When people hear the term “business process outsourcing” or BPO, they immediately think of call centers. While it’s true that the Philippine call center has now overtaken that of India, we can be proud of the fact that we have gone beyond these services alone.
Just recently, I attended the launch of the SECOND delivery center of Cognizant, a NASDAQ-listed company with headquarters in New Jersey, USA, and is one of the leading providers of IT, consulting and BPO services. The center, located in the IT-BPO services hub in Ortigas Center, was designed to house as many as 1,000 professionals. These professionals will be providing applications, IT infrastructure and business processing services to global clients in different industries: financial industry, healthcare, manufacturing and logistics, retail, hospitality, telecommunications and consumer goods industries.
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| Cognizant executives include Mr. Lakshmi Narayanan (Vice Chairman), second from left, and Mr. Prabhakar Bisen, Country Head, third from left |
Cognizant started operations in December 2009 in McKinley Hill with 40 people. Their expansion into the Ortigas Center signifies a very positive outlook in the BPO industry. Asked why they chose to set up their second delivery center in Ortigas, Mr. Prabhakar Bisen, Country Head of Cognizant Philippines said, “We are pleased with our experience and growth in the Philippines and chose Pasig City to expand our footprint in the country because of its high-quality talent, sound infrastructure, good connectivity and a great business environment.”
During the Q&A portion, I asked Cognizant if all their work force were office-based. My rationale for the question was my firm belief that a good number of well-educated and experienced women (and possibly, men) have opted to leave the workforce to attend to family needs and this is an untapped market for BPOs, given the breadth of these people’s backgrounds. If this group of people can be tapped by BPOs and allowed to work from home, it could be a potential new asset for the sunrise industry.
Mr. Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice Chairman of Cognizant, acknowledged this fact and I was happy to note that he felt this was definitely something to consider in the future. Part of the issues preventing this from happening at the moment are the conditions of telecom infrastructure as well as ensuring that customer service quality is not affected or impaired from a work-from-home arrangement.
Cognizant is still on the lookout for people wanting to join their organization in Ortigas Center. If you’re interested in a future with Cognizant, check them out at their Ortigas location.
COGNIZANT
Hanston Square Bldg, San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City
Follow Cognizant on Twitter: @Cognizant