Scenes from Montego Bay
November 8th, 2010Let’s face it – Nearshore outsourcing does have its benefits. Just take a look at the scenery we found during our recent visit to Montego Bay.
A Montego Bay Family Plantation Becomes A Window into a New Jamaica
October 28th, 2010Mark Kerr-Jarrett’s family has played an integral part in the development of Montego Bay, Jamaica for over 300 years – first in the operation of a major sugar plantation and now with “Barnett Tech Park” - aimed at becoming the centerpiece of Montego Bay’s ICT future.
IMF Says Jamaica Economy Remains in the Slow Lane
October 13th, 2010JAMAICA will have the seventh slowest growth rate in the world up to 2015, according to a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) report analysed by the Business Observer, indicating missed opportunities for the debt-ridden country.
No cranes dot the capital city’s business centre, its roads are filled with holes similar to the tattered clothes of beggars at the stoplights, and oftentimes youth recite an expression that reflects a lack of opportunity — nothin’ nah gwan’. Jamaica, however, can expect more of the same as it is projected to trail some 143 nations in the world in growth statistics, which is a barometer of prosperity. With projections of about 1.3 per cent annually over the next five years, the island will grow three times slower than the world economy, according to charts within the World Economic Outlook …
Exclusive: Where is ACS Going Next?
August 9th, 2010By Kirk Laughlin
Mike Wooden at ACS: Clients are pulling back from offshore
Multinational call center and CRM players like Teleperformance, Convergys and Stream Global Services aren’t the only major league operators looking to expand their presence in the Nearshore region.
Embolden by the deep pockets of its new parent Xerox, ACS rates high on our list of companies prime to leverage the robust interest many clients have to locate customer service operations in Latin America. Mike Wooden, senior vice president, market development, Business Process Services gave us some of his thoughts in this interview.
Notorious Drug Kingpin Captured in Jamaica
June 22nd, 2010Jamaican police said they captured alleged drug kingpin Christopher “Dudus” Coke on the outskirts of Kingston on Tuesday.
Coke, 42, is wanted for extradition to the United States on drug trafficking and gun running charges. Police said they captured him in the Portmore area of St. Catherine Parish. There were no immediate reports of violence during the capture.
At least 73 people were killed in four days of gun battles last month when police and soldiers stormed the Tivoli Garden slum in Kingston in an attempt to take him into custody.
U.S. prosecutors have described Coke as the current leader of the “Shower Posse” that murdered hundreds of people by showering them with bullets during the cocaine wars of the 1980s.
Coke commanded a private militia and was a strong supporter of the ruling Jamaica Labor Party. Jamaica refused initial requests to extradite him to New York for trial after his …
SPECIAL REPORT: Jamaica’s ICT Runs Smoothly But Some Call Centers Face Attendance Gaps
June 4th, 2010BY NEARSHORE AMERICAS STAFF
While Jamaica’s tourism industry has taken a US$350 million hit in losses because of recent unrest, the country is reporting that its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector remains robust in spite of the violent conflicts.
“Despite the recent unrest in sections of Kingston, companies in the information and communications technology sector are indicating that they have not sustained major disruptions and are already experiencing the return of normal operation levels in their businesses,” said a representative from Jamaica Promotions (JAMPRO), the government agency with responsibility for the sector.
Last week, part’s of the country’s capital – West Kingston descended into unrest after Prime Minister Bruce Golding gave instruction for extradition of Christopher “Dudus” Coke, an “area don” in Tivoli Gardens, a community in West Kingston. Coke is wanted by the United States on allegations of drug trafficking and gun running.
But residents from Tivoli Gardens barricaded all …
Special Guest Post: Peter Ryan, OVUM
With Kingston dominating the headlines globally during the last week, many existing and prospective outsourcing firms may be reconsidering plans to deliver services from that country, wary of the negative impact that such events may have on their ability to do business and the safety of their employees.
However, Ovum believes that it would be short-sighted to abandon such plans. The island has a lot to offer in terms of cost savings and human capital, and efforts to take on criminal elements are finally coming to fruition.
Jamaica: The Full Picture
April 22nd, 2010 By Susan Arledge
Several years ago, the Caribbean began to emerge as a sensible and low cost alternative to outsourcing to Asia or India (especially when a smaller number of agents were required) and countries such as Jamaica, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic began to emerge as top location choices.
These countries have recognized that they are greatly in need of attracting jobs in an effort to retain their knowledge based workforces. Jamaica, as an example, recognized that the BPO industry provides a chance to eradicate poverty and increase the country’s standard of living.
The Honorable Karl Samuda, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, is aggressively seeking BPO and ICT companies to bring jobs to Jamaica and is working with the community colleges, the national investment promotion agency, Jamaica Trade and Invest (JTI/Jampro) and local developers to make …
Shifting of the Global Sourcing Axis
April 6th, 2010
By Anupam Govil, Chairman, Global Sourcing Forum + Expo
As the global economy sputters back to life after one of the worst meltdowns in recent history, the outsourcing industry looks for signs of recovery and new direction. The initial half of 2009 was very challenging for the industry as decision making and contract closures took a nosedive. Both service buyers and providers had to cope with financial uncertainties and operational issues that impeded short-term decisions and long-term strategic initiatives. Most providers had to adapt by consolidating, reducing staff strength or freezing expansion and development plans. With the pickup in demand since last quarter of 2009, providers are now ramping up capacity, albeit under very different market conditions. While booming economies like India and China have renewed their growth trajectory, other regions such as Latin America have also emerged relatively unscathed …
With Eyes on Tech Services, Jamaica Begins to Move Beyond Call Centers
February 12th, 2010
Jamaica Trade and Invest (JTI) is the lead trade promotion agency for BPO and IT services investment.
By Kirk Laughlin
One of the bigger bellweather moments in the migration of services’ work from India to the Nearshore came over a year ago when Delta Airlines publicly let it be known that they were investing heavily in call center functions in Jamaica and “pulling out” of South Asia.
The organization benefiting most from this was E-Services Group, which was acquired by global contact center giant ACS for $85 million. Over 4,000 E-Services employees joined ACS, and Delta has remained a key customer throughout the ownership transition.
This move seems to be part of a string of developments that are putting Jamaica – one of the most convenient Nearshore locations for North American companies – higher on the radar for outsourced services. Long seen as a modest sized call center hub, Jamaica is chipping away at reforming its image into one of a fuller-scale outsourcing destination that has the talent and capacity to play at a higher level that would include finance, accounting and technology services.
“We want to move into the next stratosphere,” says Don Gittens, senior consulting officer at trade promotion agency, Jamaica Trade and Invest, who notes that the country is focused on equipping students with a kind of technology literacy that is seeing increasing demand from US corporations.
