IBM to help Philippine BPOs boost productivity

MANILA, Philippines - Only about a quarter of the productivity expectations of companies are met whenever they outsource their services offshore as a result of poor communication between outsourcing companies and their clients. This is one of the industry’s biggest problems, IBM-Rational Software Vice-President Michael P. O’Rourke told a press briefing in Makati Tuesday. The problem, he added, is neither the BPO nor the client’s fault. Mr. O’Rourke said this is where IBM-Rationale Software’s enabling set of middle-ware comes in. He said the company’s new product could bridge the gap between BPO companies and their clients and help improve services and in turn, translate to more profits. He claimed that through IBM’s Jazz software platform, companies can design programs and applications tailor-made for companies’ specific needs. Mr. O’Rourke said a problem usually arises when companies that outsource their services to countries like the Philippines use software that is different from the one used by companies here. He said this results in lapses when it comes to monitoring companies’ performance, and pinpointing areas that need improvement. Jazz, he added, would companies to program their own software to bridge these gaps. The software, used mostly by US-based companies for one-and-a-half years now, is designed to break the barriers between a company’s operations. Mr. O’Rourke said IBM expects its new software, which targets multinational conglomerates, as well as small and medium enterprises, to be received well. He said BPO firms in the country have also expressed interest in availing themselves of the new software, which he claimed could double productivity. — Paolo Luis G. Montecillo, BusinessWorld