Outsource Magazine

There is a definite theme developing to the outsourcing sector in 2010. What with the recently announced LSE course in Global Sourcing of Business and IT Services and the WNS achievement of SAP-certified provider: and now Infosys BPO, the business process outsourcing subsidiary of Infosys Technologies, announced on 09 March 2010 a training partnership with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

As we've already observed in recent items, BPO is evolving from the 'lets get someone else to do the hard and expensive stuff' to 'how can we engage the best practices into our business process to give us a competitive advantage?' To an increasing degree, BPO providers are becoming high grade process managers in their own right, not simply mimicking the process they have taken on but also developing and adding value as a key brand differentiator when they are competing for work. It is already the case for some process componenets and will increasingly become so that BPO providers will actually be better at the jobs they undertake than the originators of that work. And why not?

Well, there are actually a couple of reasons why not but they largely apply to businesses where the core intellectual skill is embedded in the process, such as the defence industry as covered in Outsource magazine, issue 20, out now. For most businesses and organisations, though, no such concerns apply and the possibility that, at every stage in the business process, world class and appropriately qualified people will be working in the organisation's name will be an unqualified positive.

Infosys BPO will adopt and incorporate the CIMA qualification as part of their continuous learning and development program for their supervisory and management team engaged in providing BPO services in the Finance and Accounting function to their clients both outside and in India.

Said Mr. Aubrey Joachim, Global President, CIMA, during his visit to Infosys BPO to announce this partnership: "We are delighted to announce this partnership with Infosys BPO. This partnership is a part of CIMA's endeavor to support organizations globally, in recruiting, retaining and training their human resources for the business needs of today and the future. We believe that the partnership will help them drive business performance, especially in the areas of business analysis, decision support and risk management. Infosys BPO's choice of CIMA as a training partner highlights the emphasis that the organization places on global quality."