I met Steve Rudderham in Guatemala City a few months ago at the IAOP chapter meeting and was immediately struck by his vision for driving higher performing outsourcing relationships and how Nearshore providers have a huge opportunity to capture a bigger share of the global exported services marketplace. We recently checked in with Steve who just recently joined Capgemini as vice president of client engagement for the Americas. In the interview we talk about critical issues facing the sector including Life Beyond Call Centers, Governments’ Role in Driving BPO activities, the Key Advantages of the Nearshore Customer Relationship, Safety and Risk issues, Building an Active Community of Nearshore Professionals and Capgemini’s Leadership Role in the Region.
Question: Steve, at the recent IAOP Central America meeting in Guatemala you called on Central America outsourcing service providers to think more about higher value services and that “there is more to life than call centers.” What risk do these providers face and where should they be headed?
Steve Rudderham recently left his position at Genpact and is now a vice president at Capgemini's Americas operations.
I wanted to encourage local providers to look beyond the capabilities of Call Centers – that is what India, Europe and now China have done well. It becomes an iterative process where people see career growth in a company beyond answering the telephone, and stay with that provider, and in turn that allows the providers to demonstrate a stable workforce which then allows them to market more services, and hence more career growth for individuals and the community. Without these value added services, the outsourcing economy for a particular will quickly flatten out in terms of growth and development.
Capgemini Latin America vitals:
Total employees in Latin America – Approximately 1,000
Locations: Guatemala, Santiago, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo (San Salvador and Xela)
Services: F&A – O2C, R2R, P2P, Customer Care & Intelligence
Languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese
Question: In looking beyond call centers, what higher-value services can Nearshore services providers move toward and what human capital capabilities will they require?
There has been an increase in demand within the F&A Services sector for Nearshore alternatives – particularly in Accounts Payable and Accounts receivable processes. Once the clients are comfortable with these processes staying Nearshore, it opens up the opportunity for more complex work like General Accounting, General Ledger and FP&A work, so long as the country can support this demand with the resources. Supply Chain and procurement is another growing vertical that Latin America countries should look to take advantage.
Question: Tell us about your new role at Capgemini.
I have recently moved from Business Leader of Genpact’s Latin America operations to Capgemini as a Vice President for Client Engagement in the Americas. In this role, I will be leading the engagement for several key clients in the Americas and ensuring that service delivery is exceeding customer expectations. I am looking forward to the challenge and excited about working within Capgemini as they expand their Americas footprint.
Question: What has the economic crisis done to impact the way Capgemini supports US clients seeking support in Nearshore markets?
