You’ve probably already had your mailbox swamped with highly amusing Friday anecdotes but we all know what you’ve all really been waiting for, it’s the sourcingfocus.com weekly roundup!
Great news for Aviva on Tuesday as they pinned down a $1 billion contract with EDS. As part of the deal 300 Aviva employees are set to be transferred to EDS. Not such great news for the EDS employees who are now facing possible pay cuts due to cost reduction measures announced by its parent company HP.
Apart from the cost cutting at HP and EDS, the week has been broadly positive for the world of outsourcing. EquaTerra reported that interest in outsourcing has risen by 9 percent in an annual study.
As part of their ‘Outsourcing Service Provider Performance and Satisfaction Study 2008-09’, six percent of participants (all UK organisations) said they would be looking to outsource more in 08-09. The main reason for choosing outsourcing were the pressures of the downturn. Well, every cloud has a silver lining.
With Slumdog Millionaire winning eight Oscars India has never been in the media spotlight so often. However, Hollywood films are not the only thing putting India on the map. In the equally glamorous world of outsourcing, India is soaring above the rest with 89 percent of respondents in the EquaTerra report outsourcing their ICT services there.
More good news came in from Northern Ireland in the shape of 900 new jobs being created by gem, a Belfast BPO firm. Downturn? What downturn?
Geraldine Fusciardi, Sales and Marketing Director of gem, spoke to sourcingfocus.com and explained that gem and Invest Northern Ireland, who are investing in gem’s new delivery centre, hope to make Northern Ireland a more attractive location for UK outsourcing.
The week also saw the launch of 2009’s Outsourcing Black Book which, surely to the ire of many, brings offshore risk back to the fore. Sourcingfocus.com asked the experts what they think in ‘For whom the bell tolls’.
That brings us neatly to the end of the week. Looking back over it I am awash with Slumdog Millionaire-esque positivity. Let’s see what next week brings…
