Outsourcing: Amit Shankardass And Andrew Kokes Of Sitel (Part 3)

By guest author Tony Scott

Andrew: Over the past decade we have seen globalization evolve, particularly within the call center and BPO marketplace. There was a period from 2002 and 2003 to around 2007 when I spent a lot of time focusing on the emerging markets: India, the Philippines, Peru, the rest of Latin America. All different, neutral, offshore destinations, if you will. I spent 2003 to 2005 answering one question. I made a career of [figuring out] why India versus the Philippines or vice versa. >>>

1M/1M: Outsourcing Module Of The Curriculum Is Ready

Folks, some of you have conveyed, through our ambassadors, that you are looking for a module on Outsourcing in the 1M/1M curriculum. Well, I am happy to announce that this module is now ready and available for your consumption. We will also be layering on additional services on top of this module so that you can market your particular brand of specialization to the 1M/1M community in due course.

The intent of this module is twofold: (1) Help entrepreneurs build new outsourcing companies addressing the gaps in today’s market; and (2) help entrepreneurs bootstrap product companies using outsourcing services as a source of cash.

As usual, it contains video lectures and case studies, including a comprehensive discussion on blue-sky opportunities.

You can access it on the 1M/1M site, here.

Outsourcing: Amit Shankardass And Andrew Kokes Of Sitel (Part 2)

Tony: So, initially, the company was mostly Indian in terms of the delivery model, and you have now gone into multiple countries?

Amit: Ten years ago it was predominantly domestic, and there was very little happening offshore. Today, there is a mix of rightshoring or global sourcing. I am not saying 60 percent is done offshore; I am saying there is a mix. What has adapted in our organization is the leadership team. The president of our company is bilingual. Just a couple of years ago the only language spoken in the executive suite was English. Today, our top executives speak five or six different languages, and we have to because five or six different languages become relevant to us as a global company versus a domestic-only company. We have had to adapt our vernacular, our systems, our technologies, and our correspondence – both internally and externally – beyond one language to four or five different languages.  Our internal magazine was published in one language three years ago, and today we publish it in four languages. >>>

Outsourcing: Amit Shankardass And Andrew Kokes Of Sitel (Part 1)

By guest author Tony Scott

This interview, the last in this first group in the series, is with Sitel, which describes itself as “redefining call center outsourcing.” The company offers a variety of services for acquisitions and sales, back office, collections, customer care, and technical support. I am talking with Sitel’s chief global marketing officer, Amit Shankardass, and vice president of marketing for the Americas, Andrew Kokes, who worked a number of years in the Philippines before coming to Sitel’s head office in Nashville, Tennessee. >>>

Outsourcing: Dr. Shami Khorana of HCL America (Part 6)

By guest author Tony Scott

Tony: That is an interesting concept, being transparent for the benefit of employees, making sure that people feel included and valued in their work, and helping them to find their place in the global workforce. Obviously, if we look at the historical concept of how one manages a business, it was “command and control” – for a long time, nothing changed since the days of the Roman legions. We can go on down through the manufacturing model, and then to services, where people were treated as the equivalent of machines.

Shami: It is a very different kind of thing today; there is a big change happening now. The next generation that we see today they are a lot different from the old Europeans, and they are much different from people of my generation. I think the important thing is you have a different kind of workforce. And you have to organize your company to be able to take advantage of it.

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Outsourcing: Dr. Shami Khorana of HCL America (Part 5)

By guest author Tony Scott

Tony: Through the course of this process, how have you as the president of HCL America gone about making sure you infuse that culture in your organization and find this kind of talent for your leaders?

Shami: You have to do it step by step. If I look at the profile of our company a few years ago, even in the United States, a large faction of our employees were from India, and many of them were here on a short-term basis. Our global population is now much higher; it has gone up substantially, which is the first thing you should do. If you can’t do that, you are in trouble. In that way I would say that U.S. companies have done pretty well in going to India and assimilating with the population. >>>

Outsourcing: Dr. Shami Khorana of HCL America (Part 4)

By guest author Tony Scott

Tony: Do you see HCL also doing more of the type of deals that you did with CA, possibly moving into product creation?

Shami: Definitely. There was a time when we were very strong and focused on seeing whether we could do an entire platform; everything is about platforms. One of the things I provide is what we can call a “service on a platform.” The question is no longer just, “Can I develop an application for you?” A lot of the new partnerships will be focused on value: they will be more output focused, more business-value focused, rather than focused just on the parameters that outsourcers have normally used. >>>

Outsourcing: Dr. Shami Khorana of HCL America (Part 3)

By guest author Tony Scott

Tony: Companies have to figure out what their own core competencies are. If you look at the history of artisans, they made everything themselves. Then came industrialization with vertical integration, with ultimate example being Ford’s River Rouge plant. When it was finished, it was the largest integrated industrial plant in the world.  They brought in the raw materials, but everything else – from ore processing to electrical generation to steel making ­– was totally integrated. Raw materials in the front door, finished automobiles out the back door. For many years, companies around the world thought that they needed to mimic that, but obviously things have changed. What do you think are the big drivers that allowed that change to happen? >>>