FRIDAY NOVEMBER 06, 2009 PHILIPPINES

Home-based BPO agents
still not feasible in RP

BY IRMA ISIP

The president of a US-based business process outsourcing (BPO) company said home-based BPO agents remain unviable in the Philippines due to connectivity issues, but said the country should gear up its talent pool for new technology while tapping higher value-added services.

Larry Jones, president and chief executive officer of New York Stock Exchange-listed StarTek Inc. said at the International Outsourcing Summit: Global Market Leaders Addressing Global Issues (IOS) held last month that while at-home agents may be a "hot" strategy for services providers in developed markets, connectivity issues in the Philippines make reliance on at-home agents less feasible.

This means the Philippines may not be able to ride on this trend, one of three megatrends Jones sees in BPO.

According to Jones, recruiting and training of at-home agents can still be done without applicants ever setting foot in their employers’ offices, aside from performing the work they are hired to do.

In the future, Jones sees virtual contact centers staffed by part-time agents working at home and connected by high-speed portals as lessening the need to recruit large numbers of agents in one locale.

Jones also said the Philippines can benefit from the technology-driven and vertical growth megatrends.

"The Philippines is already considered the top offshore outsourcing location for customer care; however, for the country to catch up with other locations for higher value-added services, the Philippines must address challenges in the development of talent that have the technical skills to maximize the use of next-generation technology," he said.

Vertical growth, Jones said, could dramatically increase the size of the addressable BPO market, estimated at between $150 billion to $250 billion by industry analysts.

Jones said sectors like pharmaceuticals, biotech, utilities, clean technology, organic food, and healthcare will emerge as new sources of revenue as the BPO industry expands, and demand for value-added services accelerates in the next five years.

The BPO industry has traditionally and primarily relied on demand from just three industries: telecom, finance, and retail.

Jones also predicted that "agents will be turbocharged on technology" and services delivery through multiple emerging technologies would spur the industry.

With this, Jones said, the Philippines must address challenges in the development of talent that have the technical skills to maximize the use of next-generation technology.

While talent availability will remain an important concern for the industry, according to Jones, new communications technologies are likely to relieve some pressure on services providers to leverage far-flung, low-cost labor markets.