Maybe the words are a bit harsh
but there are times when reporting the facts goes a bit afield when placed into
context with other elements. A recent article by Rebecca Wanjiku,
Computer World-Kenya suggest the many struggles that Kenya is having in getting
into the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) space. My contention is that
they are ‘emerging’ and to conduct a gross comparison against the Indian
benchmark is inappropriate and totally irresponsible. Some would even
argue that below the Tier 1 level, even within India, there are misgivings and
issues worth noting.
What does this mean? It
means that each service destination and the companies that are located there,
need to be evaluated on their own merits. Although India and China have
extensive skilled labor pools, many Western countries do not require this level
of resourcing. Many have simple service requirements and need only a
modest level of staffing. I have seen more than one case where ‘over
sourcing’ (more people than necessary) was put on engagement because buyers
could purchase more because of the savings. When in fact the sourcing
level could have been less.
My point is that many buyers do
not need exhaustive staff nor do they require highly skilled resources.
What is often needed is committed and trainable staff. Often people at
this level are loyal and less apt to shift employment because of their
dedication to their employer.
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
is also a concern in the Kenyan market. IPR remains a concern as well in
India, China and throughout the outsourcing world. Protection over
properties starts with the service company and looks at what measures taken to
protect the interests of client companies. Without this commitment, laws
become secondary measures further compounded by collisions with international
laws.
I have found that emerging nations
and companies are hidden gems. We have seen, albeit quietly, that even
the big outsource providers in India, China and elsewhere are utilizing these
regions. If the sins of an emerging nation are that great would these
companies utilize this resource pool? Further, if the risks are real, are
these same experienced companies exposing their clients unknowingly?
Emerging markets are eagerly looking for the opportunities and are strongly
committed to servicing their customer base. I have also seen a rise in
the number of buyers who are failing to fulfill their financial agreement
largely due to contractual technicalities. This places at risk companies
and even in some cases countries who have small sourcing markets (such as
Bhutan).
In short, while advisory and
research work is interesting and telling, it must also be subjected to critical
study and analysis. As we all know, statistics can be quite
creative. Sometimes so much so that we question how a company can be paid
$500,000 to report on the obvious. Is this more about purchasing a “named
company” endorsement? Wouldn’t this money be better spent on constructively
exploring potential possibilities for emerging markets?
I will leave that answer up to
you.
