Crisis means opportunity
The greater the effect of change that the global economy is currently undergoing, the greater the gain for central European countries (especially that of Poland). Many difficulties, such as growing costs, which each serious entity on the international market must face, call for changes in its function. The crisis requires more effectiveness; there is no tolerance for squander and pointless spending. One way to reduce it is by outsourcing some functions to places with lower costs of labor and higher effectiveness thereof. It began with simple tasks; now it also concerns advanced ones. Knowledge demanding functions cannot be outsourced just anywhere, taking into consideration only their price. A variety of different criteria must be taken into account when making such a decision, the most significant of which being the quality of education provided by local universities as well as language and interpersonal abilities/talents of their graduates. One cannot forget that in the area of advanced BPO/SSC centers employees must be familiar with the cultural and social rules and traditions of the mother company. Developing economies do not fulfill all the above demands yet; therefore the leading players in terms of potential service centers must be located in Central/Eastern Europe. There are already over 80000 people working in such centers in Poland alone and in 2-3 years their number will probably amount to as many as 100000.
The recent activity in the sector is quite easy to notice. Cisco systems lately declared the establishment of a support center in Kraków; it will provide services for Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Africa. Other companies such as Bayer, Dolby and Bank of New York are seriously reflecting upon moving many of their functions to Poland as well. According to a recent study the number of investors is expected to grow by 20 by the next 12-18 months. According to Jacek Levernes vice president of the board of Hewlett Packard Europe, the crisis is just another great incentive for companies to shift some of their functions to Poland. Another reason for intense growth in the coming year is the fact that many centers are already present and in great shape, which provides nearly risk eliminating evidence. What more could one hope for? A study by PWC and Duke University confirmed that 74% of firms that already established an SSC/BPO center plan to expand, 13% are hoping to take over other centers. Furthermore, an analysis by Gartner predicts that during the fourth quarter of 2011 the income of most service centers will be subject to radical growth. During the last couple of years over 76% of SSC/BPO centers in Poland have added more advanced services to their offer; only 13% did not change their area of interest. Furthermore, most companies create service centers whose function is concentrated on various tasks.
It is almost certain that such a trend will last a long time and must be taken advantage of as fast as possible.
Agnieszka Musiał-Terlecka
Zródło: Grupa LinguaJob.pl
