaya are
working together on a unique
undergraduate internship
programme, the Cisco Industrial
Training Programme (CiTP).
“The programme will identify,
develop and prepare skilled
information and communication
technology (ICT) networking
specialists for small and medium
sized enterprises (SMEs),” said
Anne Abraham, Managing
Director of Cisco Malaysia.
She highlighted that SMEs
industry set to soar Malaysia’s outsourcing
industry is expected to grow be-
tween 15% and 20% this year, as
more companies outsource their
services to remain competitive.
However, to remain competitive
in the outsourcing market in the
future, Malaysia will have to focus
on segments where it can have an
“I foresee edge, such as the mid-layer seg-
good ment, says Interactive Intelligence
growth Inc’s regional sales director (Asean),
in the David Toh Yue Heng.
 
 Toh said the government and
outsourcing “I foresee good growth in the
industry outsourcing industry because it
and Tamil, and some even speak
Japanese and Korean,” he said.
 

Asked whether Malaysia was
prepared to become a contact
centre hub in the future, Toh said
Malaysia has “all the ingredients
to become a successful hub”.
Among them were skilled workers,
resources and infrastructure as
well as reasonable costs, he said.
“Hence, with all the ingredients, it
is possible,” he added.
     

the people in the industry should
work hand-in-hand to achieve

are the heartbeat of the

nation’s economy, constituting
over 90% of businesses and
accommodating 65% of the
total workforce in the country.
“This market segment is also
expected to contribute 37%
to Malaysia’s gross domestic
because helps to drive down cost,” Toh told
Bernama. 

their aims and attract external
markets. Among the key areas
it helps to According to Toh, Malaysia’s ad- that Malaysia could focus were
drive down vantage is its multilingual talents. the government sector, and the
cost.” “We can speak multiple language inbound and outbound markets,
– David Toh apart from English, Malay, Chinese he said.

Outsource halal products

income by year-end, making
it significant to local economic
growth,” she said in her speech
at the launch of the programme
on May 20.
According to Abraham,
the success of the CiTP
will determine the scale of
implementation moving forward.
“Eventually, our ambition
is to take it further, widen
opportunities and establish it
as an ideal model, not only for
our peers in the ICT sector, but
across industries in the market.
“The programme, currently
in its pilot phase, will kick-off
with a target of 35 selected
undergraduates from the Faculty
of Computer Science, University
Malaya. They will be assigned to
designated SME’s,” she said.
manufacturing, Brunei urged
Brunei’s halal drive is headed in
the right direction, a top executive of the
Malaysian agency coordinating all halal
initiatives told The Brunei Times, citing the Sul-
tanate’s decision to focus on strict certification
and standards and outsourcing production
overseas.
Dato’ Seri Jamil Bidin, chief executive and
managing director of Malaysia’s Halal In-
dustry Development Corp (HDC), said Brunei
may not have much natural resources, but it
has a lot of capabilities in terms of financial
resources. “You don’t really need to produce the
products in your own country,” Jamil said.
“Go to countries, which have a lot of
resources. For example, Brunei buying a farm
in Australia, and through this collaboration,
you can work with people in those countries
to produce halal products.”
He added that Brunei can have ownership
of its halal brand, but the product can be
produced elsewhere and that is the strategy
some countries in the Middle East has adopted
because of their desert climate. “I think it’s a
correct strategy because certain countries have
a lot of natural resources, like Australia’s cattle
and Thailand’s food products.”
Ghanim International Food Corp Sdn Bhd,
the Bruneian firm tasked to market Brunei
Halal Brand goods, had said goods under
the brand were not only manufactured lo-
cally but also from regional and international
manufacturers in countries including China,
Malaysia and Spain.

Grants worth RM1m up for grabs at MSC Malaysia challenge

The Malaysian content
development scene continues to
grow at a rapid pace, thanks to the
MSC Malaysia Intellectual Property
Creators Challenge (MSC Malaysia
IPCC) Series.
The competition is organised
by the Multimedia Development
Corporation (MDeC) and
offers winners, an opportunity
Wan Peng … ‘MDeC to showcase creations and
helping Malaysian commercialise their works, on an
content creators international level.
move to the next Participants may compete in
level.’ any of the four categories in this
annual event — Animation, Casual
Games, Digital Interactive Comic,
and Mobile Games. Prizes in the
form of RM1 million in grants are
up for grabs.
Each winner will receive an
RM50,000 grant in all categories,
except for the Digital Interactive
Comic competition where it is an
RM20,000 grant.
The winners of the MSC
Malaysia IPCC 2010 will also
receive mentorship from industry
players and be given access to
development facilities at the MSC
Malaysia Animation and Creative
Content Centre (Mac3).
“This is important, as it is a rare
opportunity, in a market that is
crowded and very competitive.
“Through this initiative as well
as MDeC’s reach and ability, we
are able to help Malaysian content
creators move to the next level,”
said its COO, Ng Wan Peng at the
competition briefing on May 10.
The closing date for the
submission of entries is July 1.
It must be made online at www.
mscmalaysia.my/ipcc.

6 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010

Adv-(gplaces).indd 20 5/31/10 4:10:01 PM
Outsourcing | news bits

Manpower Vietnam expands Euro bloc will remain

India’s major market:
Techcombank deal
Manpower Vietnam has expanded its
agreement with Techcombank to provide

Nasscom
recruitment process outsourcing services to
help the company meet growth and expansion
strategy targets.

Techcombank was faced with recruiting
1,500 people and establishing a constant
pipeline of new candidates to meet its projected
growth plan against the backdrop of a highly
competitive market and no available internal
resources for recruitment, onboarding and
development of staff.
The two-year contract sees Manpower
manage Techcombank’s complete recruitment
and hiring processes, from job profiling to
onboarding as well as helping Techcombank
ensure that required staffing levels are achieved,
performance levels of all permanent hires exceed
requirements, and sales targets are met.
Asia e University partners
with KellyOCG
Kelly Outsourcing and Consulting
(KellyOCG) and Asia e University (AeU) signed a
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on May 24, for
a partnership that leverages on the reputation and
reach of a multinational university and the expertise
of the global corporation to bring the first Global
Professional Human Resource (GPHR) course to
Malaysia.
Estimated to run four times a year, this
programme is approved for claims under the HR
development fund given by Pembangunan Sumber
Manusia Berhad (PSMB) and licensed by the
Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM),
the world’s largest HR professional association.
“This collaboration with Asia e University is
instrumental in our on-going commitment to the
development of HR professionals in the markets
which we serve,” said George Corona, Executive
Vice President & COO of Kelly Services Inc.
Work starts on new
Baguio BPO campus
Work has started on a new IT and contact
centre development at Baguio City in the north
of the Philippines.
The Baguio-AyalaLand TechnoHub is
envisioned to be an integrated IT community
consisting of five to seven low-rise buildings in
the Camp John Hay Special Economic Zone.
The office campus development is designed
to address the requirements of BPO and
IT-Enabled Services.
The Business Processing Association of the
Philippines (BPAP) has placed Baguio City as
part of its top 10 Next Wave Cities. The area has
14 colleges and universities producing about
22,000 graduates per year, which together
with the city’s available infrastructure and cost
competitiveness add to its attractiveness as a
BPO destination.
Upon completion, the development is
expected to generate more than 20,000 jobs
from the BPO offices, retail establishments and
support maintenance services.
I
ndian IT industry’s rev-
enue from Germany, Austria and
Switzerland could increase four
fold to US$10 billion by 2020,
as potential clients mull nearshore
and offshore options to overcome
cost pressures and resource crunch, a
report by Nasscom said.
Large Indian tech vendors such as
TCS and Infosys currently offer appli-
cation development, infrastructure ser-
vices, engineering services, production
support, and BPO services to clients in
the region, although Indian industry’s
total revenue from this market has
been less than US$2.6 billion.
Business Line newspaper reported
that TCS, for instance, serves 65 Ger-
man and Austrian companies. Some
of its large clients include Daimler,
Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Börse, SAP,
and Commerzbank. Conversely,
German majors such as SAP have
leveraged Indian skills by setting-up
R&D and global services and support
units in India. SAP Labs India employs
over 4,000 professionals with centres
in Bangalore and Gurgaon.
“The Germanic nations are facing
acute talent shortages in the knowledge
based sectors like IT and engineering
services. India is a natural partner,
with a large technically qualified
talent base, global experience and
lower cost.
“The current European uncertain-
ties are short term in nature and we
are confident that the European bloc
as a whole will continue to be one
Mahindra Satyam BPO extends
deal with GlaxoSmithKline
Mahindra Satyam, a consult-
ing and IT services provider, said its
BPO arm Mahindra Satyam BPO
has renewed its existing contract for
a further period of five years with
GlaxoSmithKline, a research-based
pharmaceutical and healthcare
company.
Mahindra Satyam BPO currently
provides high-end artwork and de-
sign services to the pharmaceutical
company. The Regional Service Center
(RSC) at Mahindra Satyam BPO will
provide creative logo, production and
promotional graphic artwork services
to a global customer base of GSK.
Vijay Rangineni, CEO of Mahindra
Satyam BPO, said: “This contract
City of Frankfurt … Germany purchases
over US$36 billion worth of IT services
every year.
of the largest markets for the Indian
IT and BPO industry,” the Nasscom
President, Som Mittal, said.
The IT services market in the Ger-
manic countries is estimated to be
US$100 billion, of which US$46 billion
is purchased (that is outsourcing and
offshoring). Close to US$5.6 billion
worth of services are offshored, almost
US$1.4 billion goes to India.
Germany is the largest IT market
in the pack, purchasing over US$36
billion worth of IT services, followed
by Switzerland (US$7 billion)and
Austria (US$3 billion).
renewal is a reaffirmation of the
faith placed by GSK in Mahindra
Satyam BPO. Our focus on high-end
services and our ability to leverage
knowledge of the customer’s business
have enabled us to offer services
that are at the core of the customer
organisation.
“Mahindra Satyam BPO provides
GSK with a fully integrated cost ef-
fective scalable model within the
high-end Artwork and Design services
space.”
Mahindra Satyam BPO serves over
100 countries and manages Design
and Artwork Shared Services, Supply
Chain Management and Logistics
Support.

8 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010

 www.simedarbyhealthcare.com

Adv-(SimeDarby).indd 20 5/31/10 4:14:21 PM

Outsourcing | news bits

Ayala’s Integreon clinches

US$852M legal deal
integreon, a unit of conglomerate
Ayala Corp. has bagged a 10-year contract
worth US$852 million to provide middle
office services to UK-based law firm, CMS
Cameron Mckenna LLP.
Integreon, which provides research,
legal and professsional business solutions,
is majority owned by Livelt, Ayala Corp.’s
business process outsourcing holding
company.
Ayala Corp. and CMS McKenna said
in a joint statement on May 18 that
the contract is considered as the largest
outsourcing agreement in the legal in-
dustry.
CMS Cameron McKenna said that tap-
ping Integreon will allow it to focus on its
core competencies, which include providing
high-end legal and tax services to an
expanding client base.
“With a broad and integrated services
portfolio, Integreon will meet our needs
as a rapidly growing firm,” said Duncan
Eston, managing partner for CMS Cameron
McKenna.
Integreon has about 2,000 associates
operating in North America, Europe, Asia
and Africa. Its services also include market
and competitive intelligence, discovery and
legal process outsourcing.

Energizer mulls Xerox’s ACS division to

bpo facility
the company that manufactures Eveready
and Energizer batteries is considering putting up
its own business process outsourcing (BPO) facility
in the Philippines.
Energizer Philippines president and managing
director Esteban Vorbeck said support for Ener-
gizer’s United States customers were currently being
performed out of Manila, through third-party
service providers.
With more and more locals performing regional
roles for the company, Vorbeck said it made sense
for Energizer to put up its own BPO facility, the first
ever for the multinational firm.
“We’re looking at the Philippine BPO sector.
We’re thinking of possibly setting up our own
facility,” he told Philippine Daily Inquirer. “We have
a number of roles here that are being performed
for the region. We’re looking at the Philippines
as a support or back-office organisation. We
hope to align the growth of our business
with something that’s already been
proven.”
Should the BPO plan push
through, the facility would be
located in the Metro Manila,
he said.
However, he also did not
discount Cebu, since the
company’s manufacturing
facility was located there.
The BPO centre, he said,
could handle logistics, finance
and marketing and would
promote the Philippines as a
back support office.
buy over HP unit
affiliated coMputer ServiceS,
now a division of Xerox corp, said
recently it has agreed to buy a business
unit from hewlett-packard co. for
uS$125 million.
the excelleratehro llp unit, which
helps companies manage their pension
programs and other employee benefits,
was originally owned by one of acS’s old
rivals, plano-based edS.
edS was purchased in 2008 by hp. hp
according to a release, the
transaction is expected to close following
the conclusion of the customary closing
conditions. the transaction will also be
the first acquisition by ACS since it was
acquired by Xerox in February this year.
“This acquisition clearly demonstrates
Xerox’s commitment to invest in human
resources services that will ultimately
nokia to resume assembly outsourcing this year
Mobile phone Manufacturer
nokia will restart the use of outsourcing
in assembly this year as phone market
recovers.
nokia last year stopped all assembly
outsourcing, while in 2008 it outsourced
around 17% of manufacturing volume of
cellphones.
“last year, the situation was
completely different, meaning to some
benefit all our clients,” said Ann Vezina,
acS executive vice president and
group president, acS human resource
Services.
“This acquisition, coupled with our
increasing investments in new products
and services, broadens acS’ customer
base, strengthens our capabilities and
consistency to an expanding sector.”
“This acquisition will accelerate
the pace of an unprecedented level of
product and service innovation for clients
seeking consistent service in a rapidly
evolving human resources market,”
said rohail Khan, executive managing
director, acS.
“this transaction also features the
inclusion of a leadership team that will
provide additional deep domain expertise
to our growing delivery platform.”
extent ... we can (this year) outsource
work to external parties,” nokia
spokeswoman eija-riitta huovinen told
reuters.
“our own network is still the priority,”
huovinen said, adding typically such
outsourcing was related to seasonality.
handset market volumes are expected
to grow 10% or more this year after
contracting last year amid recession.

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10 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010

MDEC-ad(out15).indd 1 11/17/09 2:28:29 PM
Outsourcing | Cover Story

An interview
with CIO of MAS

Faridah Abdul Rahman explains

how outsourcing practices have
helped the national airlines
to concentrate more on the
business end of things

A
significant issue to have emerged for many global organisations in the recent
years has been the rising relevance of outsourcing to their business. The drive
for greater efficiencies and cost reductions has motivated many organisations
to only specialise in a limited number of core business areas – and outsource the
rest to capable and cutting-edge vendors.
Malaysia Airlines’ Chief Information Officer (CIO) Faridah Abdul Rahman recently sat
down for a one-on-one interview with Sritharan vellasamy
v to answer questions with
regards to her opinions and perspectives on outsourcing and how it has helped MAS provide
exceptional services and solutions to its clients.

12 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010


Is there a single work matter that
can keep you awake at night?
The impact of business disruption
caused by prolonged IT systems
downtime for an airline can be very
costly. This is because we use a num-
ber of key applications enterprise-
wide that is supported by multiple
vendors.
Just one hour of unplanned
downtime can translate to 20-30
minutes of flight delay causing a
chain reaction of events affecting
passengers, stations and codeshare
partners.
MAS’ Group IT used to be seen
as a supporting entity but now we are
seen as an enabler in business.
So preparation is key. However,
just like the recent Icelandic volcano
ash incident proved, certain vari-
ables are uncontrollable.
From an IT perspective, how has
MAS evolved over the years in
providing the best services for its
customers?
IT in MAS used to be seen as a sup-
porting entity but now it is seen as
an enabler in business. This is in line
with our focus to Save Money, Make
Money, Serve Customer (SMS).
There is an increased appre-
ciation, support and compliance
to corporate governance and this
includes IT. Over the years, we have
adopted the model of ASP (Appli-
cation Support Provider), where
we have the application hosted
externally instead of buying and
developing it ourselves.
We have also confidently engaged
and invested in IT outsourcing, busi-
ness process outsourcing (BPO) and
managed services over the time.
We have also leveraged on social
networking model.
For example, our Passenger
Service Systems (PSS) is open, agile
and built to seamlessly leverage on
Business Intelligence components,
total fare management and ancil-
lary services.
In 2008, we have also engaged a
global managed services vendor to
handle our end-to-end Integrated
Database Management System
(IDMS).
All these engagements made
business sense and helped us satisfy
the expanding user needs.
What are the key drivers to adopt
outsourcing by MAS that go beyond
cost savings?
Essentially, when you decide to take
the outsourcing route, you need
to find and analyse the reasons
why you want to do it. When we
embarked on SITO (Strategic IT
Outsourcing) back in 2003, our
aim was to transform into a more
service-orientated organisation with
enhanced end-to-end processes.
Since our initial outsourc-
ing engagements, our success in
implementing business IT projects
improved tremendously. The cost
Cover Story | Outsourcing
savings were achieved over time as
we matured through the projects.
Now, I can confidently say that we
have a better understanding on the
cost drivers and whether certain costs
are necessary to support or enable
the business.
The recent IT outsourcing en-
gagement with Tata Consulting
Services was mainly driven by cost
savings and aligning the services to
the business Profit and Loss (P&L).
We also took the opportunity to
fine-tune the outsourcing contracts
to include ESM (Enterprise Service
Management) with a plan to in-
source and increase automation to
do a predictive, proactive problem
management.
In the PSS project – the strategic
intent was business process (eTick-
eting dateline) and operational
improvement (e-commerce compo-
nents), and an ASP was chosen to
improve delivery and reduce cost.
How does MAS approach the port-
folio of services that lend them-
selves as key targets for sourcing
out to competent providers?
A number of factors drive the de-
cision for sourcing. It’s not just a
cost cutting measure. Firstly, the
strategic intent must be clear. Is it
for cost improvement, operational
enhancement or business process
improvement?
If it’s mainly to reduce costs, then
the drivers of outsourcing and the
design of sourcing would be very
different. If the strategic intent is to
enable overall business, different
set of factors must be taken into
account. So it basically depends on
this strategic intent.
Sourcing and delivery models are
also other aspects to consider. Mak-
ing the right decision on the sourcing
models –  such as single vendor,
multiple vendor or pay-per-use type
– is also very important.
You must also know if you want
to engage local vendors or offshoring
partners or even a hybrid model
according to your business needs.
The readiness of the organisation
itself is also a vital indicator – not
many people are ready to go into
outsourcing, so we need to be careful
on this matter.
May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 13
Outsourcing | Cover Story

Risk management too plays a

vital part in this mix for MAS. We
need to measure how much risk
certain business components will be
able to take. We need to also analyse
the potential risks in order to mitigate
them through proper control and
governance, which must be included
in the contract.
For example, in our initial out-
sourcing engagement in 2003, we did
not outsource our entire IT function
to the vendor – it was only the FTEs
(Full Time Equivalents). The reason
was simple – we were just not ready
for major outsourcing engagement
due to the risk of the unknown.
Later for the IDMS (Integrated
Database Management System)
function – we purchased the needed
hardware due to better pricing.
Technology refresh control, software
and services were then bundled as
managed services.
The IT security assurance and
incident management were also
bundled as managed services where
daily real-time security dashboards
are made available to MAS.

What are the top factors in your

evaluation of vendor capabilities?
Depending on the size of the proj-
ects, weight age to the criteria varies.
Firstly, the financial stability of the
vendor is very important. Secondly,
they must have proven track records
– in providing good quality of ser-
vices with operational reliability and
stability – with established airline
clients. At the same time, the vendors
must have a good product and tech-
nology road maps. The fourth factor
is the vendors’ presence and support
in the countries important to our
market. Last but not least, is the cost
competitiveness of the suppliers.

How important is knowledge of the

airline industry in your assessment
of provider competencies?
For us, it is extremely important
for vendors to have good airline
industry knowledge and experience.
For example, in our ERP project,
we expect the provider to have the
We are cost ability to propose to us the Chart
efficient in certain of Account, which aids airlines to
manage route profitability and other
areas, but I believe airlines specific requirements.
that there are still Vendors also must have the
expertise to be able to provide solu-
ways to improve tions to manage overlying charges
because the between airports and advise on how
to manage Class A assets, such as
technologies out engines, that have both fixed asset
there today make it and inventory characteristics.
They must also be well versed
possible to do it. with the requirements and stan-
dards sets by IATA (Air Transport
Association) and AAPA (Airline Asia
Pacific Association). Airlines like
MAS are governed by the regulations

14 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010


and requirements set by both these
important organisations.
While the need for such in-depth
industry knowledge is one step lower
for the infrastructure services vendors,
nevertheless it is still a prerequisite.
How do you evaluate the risk of
the unknown with technology
providers?
This is where due diligence is key to
an outsourcing engagement. While
there are always risks – I think it’s a
question of how you monitor and
mitigate them. Sometimes there
will be new risks, and at other times
there will be risks that had become
irrelevant. It is important for continu-
ous reassessment in this aspect.
Do you consider sourcing of route
management and customer service
as feasible? Or are they best served
by retaining within the organisa-
tion?
There are strategic and operational
components in route management.
For example, through seat avail-
ability and fare management, we
can influence the traffic flows. At
this point in time, in my opinion – it
should be kept within our organisa-
tion, as it’s a strategic function.
In customer services area – I sup-
pose it depends on the ‘customer
touch points’. It is feasible in certain
For us it is areas and not at all in others – such
as in-flight services, customer com-
extremely plaints department – where personal
important touch matters and creates service
for vendors differentiation. These functions have
to be kept internally as these are part
to have of MAS’ unique brand identity.
good However, the IT helpdesks are
completely outsourced, as it makes
airline no major differentiation to the MAS
industry customer services.
knowledge Costs vs. revenues – do you view
and these separately? Or do you
see that vendors have to hold
experience. themselves accountable for both
components? If so, how?
It depends on the type and size of
the engagement. If it’s a strategic
relationship, both the clients and
Cover Story | Outsourcing
the vendors need to be responsible
for the revenue.
In a JV, for example, both parties
need to be responsible for revenue
and cost impact. For a contract that
extends beyond three years, I think
it is fair to expect the vendor to look
at ways to reduce costs through
consolidation, automation and in-
novation and share the cost savings
with the client.
You choose to work with global
vendor TCS recently. What are
your opinions on Malaysian service
providers that go beyond scale?
For the record, we have local vendors
providing services to MAS. In fact,
we have a number of local vendors
providing infrastructure services and
project management. As I mentioned
earlier, as long as the criteria we use
to evaluate provider capabilities are
met, we don’t discriminate. We are
very open and do not differentiate
between a global and local vendor
– provided they are capable and
credible.
May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 15
Outsourcing | analysis
Picking
the mind of
service buyers
By Jerry Durant
S
ince the beginning of
time, suppliers have sought
to understand what is on the
mind of the buyer. To unlock
the answer to this question would
be to offer a solution that would
be attractive to draw out sales op-
portunities. However to believe that
buyers, experienced or otherwise,
know what they want is to open
the door for possible engagement
failure.
While labour arbitrage may be
focal to the outsourcing decision,
one cannot even assume that
this element has been carried out
properly. Sourcing isn’t a matter of
simple differences in rate, it requires
a complete study of the cost and ben-
efit solution choice. By way of this
simple example, suppliers who fail
to seek insight into buyer thinking
will certainly face challenges during
the engaged relationship.
So why are we still grappling with
this question and have not come up
with an answer for the Holy Grail of
Outsourcing? Is it a failure of buyers
to divulge their innermost interests
or is it the failing of the supplier to
even ask? BPO/ITO/KPO services
are not a commodity –  they are
a solution and solutions involve
developing an understanding.
Status
Our quest starts with understanding
the various types of buyers that we
are dealing with. By all accounts we
have three types:
> Those that have had no experience
and no interest in sourcing,
> Companies that have done some
sourcing either on domestic, near
shore or international basis, and
> Experienced organisations, which
have used sourcing services as a part
of the business delivery model.
All three are constantly faced
with the question about the value of
outsource services. This question is
not just based on costs – it also begs
deep ethical considerations with
regards to the loyalty to country
16 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010
and employees. In almost every
case, a company agonises over
the question of whether to employ
external suppliers or find ways to
further economise internally.
Even when considering domestic
sourcing (inshore services) –  the
question of loyalty is raised. Second-
ly, buyers must support and prove
that the outsource solution yields
productive monetary results known
as ROI (return-on-investment).
ROI considerations always take
into account benefits and costs, but
sometimes ignore the soft ROI ele-
ments that cannot be easily quanti-
fied but nonetheless exists – such
as expanded resource bandwidth,
comfort/consistency improvements
and escalating cost containment. A
truly factual analysis will consider
both hard and soft facts and will
repeatedly consider these aspects
over the extent of using sourcing as
a solution. But the question of ROI
“ROI tive as an employment option.
The result is that companies had
is in jeopardy. consi- to move to an employment (domestic
ROI is threatened when corporate derations to the client) based strategy. Even
culture, internally and externally, always today some companies, often new
challenge the outsourcing deci-
sion. take into organisations, still try to utilise
the old commission based strategy
account and fail to achieve suitable results.
Why the interest? benefits Change requires vigilant ongoing
Today’s economic climate is forcing
us to reexamine everything that we
and examination and adjustment. In
are doing and the basis from which costs, but this specific example opportunists
(sales brokers) have exploited this
our actions are taking place. What sometimes failing.
may have worked, or not worked, in ignore the Preying on the desire for sales,
the past needs close re-examination.
For example, if we had been suc-
soft ROI irreputable brokers will offer op-
portunities that are fraudulent (non-
cessful in selling into a market and elements existent, engagements with low
today we are struggling, we need to that opportunity for success or projects
not only understand why, but also cannot where the broker and client are work-
need to make policy adjustment to
address current conditions.
be easily ing together to extort money while
still receiving services). Reputable
The most illustrative example quantified brokers serve as a conduit into a
is pre-2000 outsource selling vs. but market but will never guarantee
today. Prior to Y2K, outsource service nonetheless sale outcomes since they do
selling was easy because there was
more demand than supply. After
exists.” not control the buying deci-
sion. They can however,
Y2K we enjoyed a brief period of illustrate the service and
trend continuance but it quickly process that will be
started to decline because supply used and how this
was catching up with demand.
This shift also found that pure
commissioned based selling (which
is attractive during high demand
periods) was becoming less attrac-
 analysis | Outsourcing

will effect opportunities in a fashion

that is similar to having sales staff
deployed in the marketplace.
The supplier needs to know more
about the buyer they are dealing with
and having domestic representation
is key to having success.

The Players
There are three types of buyers we
need to understand better as de-
scribed previously:
> Sideliners: companies who have
little or no interest in outsourcing
> Novice: companies with a little
experience, and
> Pro: companies with a history
of use and experimentation in out-
sourcing.
Each carries with it challenges and
unique interests. These variations
force suppliers to better understand
their future clients. Getting specific is
a part of market scoping that a com-
pany must take into consideration.
The cost to implement an effective
selling programme goes up as the
scope increases.
All too often suppliers are so
anxious to attain sales that the
scope remains broad and produces
low yield results. Any engagements
that are obtained have to be viewed
as coincidence and not purposeful,
strategy-driven occurrences. One
might ask, is this really all that
important?
Yes, because coincidence can-
not be reliably repeated and as a
result, companies cannot rely on Suppliers who fail is totally false and has been consis- that are desperate for business and
a consistent flow of work. More op- to seek insight into tently demonstrated. inexperienced in forming a credible
portunities must be kept in the sales buyer thinking Buyers are often inconsistent in stream of work are more apt to take
pipeline and this requires significant will certainly face their approach and evaluation of on engagements that have thin
resource commitment (more than challenges during suppliers. There is a foundation of profitability and require excessive
focus targeting). the engaged qualification that buyers attempt delivery diligence. Under different
The common consideration relationship. to evaluate by looking at viability circumstances more negotiations
for outsourcing is regarding cost (business survivability) and capabil- would take place to reach a healthy
arbitrage (Attempting to profit by ity of vendors. Any shortcomings win-win compromise that benefits
exploiting price differences). Often would increase engagement risk the buyer as well as the supplier.
these strategic buying decisions in- for them What really turns buyers on
volve other factors that may range The result is additional engage- is supplier leadership. Outsource
from obtaining specialised delivery ment attention, which reduces suppliers expected to have sound
resources to expansion of service ROI. If there is limited engagement viability and solid delivery, but
delivery. With this knowledge, the oversight then it will lead to service are also expected to have cred-
buyer is acutely aware of engage- delivery failure. As suppliers, know- ible frameworks for operational,
ment risk. ing that buyers may have failings engineering and communication
Making a wrong choice in today’s in their assessment of viability and disciplines.
economic climate can place decision capability, can offer information to This level of leadership is
makers at risk of losing their jobs. proactively provide insights about something that Western buyers
With the downturn in the economy viability and capability strengths. can understand, possibly relate
and stress placed on companies to Proactive information requires con- to, and form a basis for growing
cut costs (to retain investor yield), firmed evidential proof – otherwise the relationship. Suppliers can go
buyers are forcing risk-reduction it may be relegated to marketing terribly wrong when they develop
measures. hype. frameworks that:
Often manifested through > Don’t work,
legal channels (contractual and So What is Really on Buyer’s > Are overly complex and difficult
Service-Level Agreements) – some Mind? to apply,
attention must be given to how the Money savings with as little risk as > Are flexible, adaptable and fluid,
process of sourcing selection takes possible is the simple answer. The > Fail to meet fundamental business
place. Despite having three distinct bigger challenge is how this can needs, and
types of buyers, all can suffer from be delivered by suppliers without > Haven’t been applied.
thinking that buying from large tier putting in jeopardy their own or-
companies or in common regions ganisations? A lot depends on the Leading means committed truth
will insure a reduction in risk. This strength of the supplier. Companies that others can identify with and it

May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 17

Outsourcing | analysis
Always keep in mind
that a cooperative win-
win relationship can
overcome barriers.
“R
a c epu
wil ond tabl
ou l ne uit i e br
contcomver gnto oke
tro es ua a m rs se
l th sin ran ark rv
e b ce tee et e a
uyi the sa but s
ng y d le
dec o n
isio ot
n.”
18 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010
allows the buyer to reduce their prescriptive
and oversight levels of attention. By no
means does this eliminate them from the
need to insure that the basic activities
are taking place. It will however, allow
buyers to ply their trade without excessive
intervention, and to build a relationship
that goes beyond delivery to also involve
improvement innovation.
Simple supplier leadership involves
strong situational analytics. Repeatedly,
suppliers deliver service quotes based on
current buyer behaviour. Leadership takes
this knowledge and crafts a way to deliver
the same or potentially more services at less
cost. Suppliers who chose to fall into line
with past practice find themselves defending
their honour with buyers often jeopardising
their competitiveness.
When buyers look outside of their or-
ganisations, they subconsciously look for
suppliers with similarities. Similarities may
be in terms of common goals, commitment,
beliefs and even care and attention. It is
very easy for suppliers who fail to recognise
this primal need to their service agendas
disregard client desires (even if vague and
unrealistic).
Suppliers often push a strong message
– self fueled by a rabid drive for business.
This approach disenfranchises buyers and
creates an atmosphere that is not conducive
to the development of a successful sourcing
relationship.
Understanding clients’ prospects, listen-
ing, developing sensitivity and studying
right solutions will gain respect and win
deals for vendors. If vendors treat their

services as a commodity, then they will
struggle to win deals that have long term
potential.
Conclusion
Outsourcing is lacking innovation and
enthusiasm. Buyers seeking the safety of
using a lift-and-drop approach reduce ROI
potential and do not mitigate risk. Sourcing
allows buyers to get innovative and for
suppliers to assist in this exercise. Not every
buyer or supplier is up to this challenge.
Simple needs dictate simple solutions but
in most businesses there are few simple
activities that would justify overlooking the
opportunity for sourcing innovation.
No one ever really knows what is on
the mind of the other. We can only guess
but we run a real risk of being wrong.
When we hang our entire strategy on this
approach we fail to obtain our goals and
put in peril our sourcing businesses. Being
humble and admitting to ourselves that we
don’t know everything but that we can find
out and learn more about our client buyers
is essential. Buyers are not dummies, they
see these attempts and greatly appreciate
that you are placing them first and are
making them feel as though they are your
only concern. This cannot be thinly veiled
and must be sincere and honest.
Change is not easy even when considered
essential. It requires us to move from a
comfort zone, albeit marginally productive,
into an area of uncertainty that has strong
success potential. This newness can either
be greeted with excitement and dedication,
or be held in skepticism that produces no
results. As suppliers the choice is up to you.
Keep in mind that making a buying decision
faces these same uncertainty challenges
for your clients. Realising this provides an
ideal opportunity to work jointly to set aside
these concerns.
Outsourcing is viewed as an evil business
choice. It deprives local citizens of jobs that
hinders Western social development. Add
to this prejudice about other societies and
random failure examples and now you have
conditions that are ripe for impassioned
chaos. Engagement failures, regardless of
cause plays heavily on the psyche of the
buyer.
Why would any reputable business
consider outsourcing even with significant
savings? Simply there are measures that
can be taken to alleviate some of the risk.
It maybe to consult an advisor, to develop
the procurement model or resort to “stick”
measures like SLAs and strong contract and
pricing negotiations. Always keep in mind
that a cooperative win-win relationship can
overcome barriers. Buyers must be willing
to lead and to compromise but not at the
potential peril of their business.
Jerry Durant serves as Chairman Emeritus
(founder) for The International Institute for
Outsource Management, a trade organisation
dedicated to the assessment, development,
and guidance of outsource service providers in
the ITO, BPO, Call Centre and KPO domain
areas.
analysis | Outsourcing
Labeling the Buyers
Sidelines
This group might also be referred to as the long shots. These are companies that
may have little to no interest in alternative service options, let alone foreign sources.
Substantial buyer examination is needed to get inside of their minds. Has their
sourcing absence been caused by social concerns, lack of implicit value, too busy to
consider this option or the lack of a credible discussion with potential suppliers.
Maybe other suppliers have been too busy selling their services and have not
spent enough time listening to the potential clients. Everyone likes to tell about
themselves, even buyers. Sideliners require Outsourcing education 101 that is
delivered by the supplier company.
They need to understand how you will mitigate risk concerns, form a mutually
beneficial engagement relationship, and how this will be done to produce positive
economic results. If you are unable to listen, evaluate, propose and insure control
then ‘sideliner’ companies may not be the right audience for service providers.
Novice
Best described as knowing just enough to be dangerous but wise enough to know
where they stand. Often novice buyers see engagement successes through their
commitment and failures through that of the supplier. In fact both are the direct result
of a mutual level of participation.
If the buyer has made a wrong choice, or the supplier took on work that was
outside of their ability to deliver, both are at fault. Suppliers can effect an operational
framework that is flexible but is rich in delivery enablers. This measure, combined
with viability and capability attention, provides a powerful basis that buyers can gain
comfort with.
Moreover, this reflects supplier engagement leadership, which is welcomed by
buyers. Knowing that you can rely on a supplier takes pressure off of implementation
and engagement management. It does not eliminate it, simply it reduces
micromanagement and reaffirmation of each step that must be taken. Over the long
term a much stronger buyer-supplier relationship will form reducing the potential for
“retrosourcing”.1
In addition, suppliers need to determine the status on sourcing with novice
companies. Are they in a present relationship and how is it going (this will require
further study to determine the legitimacy of any relationship status)? Avoid taking
sides and look at all reasons with suspicion. If they are not in a present sourcing
relationship, was there reasons why they curtail it? Again be skeptical as no one fully
admits the real reasons why things didn’t work out especially when you have had a
role to play in the outcome.
Novice and Pro buyers have the potential of utilising procurement generalists
and legal counsel to form sourcing engagements. While some specialisation has
occurred, it remains to be a somewhat generic purchase exercise. This condition
creates some of the evaluation problems as previously mentioned and reflects the
position that selection can be driven by process (when it really needs to be driven by
characteristic comparison).
Pro
Changes in the economy and the increase in buyer risk concerns have caused
many companies to re-examine their sourcing portfolio. We have seen a gradual
shift from single-source mega engagements to parceled sourcing. Spreading risk
does not eliminate these factors, simply it spreads the potential around. Parceled
engagements may involve supplier delivery or geographic separation (using a single
supplier or multiple suppliers) to enable risk reduction. With this shift buyers are
looking to different suppliers and regions.
This is great news for smaller companies and emerging sourcing destinations.
There is however, the need to again provide evidence of viability and capability.
Since many of the mega deals involve large tier-1 suppliers these engagement are
entrenched with formality and legalities. This sets a level of expectation that new
service providers must take into consideration. Overlooking this will put the supplier
at risk of not obtaining the engagement.
As for emerging regions they must provide a business case against the gold
standard regions of India, Philippines, China and other market leading nations. While
a reasonable person understands that market maturity is going to be less based
purely on experience, this comparison is often used to steer buyers to established
countries. A more suitable standard to support regional evaluation is utilising the
Brown & Wilson – Black Book of Outsourcing: Safe Sourcing Destination Report.
Under this framework locations are based on such factors as social stability, legal
system, environmental exposures, crime rate, terrorism threat, and currency stability
(partial list).
1Retro-sourcing the act of removing an outsourcing relationship and either returning internally to the buying
organisation or moving it to another service provider. To a limited extent retro-sourcing engagements may
include renewal engagement reviews. Def. – IIOM 2008.
May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 19
Outsourcing | Insights
Sustaining virtuous circle
of metrics framework
BY ADITYA BHALLA
AND DEEPAK CHOPRA
Y
ears of research on mea-
sures of performance have led
to the design of high maturity
frameworks for standardising
measurement practices in the
IT and BPO industry.
All frameworks stress on creating metrics
aligned to the organisation goals, creation
of measurement systems and using the
data to make informed decisions.
The image (refer Virtuous Circle of
Metrics Framework) illustrates the deploy-
ment in an IT environment (GQM refers
to the Goal, Question, Metric approach
developed by V. Basili and D. Weiss).
To further enhance the effectiveness of
the metrics deployment organisations have
adopted process improvement frameworks
like Lean Six Sigma that are triggered by
the faltering performance of metrics in the
performance dashboards.
It therefore comes as a surprise that
despite years of research and implementa-
tion experience, organisations still face
challenges and dilemmas in implementing
an effective measurement system.
There are many unseen traps in the
deployment of Metrics framework that
can suck management into the vicious
circle of spending their energies in the
wrong areas:
20 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010
Virtuous Circle of Metrics Framework the sources of variation on a
real-time basis.
Business/Project
The service industry has yet
Aligning to master the concepts from
the system Goals GQ(I)M
Japanese organisations such
as Toyota (which has inspired
others to adopt Lean and Agile
Programming) where a strong
Making informed Metrics
emphasis is laid on detecting
Metrics List
decisions Framework sources of variation live on the
floor. The result is a much more
proactive response to deviations
in day-to-day operations.
Measurement
Standard
Reports &
Dashboards collection,
processes 2) Misaligned
analysis system
& procedures measurement systems
As shown in the image (refer
Purpose of Collecting Metric),
1) Excessive reliance on conducting every metric has a purpose.
post-mortem For organisations that are trapped in the
Organisations with relatively mature mea- vicious circle, this context is lost over time
surement systems and process improvement as they fail to set up programs for educating
frameworks like Lean Six Sigma rely on the their staff on an ongoing basis. This shows
objectivity of data from performance dash- up in the following two ways:
boards. But the culture of analysing data can
sometimes be disadvantageous as staff starts i) Inconsistent understanding of how the
relying excessively on metric performance metric is computed.
reports of events that happened in the past >> Wrong formulae are incorporated
and not what is happening on a real time in the measurement systems resulting
basis. It is almost like driving while viewing in incorrect reporting of information to
the rear view mirror. management.
It is not very uncommon to find op- >> Typical examples include measures
erational environments in service industry of performance such as defect density in
where team leads are unable to identify IT environment (refer Box), Service Level

computation in call centres or
Productivity measures in service
industry.
ii) Inconsistent understanding on
how to interpret the performance
on any metric.
>> For large organisations perfor-
mance is evaluated for departments
that exist as independent silos.
>> While the intent of manage-
ment is to view the health of the pro-
cess from the end-customer’s point
of view, for staff working in silos the
view is limited to their targets.
>> Many large organisations
continue to tolerate this ambiguity
of interpretation thereby defeating
the purpose of measurement.
3) Putting fear of God in staff
Statistician Prof William Edwards
Deming had advocated “Drive out
Fear from workplace” but organisa-
tions caught in the vicious circle
continue to use metrics framework as
a handy tool to inspire fear in staff.
Since no one wants to look bad (or get
fired) the end result is that either the
measurement system or the metric is
compromised as illustrated below:
i) Targets are set at very low thresh-
old levels.
>> The low threshold levels are
usually justified through the com-
plexity of departments, processes and
transactions handled by the staff.
>> At the same time the met-
rics may be couched in complex
sounding statistical terms such as
99 percentile performance.
>> Finally incremental improve-
ments are demonstrated on a regular
basis to stave off management pres-
sure.
>> Typical examples of such
metrics are productivity metrics
(e.g. transactions processed/day by
insurance underwriter) with internal
performance benchmarks are set on
a non-scientific basis.
ii) Aggregated performance is
reported to management in sum-
mary reports.
>> While the reports are meant
to highlight the Red/Amber/Green
status of any performance metric,
the aggregate numbers by default
end up in the Green or Good status.
>> Management caught in the vi-
cious circle is frustrated but unable to
break the circle as it lacks the resource
bandwidth to explore deeper. End of
the day many resign to the fact: “If
it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
The real loser in the above is the
organisation as it is unable to proac-
tively identify the constraints slowing
it down till it is rudely awakened by
the market realities. Organisation
theorists even coined a phrase for
Insights | Outsourcing
PURPOSE OF COLLECTING METRIC
Measuring Defect Density
in Software Organisations
Measurement Question
Goal “What do we want
to know or learn about Defect Density (total no. of
“Quantifying Goals”
the Goal” defects/size) can be prone to
multiple interpretations
Inclusions & Exclusions: Are
all defects from non-engineering
reviews (Project Plan review etc)
also to be considered?
Applicability: Do all type
Measurement of
Business Goal Metrics of projects (development &
“What do we want” “What will answer maintenance) need to implement
the question” it?
Level: Is it Defect Density of a
phase or entire project?
Formula: Is it defects/size or
The service industry has size/defects? Is it the size of
the project or requirements
yet to master the concepts document?
from Japanese organisations
such as Toyota – which has
inspired others to adopt Lean
and Agile Programming.”
this: “boiled frog syndrome”. of deploying metrics and avoid the
Here again organisations could complexities associated with inef-
take a cue from the team-based fective deployments. The end result
measurement systems that relive will be a cultural transformation
the stress of individuals and at the without the negative energies associ-
same time encourage team-building ated with the vicious circle.
through tacit knowledge sharing by
Troubling … experienced good performers with
Despite years others who are relatively raw. Aditya Bhalla is Practice Manager with
of research and QAI Innovation Practice consulting
implementation Conclusion clients on product and process design.
experience, Metrics serve a useful purpose of Deepak Chopra is Consultant with
organisations still reporting the performance of an QAI SPI Practice consulting clients on
face challenges organisation, its products, its opera- CMMi DEV/SVC/ACQ (specialising
and dilemmas in tions and its processes. in High Maturity – Level 5) and non-
implementing Metrics frameworks can be like model based approaches like AGILE
an effective a double-edged sword that needs to and RUP. They can be contacted at
measurement be handled carefully. If done well adityabhalla@yahoo.com and deepak.
system. management can realise the intent chopra@gmail.com
May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 21
Outsourcing | feature

Strong line-up …
With the best people
at the helm, the
Globalisation initiatives
can find strong support
at all levels of the
organisation.

Assign best people for

Globalisation initiatives
This is the fifth in a series of excerpts from the newly published book by
Atul Vashistha, ‘Globalisation Wisdom: The Seven Secrets of Great Globalisers’

G
lobalisation is not about a
single action, or even a group of actions.
Globalisation, when successful, is about
an attitude. Yet even when the CEO of
a company embraces Globalisation as
a new attitude, it will fail unless their partners – the
people who work for them – embrace the attitude
as well. But getting others on board is not a job the
CEO can do alone; they must recruit the best people
to help.
That’s what the fifth secret is about: recruiting the
best people to help roll out (and guide) Globalisation
initiatives throughout the company. With the best
people at the helm, the Globalisation initiatives can
By
Atul find strong support at all levels of the organisation.
Vashistha Wim Elfrink, Chief Globalisation Officer of Cisco
says that assigning the best people was a key success
factor for the company. “Assigning the best people is a
key differentiator between what we did differently from
companies that traditionally approach the manage-
ment of outsourcing.
“We had to have the right people empowered as
decision-makers on both sides of the house. We insisted
on having people who could make the decision in the
actual negotiation process. And that was huge in us
being able to accelerate the timeline and deliver value.
I don’t think that you can afford to do anything else
in this process.”
Assigning the best people to their Globalisation
initiative just makes sense for successful Globalisers.
“Our philosophy is – you put your best people on the
project and it’s successful. You take your second- or
third-level people and put them on the initiative,
and you’re going to get a second- or third-rate result.
Globalisation deserves the organisation’s best people.
It’s a top-priority project within the company,” said Ron

22 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010


Individual commitment to a
group effort is what makes a team
work, a company work, a society
work, a civilisation work.”
– Vince Lombardi, American football legend
Kifer, CIO at Ap-
plied Materials.
As football
great Vince
Lombardi said,
“Individual
commitment to
a group effort
is what makes
a team work, a
company work,
a society work,
a civilisation
work.” The
When former GE CEO Jack fifth secret of
Welch was globalising the successful Glo-
company in the 1980s, his balisers is about
best people were those generating that
who knew how to adapt individual com-
to, and even embraced, mitment to the
change. group effort.
Strong par-
ticipation from
the organisation’s C-level executives is
important for its role-modeling effects
and to help generate buy-in within the
organisation’s lower levels.
In addition, attention and recognition
by senior management make it easier to
lure the best talent to lead Globalisation
initiatives. And developing the practice of
strategic learning will allow the organisa-
tion to take advantage of the myriad of
opportunities our increasingly intercon-
nected world offers.
This secret reminds me of the adage, “You
get what you pay for.” If the organisation
doesn’t put its best people in charge of
services Globalisation – if it sends in the
B-team, for example, it will see second-rate
results.
Cream of the crop
The best people are not necessarily those
who know the most about IT, if the organisa-
tion is globalising IT, for example. Instead,
they’re the people who are agile, understand
change and are globally savvy. All too often,
companies trade the sometimes challenging
task of finding the best people in favour
of the most easily accessible people, even
when those people are not right for the job.
In many of those cases, the initiative does
not reach its full potential.
When former GE CEO Jack Welch was
globalising the company in the 1980s, his
best people were those who knew how to
adapt to, and even embraced, change.
He defined the best people not as the best
feature | Outsourcing
performers, but as the best fit
for a globalised, cross-cultural
environment.
Consider a common example
of what can happen when an
organisation doesn’t assign the
best people: The company
decides to globalise its IT
processes, so it assigns the
IT managers to lead the
initiative.
Those IT managers are
extremely well-versed in
IT processes and have a
lot of knowledge about the
company’s IT system, but
are overall more reserved,
introverted types. They shy
away from high-profile leader-
ship roles and generally dislike
change.
The organisation thinks that
the IT managers can guide the
initiative because they know IT,
in spite of their shortcomings as
globally savvy leaders. Yet the
initiative falls short.
Why? While the IT managers
played an important role in the
organisation’s IT department,
they were not often the best
people to lead a Globalisation
initiative. They lacked most of
the important “global people”
characteristics. The “global
people” stars are resilient,
embrace change, have a
global mindset and an affin-
ity for different cultures, are
performance-oriented, take
initiative, are admired by others
within the company and build
consensus.
Take another example of an
organisation that assigns a number
of leaders from different depart-
ments within the organisa-
tion. These people have
a record of embracing,
and even spearheading,
change. They seek out
high-profile roles and
enjoy leading others; Not me, please … IT managers are
they’re admired and have extremely well-versed in IT processes
proven their ability to build con- and have a lot of knowledge about the
sensus among employees. company’s IT system, but are overall more
Despite the fact that most of reserved, introverted types. They shy away
these people know little about the from high-profile leadership roles and
day-to-day details of the organisa- generally dislike change.
May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 23
Outsourcing | feature

tion’s IT processes, the organisation

assigns them to head the initiative.
The initiative succeeds.
Why? The organisation assigned
as leaders those people who had
demonstrated the ability to be good
leaders and possessed many of the
“global people” characteristics.
When they needed to understand
the details of IT processes, they
sought out the IT managers, who
were able to do what they did best.
Indeed, being one of the com-
pany’s “best people” is not neces-
sarily about knowing things, Elfrink
explains that it’s more about the
right business relationships. “It’s not
about knowing the scope of defini- that consistent with people who are Fill up those seats … Strong participation from the
tion of the activities from the start; good at Globalisation – they really organisation’s C-level executives is important for its role-
that’s all detail to be added. Instead, do enjoy it.” modeling effects and to help generate buy-in within the
we looked for people who under- organisation’s lower levels.
stood proper contextual relationship
that we were going to establish with Atul Vashistha is Chairman of Neo
these service providers – people who Advisory (formerly neoIT), a leading
understood the business relationship management consultancy since 1999,
and could make obligations to that focused on independent, objective and
business relationship.” actionable advice to enterprises that
At Cisco, Elfrink looks for people seek to transform their organisations
who have “a never-ending desire to by capitalising on ser-
be challenged and to win”. vices globalisation.
He adds: “I think that it’s a His latest venture is
special A-type personality who BestOutsourcing-
absolutely enjoys driving these big Jobs.com, an online
changes. I always say that at the job portal focused
end of the day, the best people want on outsourcing
to leave their mark. Their mark careers. He can be
is the big change – the big results reached at atul@
that they deliver. I think you’ll find vashistha.com

If the organisation doesn’t put its

best people in charge of services
Globalisation – if it sends in the
B-team, for example, it will see
second-rate results.

Assigning the
best people is a key
differentiator between
what we did differently
from companies that
traditionally approach
the management of
outsourcing.”
– Wim Elfrink, Chief Globalisation
Officer of Cisco

24 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010

 JOIN
OUTSOURCING
MALAYSIA
O
utsourcing Malaysia (OM) is an initiative
of the outsourcing industry and a chapter
of PIKOM – the National ICT Association.
The prime objective of this organisation is to
enhance global visibility of Malaysian service
provider capabilities to the global buyers. OM
focuses on enabling both buyers and providers of
services to work together on addressing service
needs, within the aegis of global best-practices
and competencies.
Officiated by the Prime Minister in 2006,
OM aims to represent 80% of all Malaysian
outsourcing providers by 2012. Highlights of the
benefits our members are enjoying are:
Industry Representation
OM represents the local outsourcing industry to
the Govt and private sector both locally and
overseas. OM is backed by the support of its
founding partner MDeC, and consulted by a large
number of organisations such as MATRADE,
PSDC, Bank Negara Malaysia etc.
Trade Promotions
s Marketing the capabilities of Malaysian
industry to local and global buyers through
various trade events, while generating business
leads for members.
s Providing business-networking opportunities
for members through networking sessions,
inbound and outbound trade missions and
industry meets.
Industry Information
s Providing forum for members to debate
important industry issues and promoting
conducive business environment
through appropriate government
policies for the industry.
s Regular Thought Leadership
brainstorming sessions.
For more information, please visit our website at: www.outsourcingmalaysia.org.my
OutMalaysia-AD2.indd 1
ADFEATURE
s Access to OM’s Thought Leadership content
via Member’s Login on its website.
Business Exposure
s Providing members with tremendous business
exposure and visibility through the complimentary
listing via OM website and overseas campaigns;
s OM as the direct contact point for global
buyers.
s Affiliations with global outsourcing focus
publication such as the Black Book of Outsourcing
Global V Vendor Directory, Forbes etc.
Priority, Subsidies & Discounts
OM Members are given priority in OM-organised
events in terms of reservations, subsidies and
discounts. Members are provided subsidies
on Overseas Campaigns and other Capacity
Development Programmes. Discounts and
complimentary priorities are allocated for
participations of seminars, conferences, cocktails,
industry talks, surveys, and media promotions.
Capacity Development
Programmes
OM is responsible in introducing the Internat
erna ional
ernat
Associat
ia ion of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP)
iat
Cer ified Outsourcing Professionals (COP) and
Cert
Master Class programmes; and working alongside
with MDeC on their K-Wor
W kers Development Institute
Wor
(KDI) programmes designed to develop the human
resources of the industry
ry.
ry
y.
Global Membership and
Affiliation
Global Membership
s Sourcing Interest Group (SIG)
s IAOP through partnership with MDeC.
Global Affiliations
Through PIKOM’s partnership and membership:
s ASOCIO s NASSCOM s WITSA
Contact: OM Secretariat
1106 Block B, Phileo Damansara 2
No 15 Jalan 16/11,
46350 Petaling Jaya
Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel: +603 7955 2922 F: +603 7955 2933
Tel:
e-mail: info@outsourcingmalaysia.org.my
9/24/09 1:15:36 PM
Outsourcing | Outsourcing Malaysia

OM embarks on Aussie
business mission
A
ustralia and Ma-
laysia have been en-
joying strong diplomatic
and historic ties since the
independence of Malaysia. With
the current paradigm of globalisa-
tion, partnership and collaboration
between corporations of both coun-
tries are imperative to be globally
competitive.
Over the years, with the ASEAN-
Australia & New Zealand Free Trade
Agreement (ASEAN-ANZFTA),
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) and also various govern-
ment-to-government trade agree-
ments, trade barriers have been
lowered to increase trade between
these two nations.
In light of these developments,
Outsourcing Malaysia (OM) will or-
ganise two seminars in Australia to
help create a solid platform for both
Malaysian and Australian services
providers to formulate strategies
in achieving mutual benefits and
collectively target markets beyond
the two countries.
The seminars will be held in
Sydney on June 22 (Sydney Conven-
tion Centre), followed by Melbourne
(Novotel Melbourne On Collins) on
June 24.
Malaysia’s Minister of Science, Ongkili will be officiating the events, thereby Wong … “We have also invited both the New
Technology & Innovation (MOSTI) reflecting highest commitment by Malaysia to South Wales and Victorian State Governments to
Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Johnity the Australian market. address the participants.”
Ongkili will be officiating the events,
thereby reflecting highest commit-
ment by Malaysia to the Australian
market. ties and bodies in both Sydney and one of the main objectives of this
The seminars will also create a Melbourne to ensure its smooth initiative is to grow the outsourcing
big opportunity for corporations execution to deliver good benefits business in Malaysia to the next
looking to expand and optimise to the two countries. We have also level.
their business processes and support invited both the New South Wales Yau said: “We must look beyond
services, while maintaining high and Victorian State Governments Malaysian the country if we want to expand
levels of service quality, better cost to address the participants.” firms must and go global. And Australia was a
control and ability to scale. Australian Information Industry look beyond logical choice as both countries have
OM Chairman David Wong Nan Association (AIIA) – another part- the country strong diplomatic ties.”
Fay said: “This is the first time that ner of the event – will be assisting and go Yau said the seminars will provide
OM is organising such an initiative
to Australia, and we are pleased to
to promote this event in order to
reach out to the right audience in
global. And opportunities for Malaysian and
Australian service providers to meet
have the support of MOSTI. Australia. Australia and explore ways to work together
“Our partners for this business He said: “OM is aiming for at is a logical to achieve a common goal – that of
mission to Australia are the Mul- least five to 10 Memorandums of choice tapping into each other’s strengths
timedia Development Corporation Understanding (MoUs) to be signed as both and expertise to get more business.
(MDeC), the custodian of the MSC during the mission with Australian countries He added: “OM members and
Malaysia initiative, and PIKOM service providers who can work well
with Malaysian service providers to
have strong participants will have the chance to
interact with their Australian coun-
– the National ICT Association of
Malaysia.” expand and strengthen our capabili-
diplomatic terparts to look into the possibility of
Wong added: “As the organisers, ties in high value services.” ties.” forging smart partnerships to grow
OM will put together the event, Andy Yau, OM Head of Business their business and at the same time,
besides working with relevant par- Development & Membership, said to tap into their expertise.

26 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010


“OM is optimistic that this business
mission will take us a step closer towards
achieving Malaysia’s goal of becoming the
global hub for high-value services.”
OM Head of Marketing & Branding
Bobby Varanasi is also confident that the
mission will help Malaysian companies to
go truly global.
Varanasi said: “Key objectives are to
establish partner models between Austra-
lian and Malaysian companies for collec-
tive value-creation and sustained service
delivery to Australian companies. In this
context, Malaysian firms will greatly benefit
by partnering with more mature Australian
partners, and bring back knowledge of
working in a developed nation back into
their operations, thereby enabling value
accrual internally.
“In turn, I would imagine such increase
in competence will aid Malaysian compa-
nies to become globally comparable and
competitive as Australian benchmarks of
performance are world-standard.”
At the same time, Australian vendors will
also gain significant visibility to Malaysian
service competencies, and determine most-
able and complimentary partners, says
Varanasi.
“This will give them the leverage to
spread their service delivery models, price
models and service portfolios on offer in a
compelling and sustained manner.”
Yau says OM is targeting about 100
to 120 delegates, both Malaysians and
Australians, for the seminars in each of the
two locations.
Outsourcing Malaysia Members
> IT Consulting and Outsourcing
> Business Process Outsourcing
> Associate Membership
outsourcing malaysia | Outsourcing
W hether you are a new corporation looking to
develop or an established name looking to expand
business globally, the Malaysia-Australia Partnership would
be the preferred choice to achieve your business objectives.
Executives who source, or are planning to source business
services will find this event as “Must Attend”.
Attend and Find Out About:
>  Government-to-Government partnership
>  “Smart Partnership Model” between service providers
> ASEAN countries as the strategic delivery location for
high value services
OM is >  The formula towards wins for all parties
optimistic >  Leveraging on Australia & Malaysia’s Historical Strong
that this Ties
business >  Collaboration opportunities between Malaysia
mission will & Australia, especially in the Shared Services &
take us a Outsourcing (SSO) Sector
step closer Who Should Attend?
towards Senior management, decision makers and advisors from:
achieving >  Listed companies
Malaysia’s >  Medium to large companies
>  Multinational Corporations
goal of >  Shared Services Organisations
becoming >  Domestic sourcing service providers
the global
hub for For further enquiries, please call Azreel Aswad or Victor Low
high-value at +60379552922, or e-mail to
azreel@pikom.org. my. or victor@pikom.org.my
services.”
May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 27
Outsourcing | adfeature
Leveraging on the growing halal market
With the world’s Muslim population reaching three billion people,
the halal industry has become one of the fastest growing
industries in the world. One out of every four human beings
consumes halal products, thus contributing significantly to
the growing industry, which is estimated at US$2.1 trillion,
of which the food sector alone is worth US$547 billion.
Asia, in particularly Malaysia, Thailand,
Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei,
China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and
West Asia with collective population of
approximately one billion Muslims, is a
prime target market for halal products and
services.
Over the years, Malaysia has
made a head start in the global halal
market. Malaysia’s halal certification is
an “extraordinary” branding for local
products to compete with export from
other countries in the foreign markets.
Nonetheless, obtaining the logo of
confidence alone does not guarantee
sales. It is indeed an added advantage but
other pre-requisite should not be neglected
in order to “win” in the market.
Among the aspects needed to be
followed through is the “classic” 4Ps
strategy: Product, Pricing, Promotion and
Place. It is vital for the halal producers to
identify their market segments and cater to
these markets needs in order to stand out
in the market place. Other aspects relating
to the standard of quality and the country’s
legal requirements and issues, the
technological aspects, and the production
capacity, are equally important to remain
relevant and competitive in the market.
Manufacturers must fully understand
the manifestations of the halal certification
and strive to gain the widest possible
market outreach for Malaysian halal
products.
In 2009 alone, exports of these halal
products to the Organisation
of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
countries amounted to RM3.7 billion
(US$1.15b). Malaysia’s leading
position in the halal industry makes it
an ideal trading platform to draw the
world’s halal players in facilitating the
sourcing and selling of global quality
halal products.
The Government has put
into place necessary incentives,
infrastructure, programmes and
halal-related events to assist
local manufacturers in developing
necessary competitive advantages.
Programmes are also devised to
facilitate local companies to expand
their business network and find their
niche in the halal market.
One such effort is the confluence
28 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010
of three major events –
International Halal Showcase
(MIHAS), World Halal Research
Summit (WHR) and World Halal
Forum 2010 (WHF) all under one
roof. The Halal Malaysia Week – a
joint effort of three parties, namely
Malaysia External Trade Development
Corporation (MATRADE), Halal Industry
Development Corporation and Kasehdia Sdn
Bhd – is an excellent example of public-
private sector initiatives to provide supportive
platforms to showcase Malaysia’s Halal
industry .
The Halal Malaysia Week will firmly position
Malaysia as a beacon of the Global Halal
industry, highlighting Malaysia’s thought
leadership in this area and its strong intentions
to be known as the world’s leading Halal Hub.
“Through Halal Malaysia Week, this
country is setting an example to the
international community by uniting three
instrumental platforms to help focus the
industry and to drive it to the next level of
effective trade and business,” said Dato’
Noharuddin Nordin, CEO of MATRADE during
the launch of Halal Malaysia Week recently.
Noharuddin added that this move
highlighted Malaysia’s commitment in
promoting the Halal industry on a global scale
and seriousness to consolidate all resources
in marketing the industry.
The seventh edition of MIHAS will take
place from 23-27 June 2010 at MATRADE
Exhibition and Convention Centre, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia. MIHAS has grown to
“Asia, with collective
population of
approximately one
billion Muslims, is a
prime target market
for halal products
and services.”
be the largest halal trade fair in the
world where the return investments are
substantial.
The consistently large numbers of local
and foreign delegates attending the annual
halal trade fair organised by MATRADE in
past years, reflects a growing interest in
the global halal market and an increased
awareness on halal products. Clearly,
there is much potential for Malaysian halal
products to seek wider market outreach,
regionally and globally.
Noharuddin said this and other other
halal-related showcase, conference and
forum are targeted to draw thousands of
delegates and more than 600 exhibitors
from over 50 countries. These participants
will facilitate trade and drive the global halal
industry and discuss issues and share
advancements in halal research among
other activities.
Therefore, halal products entrepreneurs
should take advantage of MIHAS, the
platform which, for the past six years,
succeeded in drawing the world’s halal
players under one roof to meet, network
and trade. MIHAS 2010 presents the
spreading influence of halal that will inspire
the halal industry to move further and
beyond.
It is the global halal market place
where both Malaysians and international
halal producers can take full advantage
to market their products in the local
and international markets. Companies
seeking to expand or diversify into
the halal industry should leverage on
MIHAS 2010.
To find out more about what
MIHAS offers for your businesses,
please contact the MIHAS
SECRETARIAT at Tel: +603 6203
4433 or Fax: +603 6203 4422. Email
to enquiry@halal.org.myy or log on to
www.halal.com.my

Enhancing your
quality of life with travel
“Travel experiences around the world served by Malaysia’s best loved travel brand”
Reliance, an established travel brand in
Malaysia, has helped business travelers and
holidaymakers find charming travel and serving
up delightful travel experiences worldwide for
over 40 years. A small travel company way
back in 1969, Reliance Shipping & Travel
Agencies Sdn Bhd is today part of a leading
travel group of companies under Reliance
Pacific Berhad. Not surprisingly, this travel
group of companies are also well represented
overseas with business interests in many
countries including Singapore, Thailand,
Indonesia, Australia, Hong Kong, and China.
Flagship Store
The Reliance Travel flagship store in Sungei
Wang Plaza remains ever popular with steady
streams of customers looking for true value
travel products. Many of us would remember
Reliance not only as a travel agency operating
from within Sungei Wang Plaza, but also as
a centre of higher education for travel – The
Reliance School of Tourism. The “school”
today has since moved on to occupy larger
premises elsewhere in Kuala Lumpur with
branches in Pulau Pinang and Johor Baru.
Products & Services
Product and services include Airline Ticketing,
Visa Application, and Travel & Tour Packages;
although a great many travelers would
recognise Reliance more so as a reputable
brand for Travel & Tour Packages. This
may well be as Reliance has guided tours
throughout the world and they know what is
important to have a successful tour from their
very personal experience.
It could also perhaps be due to the
innovativeness of products such as
Reliance Signature, Reliance China Classic
Series, Reliance Riang Ria Muslim Tours,
and Reliance Europe “Beyond the Norm”.
Extreme importance is placed on offering
the highest level of service with attention to
the smallest of details. To Reliance, the value
for the customer’s money is a top priority
with on par quality and this has led to many
customers coming back time and time again
for wonderful holidays and travel experiences
tailored to well-researched needs and
AWARD WINNING COMPANY … Mr. Tan Sin Chong (Third from left), Managing Director
for Travel Division, Reliance Pacific Berhad receiving Malaysia’s “The Brand Laureate”
Award for Best Brand in Services – Tours & Travels 2009/10.
interests. Close to 50% of Reliance customers
are repeat customers, and 90% are seasoned
travelers.
Nationwide Network
A nationwide network of over 20 Reliance
Travel Centres and over 200 Travel Agent
Partners serve our clients, ensuring easy
accessibility and convenience. Most of the
Reliance Travel Centres are members of
the Reliance Travel Franchise Programme.
A Travel Franchise Programme open to
those passionate about travel & tourism
and desirous of owning a successful travel
business that is built upon the Reliance brand
values of Trust, Speed, and Choice. “Trust”
in service delivery within the comfort of a
relaxing travel shopping ambience backed by
over 40 years of personal experience in the
travel & tourism industry. “Speed” in servicing
and delivery of information through multiple
channels nationwide and online. “Choice” in
an endless variety of products and services
and from multiple choices of channels for
customers to choose and buy.
Brand Success
Part of the reason why Reliance remains
strong and resilient is because of its deep
knowledge of the industry. It serves over
adfeature | Outsourcing
20,000 holidaymakers year after year and
this low estimate does not even include
customers for its other regular products
such as Airline Ticketing! The Management
remains humble despite its growing success
and attributes it to a tried and proven system
of constant gathering and assessment of
customer feedback to help the business
improve as it works hard in trying to serve the
customer the best it can.
Raymond Lee, General Manager of
Reliance Shipping & Travel Agencies Sdn
Bhd, says: “We are where we are today
because of the strong trust and confidence
our customers place in our credibility as an
established travel company. Without our
customers’ support we would be just another
travel agency on the street, struggling to
make a difference and selling whatever travel
products available.
“We are extremely fortunate that our
customers love us for our true value – which
is apparent in always having more choices,
more reasons and more offers for them.”
For more information on
Reliance Travel please visit www.
reliancetravel.com or send in your e-mail to
marketing.reliance@rpb.com.my
May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 29
Outsourcing | study

Significant traction
from UK legal market
Share by geography By Neeraja Kandala

C
Rest of urrently, offshore service providers earn a large share
of their revenues from the United States market. The US based buyers
the make up for a significant portion of the total contracts. About 75% of
World the current Indian offshore business is generated from customers based
5% in the US while 20% of the business comes from UK and the remainder
(5%) comes from the rest of the world, including Asia Pacific and Middle East.
UK There are also several service providers catering to “other markets”, which include
Australia, Canada, South Korea, China and Japan. A majority of the work from
20% the other markets comes from corporations and is related to contract management
and patent services.
The UK market is gradually opening up with law firms such as Eversheds, Osborne
Clarke, among others exploring the offshore option. Several service providers are
now taking keen interest in other markets with reportedly increasing number of
inquiries from the UK market.
“UK companies have traditionally been open minded when it comes to inter-
national business models, and they are comfortable with the legal education and
training in India, as well as with the quality of English spoken in India. Accordingly,
they are highly enthusiastic about working with Indian LPOs”, says Suchorita
US Mookerjee, Director – Legal Operations, Bodhi Global Services Pvt. Ltd.
75%
Increasing activity
Source: ValueNotes’ report on Legal Process Over the last two years, several other firms have started giving offshoring a serious
Outsourcing (LPO): Crisis creates opportunities thought. Some of the well-known names in this area are Allen & Overy, Linklaters,

30 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010

 study | Outsourcing

Recent contracts based service providers offering large scale

Client Deal detail
British Telecom British Telecom (BT) recently announced its decision to shift
work from its captive legal services centre (located in India) to
UnitedLex. A team of 15 professionals from UnitedLex will provide
commercial contracting and antitrust regulation services to BT
legal teams in UK, US, India, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Simmons & Simmons Integreon will provide document review, due diligence, document
production, and research services to the law firm.
Rio Tinto CPA Global will provide contract review and drafting, legal
research and document review services to the mining giant, Rio
Tinto.
Eversheds Exigent will provide documentation processing services to
Eversheds.
Osborne Clarke Integreon will provide technology and business intelligence
services, knowledge and information management, transcription,
secretarial and word processing services to Osborne Clarke.
Pinsent Masons As per the deal, Exigent will provide document review services to
Pinsent Masons.
Source: ValueNotes Research
document review services or litigation
staffing firms.
“In the UK, the move towards
outsourced legal services has been led by
corporate clients, who are under pressure
to cut costs and are demanding that their
external counsel support them in this
area. Like it or not, law firms are having
to respond.
“Some are more responsive than others,
although it’s interesting to see that many
of the UK’s biggest law firms are now being
increasingly linked with outsourcing, either
as part of a three-way relationship between
the corporate client, their external counsel
and the legal outsourcing provider or
directly with outsourcing providers”, says
Paul McGolpin, CPA Global’s Director,
Legal Services Outsourcing.
As businesses globalise, UK law firms
are looking to cut costs of maintaining
their international networks, to be able
to compete with the US law firms. Cutting
costs (especially in these challenging times)
and better utilisation of in-house lawyers by
outsourcing low value tasks is a compelling
reason for law firms as well as corporations
to consider outsourcing/offshoring in their
strategy.

Lovells, Eversheds. Interestingly, several

large contracts have been announced by Neeraja Kandala is the Lead Analyst at Value-
the UK-based law firms over the last one Notes, a leading research provider focused on
year. the outsourcing industry.
While most of these firms have primarily
outsourced their IT and F&A functions, few
of the recent deals include the legal services
component along with support services.
Even within the legal services, activities
offshored by law firms so far are limited
to services such as word processing, legal
transcription, coding, indexing and scan-
ning documents, contract drafting, legal
research and trademark searches.
According to Matthew Banks, Senior In the UK, the move towards
Vice President, Legal KPO, Integreon: “The
US corporate market remains a key source outsourced legal services has been
for growth in LPO revenues across a range led by corporate clients, who are
of services, particularly litigation, contracts
and regulatory/compliance. We expect the under pressure to cut costs and are
UK corporate market to follow suit. demanding that their external counsel
“On the law firm side, 2009 has
already witnessed major activity from
support them in this area. Like it
UK law firms who, in terms of offshor- or not, law firms are having to
ing, are some margin ahead of their
US counterparts and from a service
respond.”
– Paul McGolpin, CPA
line perspective we expect them to
build beyond the initial successes
of litigation document review
outsourcing.”
Although this will not affect
the dominant US focus in the
LPO sector, increasing number
of UK law firms and corpora-
tions will consider the offshore
option. While most firms are
concerned about data privacy
and confidentiality, the situation
will change considerably once the
firms that are offshoring reap the
competitive advantages of lower costs/
higher capacity. Further, unlike in the
US, in the UK there are not many domestic

May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 31

Outsourcing | perspective

Challenges of
By Wendell Jones ing client organisation communicate with

I
the people in the supplier organisation.
n the first part of These differences can hamper communica-
this article (published in tions quality and understanding.
the previous issue of this As seventh challenge is communications
magazine), we explored barriers. Human-to-human communica-
first five challenges of tions can surface significant barriers. The
offshore outsourcing. We noted that barriers include:
offshore outsourcing connects people in
the customer organisation with people in >> Filtering
the supplier organisation, and both groups
usually come from diverse backgrounds >> Selective perception
and national cultures with different norms,
values, languages and practices. >> Information overload
Needless to say, working effectively
together in a new offshore outsourcing re- >> Emotions
lationship is not easy and some companies
fail as they encounter more mine fields than >> Language
rose gardens and discover that offshore
outsourcing introduces complex and per- >> Gender
plexing challenges of its own. This second
and final part examines two additional Filtering refers to the ways a sender
offshore outsourcing challenges. manipulates information so that it will be
A sixth offshore outsourcing challenge seen more favourably by the receiver.
is maintaining the necessary flow of in- Telling the boss what one thinks the boss
formation. Enlightened and progressive wants to hear is an example of filtering.
organisations in the best of circumstances Factors which tend to increase filtering
usually find it difficult to maintain open include number of levels in the organisation
communications channels. Offshore out- and the extent to which organisational re-
sourcing introduces the added difficulty of wards emphasise style and appearance
getting information to flow up and down and thereby
the organisation and laterally back and
forth with the outsourcing suppliers. A
related challenge is predicting the effect of
actions or inaction on another organisation.
What the outsourcing managers anticipate
may not be what they get and what solved
yesterday’s problem may create new prob-
lems tomorrow.
In the individualistic US culture, com-
munications tend to be oriented to the
individual and clearly spelled out. US
managers rely heavily on memoranda,
Filtering refers to announcements, position papers and other
the ways a sender formal communications to state their posi-
manipulates tion on issues. Supervisors at the next level
information so that may hoard information in an attempt to
it will be seen more make themselves look good (filtering) and
favourably by the as a way of persuading their US employees
receiver. Telling the to accept (or reject) decisions. For their own
boss what one thinks protection, lower-level employees also
the boss wants to engage in these practices.
hear is an example of In collectivist countries, there is more
filtering. interaction for its own sake and the manner
of interpersonal contact is more informal. It is
In contrast to the US manager, the offshore important
Asian manager first engages in extensive to avoid
verbal consultation with employees over slang and
an issue and then later draws up a formal jargon when
document to outline the agreement communicating
made. In Asia, decisions by consensus
and face-to-face open communica-
with offshore
tions are a natural part of the work
counterparts.”
setting. These cultural differences
can affect the way people in the outsourc-

32 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010


offshore outsourcing
encouraging managers to filter com-
munications in their favor.
Selective perception is selective
hearing of communications based
on one’s own needs, motivation,
and other personal characteristics.
People from different cultures and
backgrounds perceive the same
events and messages differently.
Information overload is the result
of information available exceeding
ones processing capability.
Information overload causes
people to ignore, select out, pass
over, forget information, and/or just
stop processing it all together. In any
case, the result is lost information
and ineffective communication.
Emotions also play a part, for how
a person feels when a message is
received or sent influences how it
is interpreted. Feeling happy or
depressed impacts how a message
is received and interpreted.
Finally, gender and language
are two more potential barriers to
effective communications. Men
and women communicate differ-
ently. Women often communicate
to develop a relationship with the
other person, while men tend to
communicate to solve a problem or
demonstrate power. Language refers
to the different meanings for words.
Age, education and background
are three obvious variables that
influence the language a person
uses and the definitions he or she
applies to words.
The meanings of words are not
in the words, they are in us. Jargon
and technical language are two
other examples. Senders of messages
should not assume that the receiver
interprets words and phrases with
the same meaning.
It is important to avoid slang
and jargon when communicating
with offshore counterparts. Indians
learn British English, not American
English; Chinese software workers
learn the formal written language,
In Asia, but usually not the jargon, acronyms
decisions by and slang.
consensus Given that these communications
and face-to- barriers are possible wherever two
face open or more humans gather together,
communi- outsourcing managers need to
cations are a know how to overcome the barriers.
natural part Feedback is one way, which means
of the work checking the accuracy of what has
setting. been communicated or what was
What the outsourcing
managers anticipate may not
be what they get and what
solved yesterday’s problem
may create new problems
tomorrow.
perspective | Outsourcing
heard by restating the words.
Simplifying the language is a
second way. It is essential to use
words that the intended audience
understands. Active listening is a
third way. We should listen actively
and attentively for the full meaning
of the message without making
premature judgment, quick inter-
pretation, or thinking about what
to say in response while the other
person is still talking.
A fourth way is to communi-
cate only when neither person is
emotionally charged. If emotions
are running high, it is best to calm
down before attempting to com-
municate.
Dr Wendell Jones is a Professor of Man-
agement and a former senior executive
at Compaq, NASDAQ, and McDonnell
Douglas. He is recognised as a leading
outsourcing practitioner, advisor and
thought leader. He is the co-author of
“Outsourcing Information Technology
Systems & Services” – recognised as
one of the best outsourcing references.
The book was recently released in a
Chinese edition.
May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 33
Outsourcing | conversation
Innovation key to
business growth
I
n any challenging economic environment, to be ahead of
competition needs foresights and vision as well as strong and sound manage-
ment. Today, as things and people move in light speed, so too has the challenge
in creating new solutions and products for business continuity and growth. Gary
R. Blough, the Executive Vice President (Worldwide Sales) of Interactive Intelligence,
shares his insights on how to become a successful innovative global player.
How do you define the word “Innova-
tion”?
Innovation is a multi-stage process and
plays a vital role in the development of new
business concepts. For an organisation, in-
novation means a process of transforming
ideas into new and improved services and
processes in order to advance, compete and
differentiate ourselves successfully in the
marketplace.
Innovation, like many business func-
tions, is a management process that requires
specific tools, rules and discipline. Business
innovation involves a wide spectrum of
original concepts, including new ways
of doing business, new business models,
business application of technology and
communications, new management tech-
niques and environmental efficiency.
How does ININ implement innova-
tion?
As an example, we’ve taken our proven
communications technology (first launched
in 1997) and applied it to the business
process automation. The result: an offering
that gives you everything you need to
capture, prioritise, route, escalate, and track
every step in a work process. The value of
Interaction Process AutomationTM
(IPA) is to improve the efficiency
and consistency of one’s business
processes, while minimising process
latency and human error.
That’s a ROI that any CFO can
appreciate. The solution can be
applied broadly to all types of
horizontal and vertical processes.
We also provide a comprehensive
method of managing all business-
related content. When you see it,
you’ll realise that this goes way
beyond dial tone.
What kind of challenges has
been faced by ININ along the
way?
As we founded Interactive Intel-
ligence Inc. (ININ) in 1994, we
believed there was a revolution
coming in business communica-
tions and we wanted to be part
34 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010
of it.
The early years were tough. Imagine
trying to sell a Windows NT-based ‘unified’
communications system against Lucent,
Nortel and the other legacy telecom giants.
Back in ‘95, ‘96 and ‘97, people said it would
never work and would never sell.
Well, more than a decade later, the world
looks a lot different! We’ve sold thousands of
systems. Gartner has declared the PBX dead.
And the telecom giants like Siemens and
Nortel don’t look quite so tall. In fact, the
same competitors that derided our system
10+ years ago are now scrambling in an
effort to stitch together multiple products
and re-label them as ‘unified’.
However, we haven’t looked back. With
our continued focus on R&D, rapid revenue
growth, and consistent profitability, we’re
now recognised by Gartner as a global
leader in IP contact centre solutions; by
Datamonitor as the most trusted unified
communications vendor among large
enterprises; and by Software Magazine as
the 196th largest software company in the
world.
Our technology innovation –backed by
more than 4,500 customers globally and
over 300 value-added partners around the
Innovation, like
many business
functions, is a
management
process that requires
specific tools, rules
and discipline.
world – gives even the largest organisations
solid, proven alternatives when selecting
new communications technology.
We’ll continue to raise the bar by build-
ing on our base technology for even greater
scalability, reliability, and broad market
acceptance. We’re now offering all of these
proven technologies as a “cloud based”
set of on-demand contact centre services
(we call it CaaS – Communications as a
Service), and we’ve introduce the world’s
first communications based solution for
business process automation (IPA, Interac-
tion Process Automation).
How does ININ overcome those chal-
lenges?
There are always obstacles in doing busi-
ness. Successful businesses view those
challenges as opportunities.
Most importantly, we meet those oppor-
tunities through people. We pride ourselves
on recruiting and hiring very talented and
creative thinking people. We’ve always
believed that if you hire the right people
and provide the right working environment
you’ll get positive results. The innovation
we’ve spoken of is the result of the people
that work here.
In your opinion, what kind of rec-
ommendation or suggestion can
you give to start up companies?
I think more startups should explore
ways to reinvent traditional business
models to differentiate themselves in
the competitive world. This can be
through innovative technology ideas
or creative business models.
Simply choosing a business model
because “it has always been done that
way” may be very limiting to new
companies. Think about wildly suc-
cessful startups like Google or Amazon,
they broke the mold and found their
success.
When one is innovative and cre-
ative, one will be able to drive new,
high-value sources of growth. These
are the key drivers for any companies
to re-engineer itself and to compete in
the global market.
Outsourcing | adfeature
MIDA: Promoting Domestic
Investment for Economic Growth
M
alaysian Investment Development
Authority (MIDA) continues with
its efforts to further promote
domestic investments in
the manufacturing and services sector.
Among the activities undertaken includes
the organising of the national and regional
domestic seminars. It is for this reason that
MIDA collaborates with SME Corp. Malaysia
to organise domestic investment seminars
throughout the country.
MIDA and SME Corp. Malaysia are
supported by the Ministry of International
Trade and Industry and other related agencies
such as the Malaysian External Trade
Development Corporation (MATRADE) and
the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC)
when organising these seminars.
The objectives of domestic investments
seminars are to provide the local business
community with the latest updates on
government policies, incentives, facilities and
support services available in Malaysia and
highlight investment opportunities available to
the local business community.
Domestic seminars are also aimed at
increasing awareness on the functions of
agencies under the Ministry of International
Trade and Industry in assisting local investors
and provide a forum for the business
community to network with key government
agencies.
The local businessmen are encouraged
to take advantage on opportunities available
in the manufacturing and services sectors
in Malaysia. It also aids in opening the door
to local businesses that are unaware of the
incentives, opportunities and facilities offered
by the government to companies participating
in the country’s industrial development.
Domestic investment seminars are
officiated by the Minister of International Trade
and Industry who delivers a keynote address
and subsequently takes questions from the
floor. Key speakers from the public and private
sectors are invited to present papers during
these seminars.
“The local
businessmen
are encouraged to
take advantage on
business opportunities
available in the
manufacturing and
services sectors in
Malaysia.”
Vast opportunities …
the seminars will provide
t
local business community
with the latest updates
on government policies,
incentives, facilities and
support services available
in Malaysia.
FUNCTIONS OF
DOMESTIC INVESTMENT
PROMOTION DIVISION
• To organise Domestic Trade &
Investment Seminars at national and
regional levels, Sabah and Sarawak.
• To organise Specific Industry
Investment Seminars together with
the Industries Division.
• To plan and arrange meetings and
dialogue session with Chambers
of Commerce and Industry
Associations.
• To maintain and monitor the
Enterprise Connect (E-Connect)
web-based facility to assist and
facilitate business matching services.
• To plan and arrange visits
of delegation from domestic
companies/ Chambers of Commerce
and Industry Associations.
• To plan and arrange dialogue/
briefing with Government Linked
Companies (GLCs).
• To conduct briefing outside MIDA.
• To address enquiries related to
Domestic Investment.
• To provide inputs relating to
Domestic Investment (MITI Dialogue/
Annual Report/ Budget/ Parliament).
For more information these initiatives
please log on to www.mida.gov.my
May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 35
Outsourcing | survey

Talent is elusive,
says Manpower
M
anpower Inc.
released the results of
its fifth annual Tal-
ent Shortage Survey,
revealing that talent is elusive – it’s
everywhere yet nowhere, as talent
shortages persist in many countries
and industry sectors.
Thirty-one percent of employers
worldwide report having difficulty
filling key positions within their or-
ganisation – a rise of one percentage
point from 2009, amidst a perpetual
global pool of available workers.
The top hardest to fill jobs are
Skilled Trades, Sales Representa-
tives, Technicians and Engineers
according to the survey of more
than 35,000 employers across 36
countries. These are the same top
jobs that employers have reported
struggling to fill for the past four
years, demonstrating that there is
an ongoing global mismatch in
these key areas.
“As the global economy slowly
recovers, employers will remain
focused on maintaining financial
flexibility and doing more with less,”
said Jeffrey A. Joerres, Manpower
Chairman and CEO.
“Applying the same mindset to
their workforce, employers have
gotten more specific about the
combination of skill sets that they
are looking for, not only seeking
technical capabilities in a job match,
but holding out for the person that
possesses the additional qualities
above and beyond that will help
drive their organisation forward.
“This conundrum is upsetting to
the ubiquitous job seeker, who will
need to take more responsibility for
his/her skills development in order
to find ways to remain relevant to
the market.”
Manpower’s Fresh Perspectives
paper, “Teachable Fit: A New
Approach for Easing the Talent
Mismatch”, released coinciding with
the study, details how employers
should broaden their search for suit-
able talent by considering industry
migrants, location migrants, role
changers and workforce entrants.
Companies must identify those
workers who are best positioned
– thanks to their skills and their per-
sonalities – to benefit from training
and development in order to success-
fully tap into these talent pools and
fill gaps in their capabilities.
“Employers, need to recalibrate
their mindsets to consider candi-
dates who may not have all the
specific skills a job requires and
identify people that are teachable,”
added Joerres. “Candidates may
not present the perfect fit right now,
but they may possess the flexibility,
intellectual curiosity and personality
to be able to fill the gaps in their
capabilities.”
Globally, Employers having the
most difficulty finding the right
people to fill jobs are those in Japan
(76%), Brazil (64%), Argentina
(53%), Singapore (53%), Poland
(51%), Australia (45%), Hong Kong
(44%), Mexico (43%), Peru (42%),
Taiwan (41%), China (40%) and
Panama (38%). Compared to 2009,
employers are reporting that tal-
ent shortages are considerably less
pervasive in Romania (down 26
percentage points), Taiwan (down 21
percentage points), and South Africa
(down 19 percentage points).
.
As the global economy
slowly recovers, employers
will remain focused on
maintaining financial
flexibility and doing
more with less.”
- Jeffrey A. Joerres,

ITO set for continued European growth

IT outsourcing is set to grow in
popularity during 2010, according to a
report by the International Data Corporation
(IDC).
The technology market specialist has
predicted European IT services expenditure
will increase in 2010 and 2011, with IT
outsourcing being the main driver behind
this.
The study revealed the industry could
record a growth rate of 2.2% next year.
It showed that IT budgets have
stabilised along with the easing of
economic conditions, resulting in some
firms beginning to invest again.
Laura Converso, research manager at
IDC European Software and Services, said:
“Demand for projects and outsourcing will
pick up towards the second half of 2010.”
She added that the need for IT services
will be most prominent this year in the UK,
Germany and the Nordic countries.

36 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010


CIOs all set
for SaaS switch
C
hief information offiCers
(Cios) need to keep abreast of the
latest developments in the realm
of computing, including the latest
storage and deployment breakthroughs.
One thing found to be on the agenda for
many CIOs is the adoption of software as a
service (SaaS), a study has been found.
Recruitment agency Harvey Nash and
advisors PA Consulting have recently con-
ducted a global survey of more than 2,600
CIOs in businesses of various sizes. Their
research found that 34% of those surveyed
planned to employ SaaS solutions.
Additional findings showed that a greater
number – 50% of respondents – planned to
use some form of cloud computing as an IT
or storage solution in the coming year.
“Cloud is a major game-changer, but
how they use it appropriately is the real
question,” said Rupert Chapman, IT special-
Cost-cutting the top priority
Companies
have reduced
their spend on IT
services and business
transformation by almost one fifth
by turning to outsourcers, claims a survey.
Businesses canvassed by outsourcing
advisory firm TPI have saved about US$50
billion by turning to third parties to help
deliver their IT services and improve business
processes.The firm surveyed 120 companies
it had advised on sourcing over the last five
years. TPI found its clients saved on average
more than 33%. After one-time and ongoing
survey | Outsourcing
growing
dissatisfaction
over outsourcing
partners:
Informationweek
w
week
ouTsourcIng Is a Key
ist for PA Consulting. He added that CIOs parT T of every modern IT
must ensure that their businesses stay ahead group, but is still an area
of the curve when it comes to the latest in need of improvement, a
technologies in the marketplace. study claims. Twenty-nine
The information was compiled for an percent of the 530 business
article in Computer Weekly, where various technology professionals
experts advised on maturing the capabilities in the Informationweek
of CIOs as a whole. An additional finding analytics 2010 outsourcing
was the shift in IT services being outsourced, Survey have fired a
and maintaining staff to facilitate these vendor within the last 12
moves. months.
“For many, the ability to manage The growth of cloud
multiple suppliers is a very difficult task. computing, outsourcing
Therefore, businesses should be really of high-end skills, and
proactive and invest in skills in contract dissatisfaction with the
management, which are harder to find,” results in some conventional
said said Alex Blues, head of IT outsourcing outsourcing segments all
at PA Consulting. point to the need for better
“It is no longer a backwater – you should outsourcing management.
put your best people to manage those Below are some of the
contracts, not whoever is left.” other findings of the report:
> Nearly 6 of 10 IT shops
outsource some critical
function—management,
engineering or development.
However, nearly one-fourth
keep executive and
management functions in-
house but look to outsource
everything else.
> With end user support
and development of
customer-facing applications,
more than half of survey
respondents say outsourcing
has delivered lower
quality. However, cloud
computing and saas get
more favourable reviews,
with the majority saying it has
delivered better quality and
44% planning to expand use.
> ONly 17% say they directly
monitor the performance and
uptime of all of their cloud and
saas applications. a quarter
monitor only mission-critical
items and 59% rely on
their vendors to monitor
themselves.
manage- > ClOud computing
ment expenses, extends vendor relationships
the savings aver-- further than ever for
aged more than 17%. some companies, and
According to TPI chairman customers must stretch
and CEO Michael Connors the majority of their management practices
businesses, 60%, said that reducing costs was to cover it. according
“their number one reason for implementing to business technology
sourcing strategies”. professionals, unforeseen
Last year Europe became the world’s costs, communication
highest spender on outsourcing,with com- problems, and lack of industry
panies based in Europe spending more on IT expertise are three leading
outsourcing than those based in any other concerns to evaluate before
region of the world. selecting a partner.
May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 37
Outsourcing | management
Establishing safety
in workplace
By
Dr Arlyne
Diamond
Carpal Tunnel
Syndrome – which
affects the nerves in
the hands and wrists
– is one of the major
disabling injuries in
the workplace today
caused by prolonged
use of computer
keyboards at
improper heights.
38 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010
A
ll too often employers hire
highly specialised experts to come into
their companies, do an evaluation and
make recommendations for improved
safety and ergonomics. I’d like to suggest
another approach.
I consider safety one of the components of employ-
ment legal compliance and so when conducting
workshops for my clients, I add a two-hour safety
component.
What I do in those two hours is engage the work-
shop participants in what I term a scavenger hunt,
asking them to go in teams and observe their site and
come back with a list of areas needing improvement.
I make a friendly competition of it and send them off
to look, listen, and report back.
The process I use is simple. My instructions are to
go everywhere in the building and see what needs
fixing, changing, improving that will improve
ergonomics, safety, and working conditions.  >> Keyboards not lowered to prevent carpal tunnel
Perhaps I ought to digress here and mention
that ergonomics is the discipline of
matching people to the work they do.
In other words, it is having the right
fit in chair, in height of computer, “Interestingly
in keyboard at the right height for enough, we
comfortable typing. It is finding the
right size equipment for the size of discover that
the person, and teaching them how most safety
to use it properly. It is positioning the
seat of the car or truck for maximum
violations
support and comfort. It’s how you have been
bend and lift and sit and stand and
walk.
caused by
Back to my theme: I give each laziness or
team of two or three people a different
direction in which to start – randomly
carelessness
assigned – and off they go. They have and can easily
a fixed amount of time in which to be rectified.”
conduct their research and report back.
When they return, I have them share their lists
with each other, but using flip charts and having
everything they’ve discovered listed on the flip charts.
Next, I ask them which of the items they’ve listed
could be fixed by members of the team. We mark
those off and get volunteers to commit to making
the necessary adjustments.
Interestingly enough, we discover that most
safety violations have been caused by laziness or
carelessness and can easily be rectified. Our list gets
reduced to the few items requiring management
improvement and resources.
Typically my workshop participants find things
like:
>> Extension cords not taped down.
>> Boxes in or near doorways and aisles.
>> Safety measures already in place being ignored.
>> Monitors not positioned properly on the desk.
syndrome (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, which affects
the nerves in the hands and wrists, is
one of the major disabling injuries in
the workplace today).
>> Poor lighting.
>> Junk taking up spaces.
>> Safety goggles not placed on hooks
near where they are needed.
>> Bookcases and shelves not properly
secured.
>> Laziness around “clean room”
requirements.
>> Lifting improperly.
We also receive suggestions from
the participants who are now actively
thinking about ergonomics and safety.
They tell us things like:
>> We should create safety-first posters
with pictures of how to sit, stand, move
things properly.
>> We should do what some companies
do and provide frequent mandatory stretch breaks.
>> We should have safety monitors, who remind
people of their commitment to safety, and correct
them when they are doing something improperly,
such as not wearing safety goggles.
Frequently members of the group will ask if
we could allow them some extra time to fix some
of the problems they have identified. Where ever
possible, I do so that day. If not, we schedule some
additional time and deadlines for the completion
of the “fixes”.
I really like empowering the team members to
make whatever changes and corrections they can
themselves. I do this for several reasons. The first and
foremost is because they have made the discoveries
and decided to make the changes themselves. That
reduces resistance to change considerably. It is no
longer someone else mandating they clean up
their areas, or sit properly, etc. They have made the

Ergonomics is the discipline of matching
people to the work they do. In other words,
it is having the right fit in chair, in height of
computer, in keyboard at the right height
for comfortable typing.
discovery and commitment themselves.
They start to notice things and correct
themselves and each other in a friendly
manner. They help each other improve.
The changes they make are almost
always very noticeable and management
responds with surprise and delight. That
makes it that much easier to ask for bud-
get and commitment to make whatever
major changes are necessary. I get far more
cooperation from upper management
than if I were merely making a series of
recommendations.
This new level of awareness and coopera-
management | Outsourcing
tion leads to higher morale, productivity,
and yes, creativity as well. There is also an
on-going commitment to keeping the areas
safer. This is so different from the average
consultant to upper management to man-
date that I see happening elsewhere.
And, finally, the workplace becomes
safer.
Dr ArLyne Diamond is an Organisational Devel-
opment and Human Resource Consultant with
over 30 years experience. She can be contacted
at arlyne@diamondassociates.net
May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 39
Outsourcing | Happenings
Roaring success at first CDP
Roadshow in Cyberjaya
T
He presence of distinguished
speakers coupled up with a series of
quality dialogues and workshops
have ensured that the first leg of
MSC Malaysia Capability Development
Programme (CDP) Roadshow 2010 in Cy-
berjaya was a rousing success.
The CDP Roadshow 2010, themed “Your
Knowledge Hub to Maximise Your Poten-
tial”, was held recently at the Cyberview
Lodge Resort & Spa and attracted over 200
companies and ICT professionals.
Organised by Multimedia Development
Corporation (MDeC), the two-day event
was the first of three legs planned by its
Capability Development Department across
the country. The next two legs will be held
in Penang and Kuala Lumpur.
While previous CDP events were conduct-
ed as small and stand-alone occasions – this
year the department has decided to take a
giant step to consolidate the workshops and
conduct three main events targeting both
ICT professionals and MSC Malaysia Status
Organisations.
Dr Karl Ng, the Head of Capability Devel-
opment Department, said the event proved
to be a better approach in providing choices
to participants as compared to previously
adopted approach of separate sessions at
different times of the year.
Ng said: “We are in the midst of introduc-
ing many more exciting programmes and
initiatives this year and this is the best
platform to share and receive feedback from
40 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010
our MSC Malaysia Status organisations and
the ICT industry in general.”
He added the event provided a good
opportunity for the department to share
with the participants on latest CDP an-
nouncements and assistance provided to
them through its incentive schemes, online
knowledge centre, besides workshops and
awareness dialogues.
The keynote speaker for the occasion was
Howard Kendall, Founder and Chairman
of Service Desk Institute of UK, who delved
into the subject of IT Service Management
(ITSM).
Kendall said managing the customer
experience, from the business point of view
using IT facilities is the way forward. He
stressed that having a strong Service
Management framework is not enough,
as the “challenging socio-economic back-
ground of new generation socio-media
tools”, such as Twitter and Facebook, are
making evaluation ever harder.
He said such rich media gives instanta-
neous feedback and evaluation to the service
provider – meaning they have to improve
their services as soon as possible – and this
may prove to be the hardest part.
“The main reason I am here is to help
grow the skills together with the MSC Ma-
laysia Capability Development Programme.
It’s very much about developing quality
standards for Service Desk. That’s something
we will do together with Malaysian compa-
nies,” Kendall promised.
The keynote speech was followed by
Awareness Dialogues focusing on selected
areas such as Leadership, Project Manage-
ment, Software Development and Strategy.
Four workshops were also held in the area
of Information Security Management Service
(ISMS), IT Service Management (ITSM),
Service Desk and Capability Maturity Model
Integration (CMMI).
ITSM Experts Managing Director Tony
Albert – who conducted a workshop on
Service Desk Certification at the event – was
delighted with the response at the event.
Albert said: “We got more participants
than what we earlier expected – so that’s
something very encouraging and we would
like to see more companies participating in
similar programmes in the future.”
He added: “We want to take this opportu-
nity to help organisations to raise the quality
standards of their service delivery to their
clients which will eventually make all MSC
Malaysia Status Companies in Malaysia
very competitive to become a global player.
So we do look forward for more workshops
in the future.”
The event in Cyberjaya also saw CDP’s
announcement of the Software Testing
Guidebook. The handbook is intended to
assist professionals involved in Software
Testing to adopt more structured processes
in order to improve their software testing
capabilities and product quality.
For more information on these events
please visit: www.mscmalaysia.my/cdp
 happenings | Outsourcing

Microsoft Malaysia joins Harsh Manglik named

Nasscom chairman
hands with Cradle Fund india’S naSSCoM (National As-
sociation of Software and Services
Companies) has announced that Harsh
Manglik has taken over as the Chair-

M
iCroSoft MalaySia and
Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle)
announced a joint effort for
a unique commercialisation funding
project in a continuation of the highly
successful BizSpark programme. Under
this partnership, budding Malaysian
start-ups with innovative solutions will
stand to gain from technology and com-
mercial mentoring from Microsoft coupled
with funding support from Cradle of up
to RM500,000 to attain commercialisa-
tion.
Microsoft
BizSpark is
an initiative
launched to
accelerate the success of local Malaysian
technopreneurs and early stage start-ups
through professional and software sup-sup
port. This complements Cradle’s objec-
objec
tives of managing the Cradle Investment
Programme (CIP), Malaysia’s first devel-
devel
opment and technology commercialisa-
commercialisa
tion funding programme for budding
innovators and new technology-based
businesses. The partnership between
Cradle and Microsoft brings together
some of the most valuable resources in
technology for local technopreneurs to
leverage on.
Through the partnership, Microsoft
will identify companies through a rigor-
rigor
ous selection process. Ten quality start-up
companies will be recommended to
Cradle for consideration over the next two
years. Depending on the maturity and
potential of the company, entrants may
be eligible for funding under the CIP 500,
Cradle’s technology commercialisation
fund which can provide up to RM500,000.
At the same time, Microsoft will also
identify and refer technopreneurs at the
ideas stage for consideration for the CIP
Catalyst programme, which will offer
funds of up
to RM150,000
for prototype
develop-
ment.
According to Azli Jamil, General
Manager (Local Software Innovations)
of Microsoft – the global software giant
has long been passionate about helping
local businesses meet their potential.
“Globally, over 30,000 start-up com-
com
panies have signed up for BizSpark.
In Malaysia, more than 250 start-up
companies have come on board since it
was introduced less than two years ago.
From our estimates, there are quite a
number of quality start-up companies
that are ready to go to market and this
is where the commercialisation grant of
RM500,000 from Cradle would be most
useful,” said Azli.
man of its Executive Council for the
year 2010-11.
Manglik, who replaces Pramod Bha-
sin, will take on the role as the country’s
IT sector recovers from the impact of the
global economic slowdown.
Manglik is currently serving as the
Chairman and Geography Managing
Director for Accenture PLC in India.
Previously he has also been a member of
Nasscom’s Executive Council, Nasscom
said in a statement.
Nasscom has also appointed NIIT
Technologies CMD Rajendra Pawar
as the Vice Chairman of its Executive
Council.
“I am extremely honoured to be
elected the Chairman of NASSCOM at
a time when the industry is designing a
new trajectory for its next level of growth
over the next 10 years,” Manglik said.
“The majority of this new growth will
come from new areas such as public
services/e-Governance, R&D, engineer-
ing, healthcare and by creating new
opportunities/markets driven by in-
novation and IT-based growth engines
with strong contributions from start-ups
and SMEs.”
He added: “To set the stage for this
growth, NASSCOM will continue to drive
greater engagement with the govern-
ment and its members to address the
industry issues of inclusion, education,
infrastructure security and corporate
governance,” he added.

CSS Corp announces Chinese outsourcer hiSoft

acquires Salesforce.com
two acquisitions partner Echo Lane
CSS Corp, a global provider IT convergence services to its ChineSe outSourCer hiSoft
of technology solutions, an- offerings through the acquisi- Technology International has acquired
nounced it has acquired Glow tion of Glow Networks. Based Echo Lane, a solutions provider for
Networks, a telecommunica- in Richardson, Texas, Glow Salesforce.com and other SaaS CRM
tions services and engineering Networks is a US$30 million applications.
company providing end-to-end privately held company that Echo Lane will remain a wholly
network services, and the Remote has been consistently ranked owned subsidiary of hiSoft and the
Infrastructure Management amongst the fastest growing firms will join forces to expand their
Services (RIMS) business unit of companies in North America dominance in the cloud computing
InteQ, a leader in On Demand Sharma … “These by Deloitte. The company market. They will serve more than 2000
IT Service Management. acquisitions are an was founded in 2000 and customers in the United States, Asia and
“These acquisitions are an important milestone currently has nearly 400 Europe.
important milestone in the in the growth of CSS employees in the US. With the acquisition, hiSoft leads
growth of CSS Corp, scaling our Corp.” “With telecommunication China’s expansion into the global IT
revenues and adding significant and IT convergence afoot, outsourcing services market. hiSoft
technical capabilities,” said Nick Sharma, our customers are looking to us to help CEO Tiak Koon Loh said the acquisition
CEO of CSS Corp. “Our customers increas-
increas them manage this transformation,” of Echo Lane is an important step in
ingly seek critical end-to-end solutions to said Krish Prabhu, telecom veteran and hiSoft’s strategy of strengthening its
help them manage complex technology Senior Advisor to Glow Networks. “By global SaaS capabilities, as well as its
environments. The acquisition of two leveraging CSS’s expertise in platform- CRM consulting practice.
industry leaders positions CSS to be a based managed services and emerging Tiak added that as one of Salesforce.
strong and trusted partner of choice for technologies such as cloud computing, com’s elite partners, Echo Lane brings an
our customers.” we are positioned strongly to meet our impressive portfolio of cloud computing
CSS will add telecommunication and customers’ transformation needs.” knowledge and experience.

May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 41

Outsourcing | happenings
First international summit for Data Centres
International consulting firm
BroadGroup, together with the Malaysian
Multimedia Development Corporation
(MDeC), which directs and oversees Malay-
sia’s National ICT initiative, has announced
the launch of the first international summit
for data centres. The event will take place in
Kuala Lumpur from Sept 29-30.
Data Centres Malaysia Summit 2010
will include a special focus on regional
and international enterprise customers of
data centres and their outsourcing needs as
emerging private clouds, new technologies
Iskandar Investment shines at
Cityscape Asia Real Estate Awards
Iskandar Investment Berhad
has been named Best Developer in the
Commercial/Office/Retail Development
(Future) category at the 2010 Cityscape
Asia Real Estate Awards for its Lifestyle
Mall@Medini.
The 2010 Cityscape Asia Real Estate
Awards recognises and rewards companies
whose projects have shown outstanding
performance and achievement in Asia’s
real estate industry.
Arlida Ariff, President and CEO of Is-
kandar Investment, said, “This award is
testimony to Iskandar Investment’s strength
in setting standards for sustainable and
visionary developments in Asia. The Life-
style Mall will not only be a superior retail
and entertainment destination in Medini
Connxion completes acquisition of Kaz Singapore
Australian IT services firm Connxion
as finalised the acquisition of outsourcer Kaz
Singapore from Telstra International.
Kaz Singapore provided IT infrastructure
support, outsourcing and contact centre
42 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010
and market shift impact across the sector.
“We are delighted to be involved in the
Inaugural Summit of Data Centre event
as the Patron. The data centre industry is
experiencing big growth, buoyed by rising
demands in mobile transactions and user-
generated content such as M-Commerce,
4G, video usage, data transfer, storage
requirements and other factors,” said Datuk
Badlisham Ghazali, the CEO of MDeC.
Badlisham added: “This first Data Centre
conference will bring together a number of
enterprises that are providing data centre-
North, it will also be a catalyst of growth in
Iskandar Malaysia and the region.”
Iskandar Investment aspires to set a new
standard for sustainable urban planning in
Iskandar Malaysia, raising the bar for urban
development in Southeast Asia. In doing so,
Iskandar Investment offers a diversified
range of investment opportunities across
six clusters in the region, which will be
strengthened to enhance and support the
development of Iskandar Malaysia.
These are namely; education, financial
advisory services, leisure and tourism, trade
and logistics, healthcare and wellness, and
creative industries.
For more information on Iskandar Invest-
ment, please visit www.iskandarinvestment.
com
services. Under the acquisition, Connxion
will internally house its core data services
that are presently outsourced to IBM among
other data centres. Connxion will also be
able to cooperate with Telstra International
related facilities and services, and at the
same time act as a promotional platform
for Malaysia to be a preferred hub for data
centres around the globe.”
“We are especially delighted by the
participation of MDeC as Patron of this first
international summit in Malaysia,” said
Philip Low, CEO of BroadGroup.
“The programme will provide compel-
ling content, an exciting line-up of expert
speakers, and will be a stellar networking
event in a market that is poised to experi-
ence substantial growth.”
New PIKOM
president named
PIKOM, the National ICT Association
of Malaysia, has appointed Shaifubahrim
Mohd Saleh, as its President effective
May 14 after a six-month extensive
search where shortlisted candidates were
assessed by an international executive
search firm.
An ICT veteran with 27 years’
experience, Shaifubahrim is no stranger
to PIKOM, having served as its Chairman
from 1997 to 1999 and as its Advisor since
then.
Shaifubahrim obtained
his Bachelor Degree
in Computer Science,
University Sains Malaysia
(USM) in 1983 and began
his career at IBM Malaysia
before joining Logica Plc in
1988. He was also attached
to Oracle System and Data
General before serving Banyan Systems,
Asia Region as Managing Director.
He was appointed Managing Director
of Aironet Wireless Communication Inc
in 1999 and following the acquisition of
Aironet by Cisco System Inc in 2000, he
became the Managing Director of Cisco
System (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.
Currently, he’s the President of the USM
Alumni Association.
“Shaifu, with his vast knowledge of
ICT in the government and commercial
sectors, will be an invaluable asset to
PIKOM. His extraordinary spirit and strong
commitment is set to further boost the ICT
industry,” said Wei Chuan Beng, Chairman
of PIKOM.
The Presidency was previously held
by CJ Ang who was appointed in January
2008. PIKOM has appointed CJ as its
Advisor effective May 14.
on new business opportunities in Asia and
India. Connxion – which has traditionally
provided data centre and network services
– is moving into integration and application
of “Customer Intelligence Services”.

International speakers lined up for SOFTEC 2010
Malaysia is keen to produce globally
competitive software testers and position
itself as a regional outsource hub for the
lucrative software testing industry.
The Malaysian Software Testing Board
(MSTB) will host SOFTEC 2010 conference,
themed “Bridging the Gap,” from 19 – 21
July in Kuala Lumpur, headlined by leading
international speakers to share the latest
findings on software testing.
Frost & Sullivan kicks off
Customer Contact summits
The challenge of stretching limited
resources has been a continuous concern
for the contact centre industry. While this
challenge continues, enterprises are con-
stantly on the lookout for innovative ways
to engage, interact, retain and attract more
customers.
Though crucial to learn of the collective
challenges within the contact centre indus-
try, each market faces varied propositions
that are unique to the country. In an at-
tempt to learn these minute challenges and
strengths to orchestrate a more successful
tailor-made operation, Frost & Sullivan
will be hosting a series of Customer Contact
summits in 2010.
The first in this series was held in Kuala
Lumpur on May 12-13.
Themed “Next Generation Customer
Contact – Driving Customer Experience
through New Strategies, Technologies &
Processes”, the summit drew over 100
senior delegates who represent key players
primarily from the Malaysian contact centre
industry along with regional practitioners
with a keen eye on the outsourcing market
in Malaysia.
The summit started with a case study
presentation by Travis Mason, General
Manager of Salmat, entitled “Home Agents
deliver better Customer Experiences”. He
ICT push to help Malaysian SMEs
Small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) throughout Malaysia will have
an opportunity to learn how ICT and
e-commerce can help them trade with
greater efficiency and widen their market
reach through a series of seminars initiated
by PIKOM, the National ICT Association of
Malaysia.
Co-organised by Malaysia’s Ministry of
Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI)
and supported by SME Corp Malaysia,
the “SME Business Success With ICT Se-
ries” of seminars are backed by the SMI
Association of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
Malay Chamber of Commerce, Associated
Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry
Malaysia and Malaysian Associated Indian
Chambers of Commerce & Industry.
MSTB is organising the SOFTEC
conference for the third consecutive year.
“Our primary aim is to drive the software
testing industry, to benefit Malaysian
industries, and concurrently turn it into a
high income economy,” says Mastura Abu
Samah, MSTB’s President.
She adds that the immediate
implementation of software testing as a
critical component in across all industries that
presented the route that the company had
embarked in reaching its current success
point and the obstacles and windfalls that
it experienced in that journey.
This was followed by David Toh, regional
director for Interactive Intelligence, who
addressed the session on the how to outpace
the competition by harnessing the power
of customisable applications, including
multimedia queuing, skills-based routing,
interactive voice response, and more. Titled
“Differentiate your Contact Centre while
Reducing Agent Costs” the sharing was
the first in a series of presentations – “Com-
munication Enabled Business Processes:
Break the boundaries by integrating Com-
munications into Business Processes” and
“Provide faster, more responsive Customer
Service across every Channel” – was lined
up for the rest of the day.
The second-half of the summit showcased
in-depth interaction via concurrent tracks
titled People Management & Customer-
Centricity And Business Strategies, Innova-
tion & Technology. Prominent speakers from
Tenaga Nasional, GN Netcom, Shangri-La
Hotels & Resorts, Teleperformance, Data-
com, COPC Asia Pacific along with senior
Frost & Sullivan analysts shared detailed
insights with attending delegates at these
interactive track sessions.
This is the first time that various
SME-related associations have banded to
participate in an event to encourage their
members to adopt and employ wider usage
of ICT.
There are close to 900,000 SMEs, which
make up about 99% of the total number of
enterprises in Malaysia. It’s believed that
about 52% of SMEs do not have a person
assigned to handle ICT functions in their
operations.
The ICT Series of 1-day seminars will
be held over seven months from June till
December in 15 locations in Peninsular and
East Malaysia.
Those who are interested can contact
Denise Hooi at denise.hooi@pikom.org.my
or call +603-7955 2922.
happenings | Outsourcing
use embedded software in their products will
enhance product quality and value.
Quality assurance, she explains was
a precursor to what is commonly referred
today as software testing. “The detection
rate for flaws and bugs in products is much
higher through early software testing which
is what we are advocating. Better quality
products translate to an increase in the
export value of Malaysian products.”
New Chief
Executive for SIM
Society for Information
Management has recently
announced Dr Wendell O. Jones
as its new Chief Executive.
Jones
will report to the SIM
Board Chair.
“Earlier this year, SIM has
changed its structure to an
eight-person Policy Board
elected by SIM Members.
This allows the Board to
appropriately focus on matters
of strategy and growth for SIM,”
its Board Chair Pat Coffey said
in a statement.
“The position
of Chief Executive
was created
to direct the
operations of
SIM and to enact
these strategies
to achieve our
goals.”
Wendell’s
most recent role has been as
an outsourcing consultant and
as
Professor of Management
at the University of Southern
Nevada. He has
also served
previously as a practitioner in
senior IT management positions
for
profit and not-for-profit
organisations.
His senior management
positions included Senior
Vice President of
 Technology
Services, National Association
of Securities Dealers; Vice
President Global Outsourcing
Services, Compaq Computer
Corporation; General Manager,
McDonnell Douglas Information
Services Company; and Chair of
the Computer Science Faculty
at West Point.
Jones, a regular columnist
in the Outsourcing magazine, is
also the author and co-author of
a number of management and
IT articles and an IT outsourcing
book published by Prentice Hall
that was recently published in
Chinese.
May-June 2010 | Outsourcing | 43
Outsourcing | Light takes

The Best Buys!

“Certainly there are things in life that
money can’t buy, but it’s very funny – Did you ever try
buying then without money?” Prison plans
BPO unit
– Ogden Nash (Poet)

“Lives, like money, are spent. What are

you buying with yours?”
– Roy H. Williams (Author, marketing consultant)
Hyderabad’s Cherlapalli
“Marrying a man is like buying something you’ve been Central Jail, one of the most
admiring for a long time in a shop window. You may love modern prisons in India, will
it when you get it home, but it doesn’t always go with soon run an outsourcing unit
everything else in the house.” from its premises.
– Jean Kerr (Playwright) Authorities, in collaboration
with a local IT company, are
“Many an optimist has become rich planning to set up a business
by buying out a pessimist.” process outsourcing (BPO) unit
– Robert G. Allen (Financial writer) at the jail that will be staffed by
the jail’s inmates.
The initiative will increase
the prospects of the criminals in
getting jobs after they are released
from the jail.
C. Narayanacharyulu, director
of Bangalore-based IT company
Radiant Info Systems, said the
proposed BPO will execute tasks
such as data entry, processing
“I do a lot of curiosity buying; I buy it if I like the album and transmission. However, in-
cover, I buy it if I like the name of the band, anything that mates will be barred from using
sparks my imagination. I still like to go to record stores, telephones.
I like to just wander around and I’ll buy whatever “There will be no security haz-
catches my attention.” ard involved as those manning
– Bruce Springsteen (Rock star ) the BPO will have a limited access
to the internet,” he said.
The idea of a BPO in jail, a
first in India, is the brainchild
of Dr C.N. Gopinath Reddy,
Andhra Pradesh director-general
of prisons, who sees a golden op-
portunity for educated convicts.
“About 200 to 250 inmates will
be chosen for the training to
handle the job of BPO. They will
be selected on the basis of their
aptitude and interest”, he was
quoted as saying in .
“Once they become experi-
enced in this work and go out
after completing their sentence, a
whole new world of opportunity
will wait for them,” he said.
Gopinath Reddy said this was a
pilot project that will be replicated
in other jails subsequently.
“Of the total 13,000 inmates
in all the jails in the state, 2,000
people are well educated (and)
will have a good future in such
BPOs,” he said.

“When buying and selling are controlled by legislation,

the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.”
– P. J. O’Rourke (Political satirist)

Contact centre,
“When buying shares, ask yourself, would you
buy the whole company?”
– Rene Rivkin (Aussie stockbroker)

“The buyer needs a hundred eyes, the seller not one.” monks to cut suicides
at iPhone factory
– George Herbert (Poet)

“Many a man thinks he is buying

pleasure, when he is really selling Taiwan’s Foxconn Tech- attempts. Foxconn spokesman
himself to it.” nology, which manufactures Edmund Ding declined to com-
– Benjamin Franklin iPhones for Apple has recruited ment on why workers may be
(Scientist, statesman) 100 counselors and Buddhist taking their own lives.
monks to reduce stress among “It’s not just related to Fox-
“Never give anything away for nothing. Never give more workers after a spate of suicides conn; there’s a lot of pressure on
than you have to give (always catch the buyer hungry at its Chinese factories this year, young workers in factories all
and always make him wait). Always take everything back Bloomberg reported. over China,” Geoffrey Crothall,
if you possibly can.” Foxconn, which has had at communications director at the
– William S. Burroughs (Author) least seven employee suicides this Hong Kong-based China Labour
year, has set up an “emotional Bulletin, told reporters.
“A woman telling her true age is like a buyer confiding his support hotline” and instituted “Very few people pay atten-
final price to an Armenian rug dealer.” prayers from Buddhist monks. tion to other factories. Foxconn
– Mignon McLaughlin (Author) The company said the contact is always in the spotlight, largely
centre and prayers have so far because of its relationship to
“Basically what they’re saying is, if you want to be on TV, prevented more than 30 suicide Apple.”
if you want to be a credible candidate, you’ve got to buy
ads. And if you’re not buying ads, you’re not a credible
candidate, we don’t cover you.”
– Robert McChesney (Media critic, professor) Very few people pay attention
“Buying books would be a good thing if one could also to other factories. Foxconn is always
buy the time to read them in: but as a rule the purchase of in the spotlight, largely because of
books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents.”
– Arthur Schopenhauer (German philosopher) its relationship to Apple.

44 | Outsourcing | May-June 2010

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