NASSCOM Visits RP, Signs MOU with BPA/P
by Paul Catiang

Possibly one of the most-anticipated events in outsourcing this year, India 's National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) came to the Philippines to hold a joint three-day conference with the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPA/P) at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel from September 3 to 6, 2006.

The 15-man delegation included Pankaj Aggarwal, the Joint Secretary of India 's Ministry of IT and Communications and a member of the National Task Force on Human Resource Development, and was led by Kiran Karnik, president of NASSCOM. Under Karnik's leadership, NASSCOM has been widely credited for setting the direction of India 's offshoring industry and building global brand for the Indian software and service industry.

“First let's grow the pie, then we can compete,” said Kiran Karnik in regard to the business process outsourcing (BPO) share outsourced to both the Philippines and India at a press conference on September 6, 2006. Currently, both countries serve only 10 percent of the world outsourcing market.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between NASSCOM and BPA/P involves cooperation on several levels. Strategic communications comes first, as outsourcing requires communication across the globe and spanning several time zones. Geographic risk mitigation is another concern; between the rumors of political instability in the Philippines and similar issues in India , both destinations need to reassure prospective outsourcers of the safety in bringing their business abroad. Both entities also agreed to share their best practices and to enforce strict adherence to international standards; given the global nature of outsourcing, maintaining standards and best practices encourage prospective clients to offshore to both India and the Philippines . Other concerns include data security and privacy—both crucial to the industry, given the volume and the nature of the data that gets processed in these transactions. Lastly, both organizations are teaming up for workforce development and infrastructure improvement to boost their respective countries' abilities to sustain the industry.

This agreement hopes to make both India and the Philippines more attractive outsourcing destinations than they already are, and to increase the capacity of both countries' workforces to take on the demands of the industry.

During the press conference, Mr. Karnik expressed an intention to increase the market share of India and the Philippines to “20 or 30 percent, no matter to which country it goes.”

Bong Borja, the BPA/P's Chairman, also mentioned the need for joint lobbying in the US to address the outsourcing risks perceived in coming to countries like India and the Philippines.

Both organizations have expressed optimism with regard to this joint endeavor.