Feb 02 2008
Cebu as a BPO Destination in the Philippines
Cebu is a great destination to provide business continuity in your global sourcing plan; this is true even with
Here are some other factoids about
- The island boasts a population of about 3.5MM; most speak English well
- Power sources are a mix of fuels and geothermal energy, ensuring long term reliability and protection of the environment; all power and water supplies are mutually exclusive of
- BPO growth remains strong in the region and is expected to continue as the
- Cebu is the most accessible place in the
- It has one of the best records for peace and order within the country
- It is not in an earthquake zone or typhoon belt, nor are there volcanoes on the island
- Its labor force is oriented towards non-agricultural lines and is one of the most productive in the country
- The development of its infrastructure is balanced; it has all the ingredients necessary to be competitive and sustain investments
And, finally, my favorite tidbit about
- Its warm hospitality, white sandy beaches and surrounding rich coral reefs, make it a favorite international tourism destination.
I am ready for some hard work ahead. 
Cebu has grown as an outsouring destination almost exponentially in the last 3 years. The semi saturation in Manila has driven folks to look for BCP sites as well as lower cost sites. The English skills are good but the accent is different. The availability of open land is good, established buildings is not. Look to partner with a local development group to set it up. There is strong university support so the availability of fresh grads is good. The airport is on a former USAF site so good facilities. Some flights are direct from other areas of Asia so you do not have to go through Manila in some cases. Lack of qualified middle managers same as Manila. Hotels can be expensive as it is a tourist destination, but deals can be had. Good place for expat assignments.
most college graduates have a degree in hotel and restaurant management, most call center employees have previously worked in a service industry supporting English speaking tourists, this translates well for voice and accent work, we typically see better customer satisfaction scores, higher response rates and lower DNC rates vs. other regions
Overall operations experience in years is shorter in comparison to other regions, as a result need either strong ex-pat or domestic operations support from BPO or client to help maintain and improve efficiency
You might find this paper useful. The comparison was done in OCt 2005 and shows that cebu is one of the fastest emerging locations in the Philippines.
http://www.neoit.com/pdfs/whitepapers/OIv3i09_1005_Philippines-City-Competitiveness.pdf
First, let me talk about the Philippines in general. For one, nobody beats India in the BPO business because of its sheer size in population, leading to a high population in educated human resources and skills. However, the Philippines holds its competitiveness to any voice-oriented offshore, outsourced work because it has a very neutral English accent, notwithstanding its history of US collaborations and bias to the American culture. Unfortunately, its population is only a little more than a 10th of India.
Metropolitan Manila is a provincial jurisdiction that holds several cities, Manila City being one. Two hubs of offshore, outsourcing operations are Makati City and Ortigas City, better known as Ayala Avenue and Ortigas Center, respectively. These are also the business sector hubs of the country where many mid-sized and large enterprises, especially multinational companies, holds office or seats its headquarters. It is a province of (I think) about 10 million people out of the 80 million or so population.
By 2005, many multinational call center companies have started opening new sites/locations outside of Metro Manila, Cebu being one of the first cities. However, too many BPO companies have drained the human resource pool of the city which resulted in migration of people from the outlying island provinces (remember, the Philippines is a country of 7,000 islands). However, some of these multinational call centers companies have once again expanded to the outlying island provinces.
And so goes the trend today.
You’ve got to consider what service you intend to offshore/outsource before deciding on where to go. Key cities besides Makati, Ortigas and Cebu have opened localized economic incentives and promotions to woo mulitnational companies wanting to setup shop in their respective cities or outsource work to existing BPO centers.
Hope the above description helped.
I have personally worked in Cebu for over 4 years and we have an extension office there. There have been a number of BPO’s who have set-up operations in Cebu. The BPO’s in Cebu are more focused on voice-oriented operations rather than other higher level BPO activities such as Finance & Engineering or other KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) operations.
Based on feedback we have received from various BPO Operation Managers in Cebu, quality HR is still can be an issue due to a small pool of graduates from the city.
The BPO’s in Cebu are more focused on voice-oriented operations rather than other higher level activities.
[…] started off February in Asia, and my last post discussed the benefits of Cebu as a BPO Destination in the Philippines. I went to Central America the following week to visit facilities in Guatemala; we were impressed […]
Cebu is relatively lesser urbanized when compared to other cities in Manila. However, Cebu does not lag too far behind in economy. Lesser crime rates, lesser traffic, and least political turmoils make Cebu an ideal business site than the capital. It’s a city where you can find an urban jungle blending in the rustic rural scene. The people’s laid back way of life is not a badge of inferiority in terms of social status. Basic commodities are cheaper than in Manila, however, Cebuanos take pride in remaining provincial yet at the same truly world-class in tourism and in export industry. Cebu was the host city of the ASEAN Conference last January 2008.
Cebu is still rich in natural resources such as raw materials needed for process industries, e.g. rattan, hemp, etc. One need not go far or import from far islands to acquire these natural fibers.
There are many more business opportunities in Cebu and Cebuanos are very warm and welcoming than in the capital where it has already become a hodge podge of different people.