Source: www.foxbusiness.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. —-Level Four, the supplier of open standards-based ATM software, today announced a new global partnership with Polaris Software Lab Limited (POLS.BO), a provider of speciality application development and testing services in the banking, financial and insurance sectors. The agreement will enable financial institutions to benefit from a complete end-to-end outsourced testing solution, combining Level Four’s automated ATM testing application, BRIDGE:test, with Polaris’ testing services.

Customers who deploy BRIDGE:test as part of an outsourcing strategy with Polaris can achieve an optimal balance of cost and control as well as greater overall efficiency. Testing phases are shorter through a greater degree of automation and tests will be executed by testing professionals with specific ATM sector knowledge, according to a specially developed methodology by Polaris.

Capitalizing on the growing global trend to outsource ATM testing, Polaris has established centers of excellence for ATM testing in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Sydney, Australia and Toronto, Canada. As part of the PACE testing practice within Polaris, the need for specialist domain knowledge to handle complex ATM environments was considered essential.

Polaris has built up significant experience in application development, testing and deployment of ATM solutions for banks across the globe. By partnering with Level Four, Polaris will be able to service its clients with automated testing which offers faster and more accurate results, combating the challenge of more regular systems updates and software patches that modern, Windows-based ATMs demand.

Mr. Bikash Mathur, Partner & Head, EMEA, at Polaris said: “We see ATM testing as a huge growth market and a significant opportunity for us. Having built up a successful testing global practice in the financial services industry, we recognize the significant advantage that an automated testing tool could offer our customers. A key vision at Polaris is to partner with industry pioneers and we view Level Four as a leading player in the ATM testing market. With BRIDGE:test, Polaris’ specialist ATM staff will be able to give existing customers an improved offering and also attract new customers through the unique ability to combine faster deliverables with cost efficiencies.”

Ian Kerr, CEO, Level Four, said: “In the present market conditions, banks are increasingly looking to outsource to make operational efficiencies. ATM testing is a key area in a bank’s delivery channel strategy that can benefit from outsourcing. Under the agreement, Polaris test professionals will be certified to execute ATM testing plans using BRIDGE:test, enabling them to gain an advantage over their competitors by offering the benefits of automation in addition to those of outsourcing.”

Source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Industry experts from the business process outsourcing believe that Barack Obama’s victory in the US presidential election will have no major direct impact in the growth of the industry in the Philippines.

Oscar Sañez, chief executive officer of the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP), said that victory of Obama will have only little effect on the BPO industry in the country.

Obama has expressed during the campaign that he is not in favor of outsourcing jobs to other countries. His campaign website said that Obama and his vice-president-elect Joe Biden would end tax breaks for companies that send job overseas.

“Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that companies should not get billions of dollars in tax deductions for moving their operations overseas. Obama and Biden will also fight to ensure that public contracts are awarded to companies that are committed to American workers,” the website reads.

Obama was also among those who introduced the Patriot Employer Act of 2007, which seek to reward companies that create good jobs for American workers by providing tax credits to firms that maintain their corporate headquarters in the United States and maintain or increase their full-time workers in America relative to those outside US.

Cost-savings

“Even if he promotes tax breaks, at the end of the day it is still the company who will decide,” Sañez said.

The incentives, Sañez added, is not enough to discourage companies to outsource jobs to other countries. He said that the slowdown in US economy would also encourage the companies to implement cost-saving measures and re-structure their companies.

“Some major functions have not been outsourced yet,” Sañez told abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak.

Jojo Uligan, executive director of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), said that there is no need to be alarmed. “It’s too early to say [that Obama’s victory will have an impact on the industry.]

“As long as we continue to provide the high quality service and satisfy our clients, we can still experience the growth,” Uligan told abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak.

Sunshine industry

Industry data showed that the BPO industry has been growing by about 50 percent for the past three years.

The Philippines is named as the offshoring destination for 2007 by the UK’S National Outsourcing Association (NOA). For 2008, the Philippines is among the three finalists for this category.

Industry experts say that the BPO industry is also trying to tap potential markets outside the United States.

Sañez said that although around 82 percent of the clients of the BPO firms are in the United States, the industry clients in United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore and even from outsourcing powerhouse India.

The BPO industry is considered as one of the sunshine industries in the Philippines. As of 2007, the industry employed around 300,000 workers and generated US$4.9 billion revenue.

By 2010, the industry hopes to provide a million jobs and to generate US$13 billion revenues, or a 10 percent share of the global market.