Analyst Corner
Turbulent worldwide economies and the pressure to stretch performance despite reduced resources made an impact on the global outsourcing sector as well. The most visible impact was in the rise in the number of outsourcing deals to 301 in Q1'09 from about 250 in Q4'08.
The continuing economic turmoil and frozen credit markets affected the volume of M&A activity was lower during the first quarter of 2009, as compared to the year ago period, as it. The situation was further complicated as government intervention in the markets increased because of the bailout programs.
Cover Story
Is the sorry state of the world economy bad news for the planet from an environmental perspective? Will IT providers continue to move toward green computing, even if the cost is higher? And will financial services organizations focus on cost cutting rather than sustainability, low emissions and less energy usage?
Industry Insights
Early this year B. Ramalinga Raju, chairman and founder of India-based outsourcer Satyam, tendered his resignation due to allegations of financial fraud. We asked consultants, vendors, and academics to share their thoughts on how the Satyam episode will change financial services outsourcing.
Finding innovative solutions to provide retirement/benefits administration services is becoming more important than ever in today’s changing economic climate for Plan Providers, Record Keepers and everyone else in the value chain.
Egypt, with its growing ICT infrastructure, cost-effective services, large talent pool and open business environment, is rapidly positioning itself as a gateway into new markets.
In an uncertain economy, financial services professionals need to use technology appropriately when searching for a new gig.
The asset management industry is rife with unintegrated operations solutions supporting one or more business channels, making it difficult to determine the actual costs of middle and back office operations.
Despite a series of high-profile and well-publicized success stories, Eastern Europe remains a relatively unknown field on the outsourcing landscape, at least compared with India, China and the Philippines.
The volatility in the banking and financial sectors shows no sign of abating. Executives charged with managing operations and customer retention will look to BPO providers to help them negotiate and succeed.
Legal Perspectives
Few of us, even over the course of long careers, have experienced the disruptions that we are witnessing in the financial services industry today, and certainly not to the extent of what has to be termed a crisis.