Look before you leap!

As offshore Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) continues to dramatically play a major role in worldwide economy, call centers continuously sprout all over the world.

With the fast revolution of Internet TELCO technology, solutions for call centers continue to evolve and significantly improve over the years. As the demand increases, competition among call centers and solutions providers becomes stiffer as clients become more demanding and critical. This calls for players in the marketplace to maintain a balance between cost effective and staying ahead among everyone else in the industry.

Although there are already big players in the industry over the years, there are still startups that emerge and would like to start with smaller number of seats. If you are among these startups, you have to remember that it is best for you to ask questions before you buy anything rather than afterward. This could apply to anyone who would like to startup a new call center, switch an existing center from analog system to VoIP for call centers, or would like to outsource a part or all of the existing call center functionality.

Any provider can give you good recommendations, but make sure you have answers to these key questions:

* Will you be starting with an in house call center, an outsourced call center, or a virtual call center? Some companies prefer to start with a simple operation with the capacity to avail of outsourced solution. If you have enough capital, then you can look into contracting a call center host for your system. There are hosted solutions that can handle up to 100,000,000 calls a year, state of the art equipment that's fully automated and customized software. This way, you are ensured of a high data security with data redundancy that assures full 24/7 service all year round. On the other hand, there is greater control and flexibility if you run your own call center operation.
* How soon are you buying your own call center solutions? It might be faster to set up an outsourced call center first, then cross-fade to your own operation as soon as your own equipment, software, and personnel will be available.
* Do you have a ball park figure for the number of calls you will be receiving every month? If you have, then make sure you get to break down the numbers into incoming and outgoing calls, defining into functions like: sales, technical support, telemarketing, etc.
* If you already have a call center, how many agents are staffed on the floor? If this will be your first time, how many agents do you expect to hire for your center?
* How do you see your own call center 5 years from now in terms of expansion or other things? Knowing long term action plans will determine if your current strategies will be supportive as your contingent plans.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donna_Bell

The only way to get things done fast and efficiently is to outsource the work that you're not familiar with to others who are. Small business owners cannot afford to lose clients just because they refuse to outsource writer so that they can work on marketing and sending their clients the invoice

Imagine you're neck high with work and the ALERT red light's been blinking like a siren all day long and yet you know you've got to sit down to write a bunch of articles. You're gobsmacked out of ideas on how to make things work now! This is a common problem for small business owners or home-based businesses. You can't be everywhere at the same time. But here's what you can do...and it's a no brainer, actually. You outsource the writer part of your work to a credible and reliable (and professional - I have to add but felt that everyone you might outsource to think of themselves as professionals, anyway) writer who is experienced in accepting jobs like yours. You don't want to come back to a whole new idea of a 'headache' when you're done because the writer can do it the way you want it to be done, you see, you've GOT TO BE very particular about the kind of writer you outsource the work to. I'll try to keep things brief without losing out on the point of why you should outsource the work to a writer.

* Business can only grow if you can keep to the pace of work
* If you're turning around in circles, at the end of the day, you might lose some of them
* You'll get a bad reputation in the industry
* Outsourcing to a writer frees up your time so that you can spend it playing with your kids or doing something meaningful...like watering your plants (OK, fine. I'm kidding about this one but the point is there)
* There are TOO MANY writers in the market today, so don't tell me you can't find one that fits the bill! Outsourcing to the right writer is as easy as brushing your teeth these days
* It's not expensive to hire a good outsource writer
* Potential income increases when you have more time to focus on the important parts of running your business and clinching the sales
* You can spend more time GROWING your business, partnering with people or forming affiliations which will, at the end of the day, mean more business to you

Some people are just particularly worried about outsource writers because of many reasons but one of them is that they believe that if you can't see the writer, it's no go. In the fast-paced world of the Internet today, it's a no-go if you plan to do everything on your own. Not to mention the fact that you're limiting your own growth as well. So, don't worry about it. If you want to see improvement in the P&L at the end of the quarter, you should start thinking about how to find the right outsource writer for the job NOW.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marsha_Maung

There was a time when no body can think of even doing a work out of their locality or town. But the ever-increasing communication channels made the world like global village and people started getting their jobs done at the cheaper places in the world. This revolution helped a lot to the Software Development industry. A term known as offshore outsourcing emerged as a common word for all outsourced jobs.

Offshore outsourcing provides a bigger profit medium to software companies of both sides and also help in acquiring more and more projects at the same time. Developed countries outsource their projects in other countries where manpower is cheaper. In short, it's getting higher quality workers and at the same time, cutting the overall cost of the project. In outsourcing your cost will go down but at the same time it does not mean that your services quality is also low. Almost all the major company follows the outsourcing model, it will be helpful in increasing the business.

Outsourcing projects reduces your cost on the project. In last 10 years it becomes common trend to outsource the Software development services to other countries were manpower is cheaper. India is a favorite offshore outsourcing center for UK and US based companies.

Offshore outsourcing is great advantage for companies. India has already proved itself as an efficient outsourcing center, now China and Canada are also emerging as good offshore centers for Software Development. Outsourcing will be helpful in moving less important jobs out of the country and helpful in concentrating on important jobs. This will require higher qualifications thus pushing the country to educate its citizens more and focus on improving the quality of their own employees.

The core area of outsourcing work is software development, website development, medical transcription, banking, finance work, data entry & customer service works.
Software outsourcing gathered strength with increasing number of sources available in present IT-edge, requirements delivery in possible least time, less skilled personnel available, discrete communication and inefficient management of various modules within a large enterprise.

Offshore outsourcing is the good opportunities to reduce project overhead cost. It is a best way to complete your project in a timeliness manner.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennif_Jones

I am definitely not going to outsource my customer service. My customers love talking to me.

If this is what you think when you hear the word outsourcing, please go ahead and read the rest of the article. This article should change your thoughts about Business Process Outsourcing. Not only will it change the way you think, but it will also lead you to a new path of success. A path of success that many corporate giants have already discovered and they are enjoying the benefits now. Now you must be wondering I have always heard my customers complain about outsourcing. Even when I call some companies, the support I get, makes me highly dissatisfied, then how can I outsource my services yet make my customers happy. Well, I would say it is possible, if done correctly.


It is not that your customers hate outsourcing; they hate outsourcing when they suffer because of it.

What does that mean? The customer would love outsourcing, if it is a pleasant experience for them. Now, you must be thinking, how to outsource, yet make your customers love it. By the end of this article, you will get to know how to outsource your business needs, without upsetting your customer. Before we get started, let us cover some basics of Outsourcing.

Business Process Outsourcing is the delegation of one or more business processes which are not the core process of the outsourcing company to an external provider who in turn provides services for the selected process based on certain defined and measurable performance criteria specified by the outsourcing company. This generally involves an organizations non-core processes. Outsourcing: Contracting some or all call center services to an outside company. OnShore: Onshore outsourcing is outsourcing within nearby region or the same country. Offshore: Offshore outsourcing is outsourcing beyond your country. Call Center: A term that generally refers to inbound centers, outbound centers, help desks, information lines or customer service centers, regardless of how they are organized or what types of transactions they handle. Help Desk: An inbound call center set up to handle queries about product installation, usage or problems, primarily technical support related to computers or other hardware. The same can be offered through Voice support, chat or email support.

Now that you understand few terms related to outsourcing, let us try to understand why it is important for your business.

Why is outsourcing necessary?

I am sure; you must have read about the term Opportunity Cost. An Opportunity Cost is the value of a product that is forgone when pursuing another product. For example, if a CEO of a company chooses to spend two hours a day on building more sales channels, something that could be easily outsourced, the opportunity cost is the value of the time he denied himself and his primary work. That time could have been used to take important strategic decisions about your company, or it could have been time well spent playing baseball with your kids. Either way, the time represents an opportunity cost, or you may call it an opportunity lost. Now let us try to understand how to make outsourcing a beneficial experience for both you and your customer. Cutting cost is the first thing most of the companies think about while outsourcing their business needs. Now this is the problem. As a company planning to outsource your services you should focus on these 3 things:

Quality of work desired. Customer satisfaction. Reduction in cost.

Most of the times, people forget about the first 2 and focus only on the 3rd point. Such a strategy leads to drop in the quality of service leading to dissatisfaction of customers. The Beneficial way of Business Process Outsourcing would require a complete business plan. Let us take an example. If your company sells a DVD player and you plan to outsource your technical support, this is what i would suggest to keep in mind while making your Outsourcing Business plan.

A document detailing the required infrastructure for the call center. Minimum qualification of the technical support representatives. Voice and accent test of the technical support representatives. Quality guidelines for the call centers and the employees. Thorough product training. (This is where most of the small companies lack) A Complete Knowledge base, with detailed answers on each and every product. Customer satisfaction surveys. Blended outsourcing. Blended outsourcing means, having an offshore as well as onshore support center. If you require 100 technical support representatives, outsource 90 to offshore and keep 10 onshore. You can always utilize onshore representatives to act as level-2 support. Update management system, to ensure the offshore call center gets updates on time. It is very important to inform your offshore call centers well in advance about any important updates or launch of new products. Please don't forget to ship new player your company launches to the offshore call center well in advance, so that the representatives can be trained properly before the launch. Start slowly and gradually. Do not outsource your complete services at 1 time. If your business model allows, operate more than 1 call centers and that too at different locations. This would also give you benefits in terms of Disaster management. The most important point to remember: Always hire a professional Business process outsourcing company to manage your offshore operations.

The basic need is outsourcing is to focus on your core business. Always make sure you manage the outsourcing services. I would suggest hiring a Business process outsourcing company, expert in the field of outsourcing to manage your outsourcing needs. If you make a proper outsourcing plan and then outsource your business, it would definitely lead to a beneficial experience for both you and your customers. Always remember, Successful entrepreneurs are those who can see the big picture. They know when to delegate and how to accurately delegate tasks.

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We are at the crossroad today, experiencing the greatest technological advantages of all time, and yet at the risk of loosing all we have built over the centuries. Shift in technological approach from manual to automated system, standalone to unified database, traditional software technology to open source technologies, static to dynamic website applications development, in-house to offshore outsourcing business solutions, more advancement in technologies and infrastructure, equipment, search engine optimization, internet marketing for websites promotion and a long list to go. Remember, with advancement and up gradation in technologies complexity is increasing and it is not an easy task to deliver a scalable solution.

Capture the road to global business marketing by outsourcing your services to India. India, the land of rich resources offers cheap, best, reliable, effective business solutions to all its investors and India has become international centre of IT outsourcing and the number of investors are increasing everyday. Extensive market research, study your business needs for fruitful, long-term solutions.

For decades, companies have been using outsourcing strategies but offshore outsourcing penetrated the IT world when companies found difficult to bear high development cost of local providers.

Offshore Software Development Outsourcing Services includes offshoring your services, production, outsourcing business solutions, application services, network outsourcing services. This practice leverages IT know-how and expertise to provide guaranteed quality of service with service levels metrics combined to the key performance indicators. Offshore Software Development Outsourcing Solutions are more sustainable, and these solutions can now easily address complex business problems.
I have the habit of explaining the literal meaning of the term I target in my article. Here we are talking about offshore outsourcing. Again, offshore means relocation of business processes from one country to another and outsourcing means movement of internal business processes to an external company. Offshore Outsourcing means moving business processes to an external company from one country to another company.

Why has offshore software development outsourcing services taken lead in the global market place?? Thinking, rethinking and with online research I came to conclusion that improved access to IT skills and resources and reduction in IT investment are the profit that lead India the most preferable destination for outsourcing. No doubt, ERP is one of the hidden force to count on as ERP development has provided globally integrated system which makes very easy to locate functions anywhere in the world. Collaborative effort of all the developers, programmers, investors and clientele has made our offshore software development outsourcing services, a great success. Our technology practices include innovation, new implementation, continuous improvement in technologies, managing processes.

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In the 1800s and early 1900s, companies were vertically integrated organisations that would handle every element of taking their product or service to market. That would often involve manufacturing from raw materials to finished products, shipping, marketing and often selling the goods in their own retail outlets. They would also handle the human resourcing, legal and accounting responsibilities in house as well. These organisations were very unwieldy to run and therefore cost-inefficient, and so it is understandable that their structure would change as more focus was put on the efficient management of company resources.

Over the second part of the 20th Century, manufacturers began contracting out the production of components to smaller, specialised suppliers and this trend continued over the 1970s and 1980s when accounting services, payroll, billing, and word processing all began to be outsourced by Western organisations. At the turn of the millennium, with improvements in technology and the ability to communicate quickly and easily over vast distances information technology, design engineering and call center operations became the latest candidates to be outsourced.


Recently, outsourcing has often been used interchangeably with offshoring, although the two are actually distinct processes. Outsourcing always involves sub-contracting work to a third party company, which may or may not be located in the same country or region. Offshoring is the process of moving work to a foreign country to take advantage of lower labour costs. This might involve the work being outsourced, but just as often the company will continue to carry out the work in-house.

Below are some of the reasons that might prompt a company to choose to outsource. Some of these are outright benefits, whilst others are ways of overcoming certain problems that might be experienced by the company.

Benefits of outsourcing

* Improved quality: Contracting out a service with a new SLA (Service level agreement) can lead to quality improvements
* Knowledge: Wider experience, knowledge and even intellectual property can be accessed through contracting to third parties
* Contract: Financial rebates or legal redress are possible where standards of work and other criteria are not met
* Change agent: An outsourcing agreement can be used as a catalyst for major step change that would not be possible otherwise.
* Reduced time to market: Development or production of a particular product can be accelerated by bringing in third party capacity

Overcoming problems by outsourcing

* Cost savings: Often achieved by exploiting the differential in wages in different countries (off-shoring), but also through increased efficiency due to specialisation available in the outsourcer.
* Staffing issues: outsourcing allows access to a larger pool of talent, and therefore the ability to sustain vital skills
* Capacity management: where peaks are experienced in demand for goods or services, outsourcing allows the risk to be borne by the supplier.

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THE contact centre industry can expect an exciting 12 months ahead similar to the one it experienced in 2005. This was revealed in a latest research by Frost & Sullivan, which found that the number of contact centres in Asia Pacific, which totalled over 21,360 in 2004, is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 9.1% to reach some 39,247 contact centres by the end of 2011.

The location of a contact centre seems to be one of the overriding factors when choosing a contact centre partner. The report indicates that many companies in Japan and South Korea are looking towards China to offshore their contact centre operations. Meanwhile, contact centres in Singapore are considering neighbouring Malaysia as an attractive alternative for greater cost benefits, while some Australian companies are moving their contact centres within the region to India and the Philippines.

Although cost is still the top reason for companies to offshore and outsource in the Asia Pacific, the quality of the service offered is the defining factor that will make a country the foremost choice for contact centre outsourcing. `Contact centres are fast assuming increased importance in the business process as customer service becomes the key differentiator for product or service preference,' notes Frost & Sullivan research analyst Shivanu Shukla. This being the case, he says the scalability of operations, flexibility and increased focus on business processes - rather than the management of the technology infrastructure and staffing issues - are likely to drive outsourcing in the contact centre segment.

However, the contact centre industry is challenged by high labour attrition rate, averaging at 19.8% in the Asia Pacific in 2004. In growth markets such as India and the Philippines, attrition rates are even higher owing to the increase in demand for contact centre agents. `With agents rapidly shifting to contact centres that either remunerate better or offer better incentives, recruiting, managing and retaining staff has become one of the biggest issues that contact centres across Asia Pacific need to deal with,' notes Shukla.

Developed markets such as Australia and Hong Kong have, over the years, established ways to maintain or even reduce attrition.

The report states that, at present, banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) companies followed by telecommunications and IT companies continue to be the top contributors to total contact centre seats in the Asia Pacific. As governments across the the Asia Pacific launch their e- government initiatives to provide channels for greater interaction with the general public, domestic demand for contact centres is expected to intensify. Such factors, combined with the inherent benefits of contact centre outsourcing, will hike demand for this market in the Asia Pacific thus ensuring its steady growth.

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. , a leading provider of integrated technology solutions and data processing services for financial institutions, today announced that its insurance agency outsourcing solution has been bought by the business line's management team and a private equity group. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Banc Insurance Services, Inc. (BIS) was founded in 1999 to provide a turnkey outsourcing solution that enables financial institutions to own an insurance agency without the capital investments required to build or buy an agency, or the inherent operational risks. BIS was acquired by Jack Henry & Associates in 2004 and was assimilated into its ProfitStars(R) brand in 2006. The company will now be re-branded as Insuritas, Inc. with its founder, Jeffrey Chesky, serving as president and CEO, and the existing employees joining the independent company.

Kevin Williams, CFO of Jack Henry & Associates, reported, "We have a disciplined acquisition strategy and establish revenue contribution and margin expectations for every acquisition we make. Despite our best efforts, this business line did not generate the financial performance we expected. We thoroughly evaluated our options and determined divesting this business line was in the best interest of our company and our shareholders. Divesting this business line will generate a modest improvement in our margins and eliminate the negative impact it had on cash flow. We also determined that selling this business line to its highly specialized management team is in the best interest of our joint clients because it will provide a consistent service experience and ongoing access to quality insurance products. We have established a strategic business alliance with Insuritas and will actively refer current and prospective customers interested in offering commercial and personal lines of insurance to them. We believe the opportunity to once again operate as a private company focused exclusively on insurance distribution provides the best near- and long-term outlook for this business."

According to Chesky, "As a part of Jack Henry & Associates, we were able to upgrade our master agency platform and build a more technology-rich infrastructure. While we enjoyed great support within Jack Henry, we believe our business can grow more rapidly operating as an independent company. We are excited about the opportunity to leverage our success and continue designing, implementing, and managing successful insurance agency aisles in the stores of financial institutions nationwide."

Jack Henry & Associates' ProfitStars division encompasses the remaining 16 acquisitions that were made to assemble more than 50 products and services that improve the performance of financial institutions of all asset sizes and charters, and diverse corporate entities. These solutions complement virtually any core information processing platform and facilitate revenue and growth, risk mitigation and control, and cost control.

About Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. is a leading provider of computer systems and ATM/debit card/ACH transaction processing services primarily for financial services organizations. Its technology solutions serve more than 8,700 customers nationwide, and are marketed and supported through three primary brands. Jack Henry Banking(TM) supports banks ranging from de novo to mid-tier institutions with information and transaction processing solutions. Symitar(TM) is the leading provider of information and transaction processing solutions for credit unions of all sizes. ProfitStars provides highly specialized products and services that enable financial institutions of every asset size and charter, and diverse corporate entities to mitigate and control risks, optimize revenue and growth opportunities, and contain costs. Additional information is available at http://www.jackhenry.com/.

Statements made in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking information. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking information. Specifically, there are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by any forward-looking information. Additional information on these and other factors, which could affect the Company's financial results, are included in its Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings on Form 10-K, and potential investors should review these statements. Finally, there may be other factors not mentioned above or included in the Company's SEC filings that may cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking information.

RESTON, Va. -- As previously announced, Tier Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:TIER) is in the process of the divestment of a number of business units and operations. On June 30, 2008, Tier completed the sale of its Government Business Process Outsourcing business unit. In addition, Tier recently completed the sale of its State Systems Integration business unit, Health and Human Services business unit, and Virginia Call Center and Independent Validation and Verification operations.

Tier has two additional business units currently under review by potential acquirers. With closure on these last transactions, Tier will have completed its divestiture plan as part of its strategy to focus on electronic payment processing going forward.

Tier Technologies, Inc. primarily provides federal, state and local government and other public sector clients primarily with electronic payment processing and other transaction processing services. Tier Technologies is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Its electronic payment processing clients include over 3,000 federal, state, and local governments, educational institutions, utilities and commercial clients throughout the U.S. Through its subsidiary, Official Payments Corp., Tier delivers payment processing solutions for a wide range of markets. For more information, see www.tier.com and www.officialpayments.com.

Statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Tier undertakes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Each of these statements is made as of the date hereof based only on current information and expectations that are inherently subject to change and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in any of such statements due to various factors, including, but not limited to: the impact of governmental investigations; the potential loss of funding by clients, including due to government budget shortfalls or revisions to mandated statutes; the timing, initiation, completion, renewal, extension or early termination of client projects; the Company's ability to realize revenues from its business development opportunities; the timing and completion of the divestment of the Company's non-core assets; and unanticipated claims as a result of project performance, including due to the failure of software providers or subcontractors to satisfactorily complete engagements. For a discussion of these and other factors which may cause our actual events or results to differ from those projected, please refer to the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2007 filed with the SEC.