Local IT-BPM facing competition from Vietnam, Egypt, Canada

The country’s information technology and business process management industry (IT-BPM) is facing stiff competition from other countries, particularly in the voice outsourcing services.

Senen M. Perlada, director of the Export Marketing Bureau at the Department of Trade and Industry, yesterday warned local players that the likes of Vietnam, Turkey, Egypt and Canada have started to make their presence felt in the global outsourcing and offshoring industry.

“That’s why we have to be very careful with regard to the competitiveness of the IT-BPM industry. Our advantage right now is the quality of service offered by the local talent pool,” Perlada said.

Although the Philippines continued to be the top voice outsourcing destination and second overall global outsourcing destination in the world, Perlada cited the need for the industry to look at higher value sectors of the IT-BPM industry.

“Up to now, voice services still comprised more than 60 percent of the industry. If the profile of the industry remained the same, the country would face more competition. We should thus promote the higher value sectors under the knowledge process outsourcing segment,” Perlada said.

These include animation, game development, healthcare information management and software services, he said.

Perlada also stressed the need to focus on improving and ensuring the local talent pool would have the skills needed by employers. Currently, only 15 out of about 100 applicants are taken in by companies.

The IT-BPM industry was estimated to have breached its $21-billion revenue target last year, with outsourcing and offshoring services seen as a significant driver of the local economy.

Danilo Sebastian L. Reyes, chair of the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), said in an earlier interview with the Inquirer that all the sectors in the IT-BPM industry have recorded growths in revenues, enabling the group to possibly hit its revenue target of $25 billion this year and generating employment of 1.3 million.