Competing off-shore is no easy feat. Dena Rashed listened to business experts While the strong players in the off-shoring market are India, China, Malaysia and the Philippines, the business has been attracting even more countries in the past few years. Egypt, for one, has been able to carve out a niche for itself in the ongoing race. Described as a "hot territory", it has become a viable choice for many international clients who seek competitive standards. Egypt recently ranked 12th on the AT Kearney scale. A report by Data Monitor for 2005 indicates that Egypt's outsourced off-shore contact centre market which currently has 655 agents (Aps), is expected to grow by 50 per cent by 2009. Data Monitor is a global strategic market analysis company that focuses on technology, among other things. The company estimates that Egypt will ultimately reach 3,775 Aps by the end of the targeted period. But despite this, steps still need to be undertaken if Egypt is to consolidate its position in the off-shoring market. One step already undertaken to attract experts, companies and clients to its booming industry has been Egypt's hosting of the fifth Offshore Customer Management International Conference (OCMIC). The venue that lasted for three days was organised in association with Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), and sponsored by Xceed, Datamonitor and Raya, and C3 contact centres. The evaluation undertaken of opportunities for global offshore developments opened up many venues of discussion regarding Egypt's requirements and assets which can allow it to compete internationally. Minister of Information and Technology Tareq Kamel outlined the advantages which have made Egypt an attractive off-shore location. These range from qualified and dedicated human resources which include a bilingual workforce, to the richness of culture, coupled with Egypt's unique location. "Our society is [also] already service- oriented due to tourism," Kamel said. "This is an asset that is seen as helping solidify customer care, which is the core of any off-shoring in society," Kamel added. The empowering of youth in leadership positions without their needing to leave home [and emigrate] is another asset that the industry has added, according to Kamel. He also stressed that building the nation's off-shore contact centre and business process outsourcing industry would be his ministry's top priority this year. Oracle Corporation's Graeme Mair, vice-president of Global Product Support for the Benelux, France, Middle East and Africa, explained why his company chose Egypt as a site in which to set up its Global Product Support centre in 2005. "Egypt already has an established Oracle subsidiary, in addition to an advanced telecom infrastructure, a good potential resource pool, and a competitive cost-environment." Overcoming any cultural barriers which might exist is one aspect that experts stressed as being of importance. "Although people could be using the same words, there are different meanings to the words. It is not about the language or an accent problem, but the failure to understand how cultural differences could affect the offshore projects," said John Twitchin, director of the centre for Intercultural Development, Diversity Works, Ltd. Twitchin's lecture emphasised the importance of training personnel in the off-shoring business, on how to communicate with people from a different culture. While Tunisia, Morocco and South Africa are Egypt's strong competitors in the region, India, the market leader, is the ultimate benchmark for competitors in this domain. Although it is difficult to argue that Egypt can soon be competing with India, which has thousands of seats and agents, Gregg Magehheimer, the conference chairman and person formerly responsible for the off-shoring strategy at Marks and Spencer Money believes there are lessons that can help Egypt become more competitive. He recommended that it "manages the scale of the growth" so that it will avoid the development of a situation similar to the one currently present in India. The industry there has reached saturation point. Apart from intense marketing directed to the US and the UK, the government has encouraged many companies to join the industry. The latter subsequently tied up their investments in the subsidies and tax benefits provided by the government. They are now in a "difficult situation" Magehheimer said, since the size of the workforce in this industry has greatly exceeded the market. Another aspect to look out for in off-shoring, As Joe Salinger, country manager from Sutherland Global Services Company of the UK put it, is the political risk involved in the business. He added that despite this, "security concerns are everywhere, but it is how the country presents the commercial side of the deal and most importantly, using the right public relations campaigns". Peter Ryan from Data Monitor argued that, "the perception now is that Egypt is a stable friendly environment for off- shoring," he said. James Mullock from Osborne Clarke emphasised how, from a legal perspective, companies and clients seek countries with strong legal systems. "It is important for Egypt to outline the laws put to help the customers feel comforted, and [to upgrade] the status of its judiciary system in cases of arbitration," Mullock said. Amr Attia, sales manager at ECCO stressed that perceptions also play a role in how contact centres are viewed in Egypt. "We have to work on changing the perception of the person working in a call centre, because people don't get it yet," Attia said. "We need to promote [the concept] that being an agent is a job which has a career path, and a lot of people have succeeded in it." But as Dina El-Banna, marketing executive from Raya expressed it, competing abroad is a task which cannot be achieved by one company alone. She suggested that Egyptian companies find a format, whereby they can form one entity to compete globally.
