CAIRO: Making an average four million voice and non-voice transactions per month and serving local and international clients across four continents, Xceed is a homegrown success story with the potential of going global. "It's the teamwork. It's the people behind this company, explained Adel Danish, Xceed's chairman and CEO. "The best kept secret in Egypt is the talent of its young people. It's an asset and not a liability as long as you know how to use it. Headquartered in Smart Village, Xceed has positioned itself as Egypt's largest call center, capturing a market share of more than 85 percent. It provides offshore outsourcing and IT-enabled consulting services as well as business process outsourcing solutions to local and international clients that are as big as Microsoft. The company serves clients in the Middle East, Europe and the US in eight languages: Arabic, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and Hebrew. "We hope that [people] in Europe [become] aware that this kind of capability and relatively low cost [service] is here. We hope it's a business that will grow, Xceed quoted Microsoft's Bill Gates as saying. Xceed is a joint stock company between Telecom Egypt (98 percent) and a consortium of three banks: National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr and Banque Du Caire. It has a total of four sites: two in Smart Village, one in Sherouk City and another in Maadi. They mainly act as crisis management locations, which helped save the company's operations during the recent internet outage. Since operations began in 2003, Xceed has achieved a 50 percent annual growth rate in both revenues and workforce. "Our forecast in 2008 is to sustain this 50 percent annual growth rate, said Ahmed Refky, Xceed's senior vice president. With Egypt opening up to more international companies, the relatively young call center industry is maturing quickly and gaining more weight. "Compare the situation to what we had four or five years ago, the industry is doing very well, Danish said. "We now have two to three local call centers doing offshore business, besides the captive call centers. Foreign companies are coming in and investing in the country. .The ingredients are here. "But there is always room for improvement, he added. One main area that pauses a challenge to the industry is human capital. There is no deficit now, Danish pointed out, but if companies want to expand their businesses, they can run into a bump five or 10 years down the road. "It's the skill reservoir. It's up to the government to work on its education system and provide [students] with skills needed in call centers, Danish emphasized. To succeed in this sort of business, he explained, companies cannot only rely on their telecommunications infrastructure and location. They need to give equal attention to human capital. "In Egypt, we are very well located compared to other countries. Telecommunications infrastructure is there. The only ingredient that takes time to develop is human resource, he said. The top criterion in this communication-based business is language skills. That is why the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology recently embarked on an initiative to provide language course to college juniors, priming them to be top recruits for call centers. Xceed has also earmarked around 2.5-3 percent of its revenues to training and capacity building. Programs include training in IT and telecommunications, product support and language. The ministry provides 85 percent of the training budget, while Xceed pays the rest, relying on the services of internationally renowned language centers such as Berlitz. Looking ahead, Xceed is gearing up to leave a global footprint, with plans to open offices in a number of countries in North Africa, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. "We have to go global, stated Danish. "We want Xceed [to emerge] as an Egyptian company of global standards. The first logical expansion will be in the region, he explained, before the company ventures into other countries such as the Philippines. Before the end of this year, Xceed plans to have physical presence in one of the North African countries, most likely Morocco or Tunisia. The next step will be in Southeast Asia or Easter Europe. "Vietnam is emerging as a nice destination as well as the Philippines and Malaysia. Next on the list is South America, from where the company can serve the United States. The question is: Can a five-year-old company beat fierce competition from industry heavyweight India? Danish believes Xceed can outdo the competition because of its prime geographical location - in a close time zone with Europe - as well as having cheaper and better quality labor force. "We offer multiple language skills, compared to India. And we don't have to work night shifts to serve Europe. . Egypt to Europe can be like India to the US. The size of Xceed's operations are almost equivalent to those of India on a per capita basis, he explained. Tariff rates also give it a competitive edge. "Salaries in India are going up because they are growing very fast. So they are now [in a situation] where they offer lower quality services at higher rates, Danish explained. Determined to stay ahead in the race, Egypt's MCIT seems to have entered a pricing war with India. Currently, the ministry has put billing terms at $3,500 per month - down from the initial monthly fees of $18,000 - giving it a major comparative advantage over India's $4,000 to $6,000, and the Philippines $5,000. That is why within the next two to three years, Xceed is confident it will make it to the top 100 list of companies in the field. "We are almost there, Danish said.
