Biz-Tech

LBA enhancing Sri Lankan BPO industry

Gaining confidence with increasing momentum, Sri Lanka is setting about reinventing its economy around Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). BPO is about carrying out business activities for international organizations from Sri Lanka where the country gains foreign exchange as well as creating thousands of well paying professional jobs.

Sri Lanka’s IT-BPO industry has currently set an ambitious goal of $ one billion in revenue to be achieved by 2015. The outsourcing industry has the potential to accelerate Sri Lanka’s socio-economic growth by delivering new business and employment opportunities.

Sri Lanka remains well placed to win a big share of the BPO business, with their biggest regional competitors being India and Philippines. Building a skilled workforce benefits a country’s economy by expanding its pool of potential recruits specially when it comes to an industry such as the BPO industry, where Sri Lanka is ranked among the Top 30 emerging destinations for outsourcing in 2010 which bodes well for the future growth of the industry. The IT/ BPO industry offers exciting work, fun atmosphere, global exposure and fast paced career progression.

The Lanka BPO Academy (LBA) is taking a major initiative to accelerate and drive the growth of the BPO industry by launching world recognized qualifications that matches the requirements of BPO employers to build industry-specific expertise and ensure better job outcomes for individuals.

The Lanka BPO Academy (www.lankabpoacademy.lk) is the exclusive partner in Sri Lanka for the BPO Certifications Institute (BCI) which is the world’s first and the only pan-domain, dedicated-for-BPO standards for BPO human competence, service delivery quality and talent management quality. Today, some of the world’s largest BPO consulting and training organizations, BPO Industry associations and governments are joining BCI’s various game-changing initiatives in human competence evaluation and development, service delivery quality improvement, and enhancement of talent management standards.

Woven around the HCMS21 international standards and delivered on the most advanced knowledge platforms, the LBA BPO training programmes cover all six levels of BPO operatives - fresh agents; senior agents; team leaders, managers; functional leaders and business leaders (CEOs).

Indeed, LBA’s real expertise is in providing training for all prominent BPO domains such as customer service, transaction processing, back-office services, finance and accounting and technical support. BCI’s CCIP (Customer Interaction), CBPA (Business Processes), CFPA (Financial Processes), CTSA (Technical Support), certifications straddle the entire BPO service provider space.

The professional certifications by the Lanka BPO Academy are treated as qualification benchmarks for different BPO roles and positions and are deployed by BPO companies for hiring, promotion, and performance management.

LBA’s fresher certifications have created a powerful new way to build the employability of youths and have also changed the way BPO Industry recruits entry-level talents.

For senior levels, LBA is in planning a certification training programme for BPO Managers for the first time in Sri Lanka in early May this year. BPO professionals did not have proper ongoing professional development and recognition.

The CBOM Certification offered for those who hold supervisory roles at such organisations is going to solve that problem forever and benefit both the professional and the industry.

Also, most of the countries with a matured BPO industry are suffering from “middle management crisis” which is created by scarcity of rightly competent middle managers. CBOM Certification will help the industry to battle through this by injecting the competence and skills required.

Today, LBA is ready to revitalize the BPO industry in Sri Lanka which stands poised for a giant leap within the next five years. LBA is confidently geared to serve the growing IT/BPO workforce by offering them internationally recognized professional qualifications, that will provide lucrative job opportunities with international and multi-national companies. This in turn will be a huge revenue earner for the country and will be a boost to the national economy by being a great employment generator for the island.

The Lanka BPO Academy website is www.lankabpoacademy.lk

Greenwich launches Sage ERP ACCPAC version 6.0

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

There is a new trend in the ICT industry to provide total IT solutions as opposed to providing hardware. The IT departments have more expertise and IT solutions have become a better option in the modern business world, Greenwich Chief Executive Officer Suran Fonseka told Daily News Business. IT solutions are the way forward in the company’s growth path. The enhancing environment in infrastructure and the integrating and designing IT related services in to the business process provides efficient and effective operating system, he said.

Greenwich launched Sage ERP ACCPAC version 6.0 in Sri Lanka and unveiled a new logo on Tuesday in Colombo. More business enterprises are moving towards IT enabled services and ICT has become the key factor in business development. The ACCPAC version 6.0 is launched for the first time in Sri Lanka and will enable the introduction of new business strategies to make rapid progress, Fonseka said.

Greenwich is a fully owned subsidiary of PCH and is one of the leading ICT solutions providers in the country. It is a dynamic organization in the country’s IT industry capturing significant market share within a competitive environment. With its progress in innovative technological adaptation and strong alliance, the company continues to steadily penetrate the local market.

There is space in the IT industry for companies to grow and the changing business practices has created many opportunities for business development, he said.

Informatics Institute of Technology :

Nurturing future professionals

The Informatics Group of Companies harbours a national and International reputation as a pioneer in the software industry. The Groups’ regional presence in tailor-made banking facilities, ATM services, communication solutions, computerization of government offices and departments and its global presence in projects in Singapore, Papua New Guinea, American Samoa, Malaysia and the Maldives indicate this reputation. The Group’s IT solutions provider, Converse Solutions and the software developing company Informatics International Ltd, have aided in strengthening this status.

The Group’s professional training centre - the Informatics Institute of Technology - IIT Campus also has earned a wide reputation as a solid, professional training campus, catering to the needs of the students and producing quality graduates, to populate the professional world with confidence and knowledge.

Students graduating from the IIT campus are high in demand within the industry and the Groups’ technological reputation and influence have a tremendous impact on the students. IIT students across the world have proven their adaptability in various situations and circumstances. Their success is seen in over 2500 graduates practising globally who have steadily climbed the corporate ladder. This is due to the internship period that is part of the degree offered at the IIT Campus.

The four year sandwich course includes a third year internship programme which grants students first hand professional knowledge while ensuring a job opportunity once they graduate - as most companies hire them once their degree is done. The campus is affiliated to the University of Westminster UK in terms of its study programme. The University is an acclaimed modern University having won the prestigious Queens Award for Enterprise for two years consecutively.

It recognises IIT as its International Campus. The entire degree programme is conducted parallel to that at the UK Campus and students can transfer to the International campus whenever they choose to do so. Unlike other institutions, transferring doesn’t take one or two years. If students wish to transfer directly, the IIT Campus will assist the student in the complete transition procedure as well.

Furthermore, being the University’s international campus, IIT students have complete access to the University’s learning portals and can access their online libraries and databases. In addition, the lecturers converse with the UK university lecturers, receive feedback on their project proposals and projects themselves. The students are eligible for scholarships to read for their masters in the UK.

High calibre IIT lecturers with professional backgrounds and the marketing staff, administrative functions and HR policies of the Campus are reviewed and inspected by the University on a continuous basis. Students are interviewed and feedback received so that a well-rounded situation report can be analyzed. The students have done the campus proud by winning the National Best Quality Software Award in 2009 and 2010 as well as the third place award in the Motorola competition, competing with state institutions.

Apart from the study programmes, students are also given training in personal grooming including table etiquette, dress sense, talking and greeting styles etc, projecting them to the professional field with confidence. The quality and structure of the degree leaves no void for additional training or courses before students enter the work force.

The multi cultural atmosphere hosts students from all walks of life, lending a dynamic force to the collective environment within the campus augmented by the cultural and religious events and other festivals organised by the student union. The stagecraft events showcase multiple student talent. Students are also part of the IIT Student Union and Interact clubs, which supports them in completing their CSR projects.

The campus has branches in Colombo, Kandy and Jaffna to cater tailor made programmes for corporate and government sector training and is the centre for the Future Kidz programme.

The top of the range infrastructure in place as a campus, organisation and group greatly benefit the Campus’s plans to branch out further into the finance sector.