Cost cutting primary driver in only 10% of BPO deals - Inside ...

There is a constant debate about whether IT outsourcing has moved beyond being a strategy purely to cut costs or if it is a good way of improving business performance.

If you talk to outsourcing industry experts such as consultants and lawyers they will say cost cutting remains the main driver while suppliers and some end users often say other factors are increasingly important.

A recent KPMG survey revealed some of the increasingly important reasons to outsource.

When it comes to BPO cost is surely a bigger driver than in IT outsourcing?? Handing a business process to a third party that can use economies of scale to do it for less makes sense in many cases. But here is a guest blog from the CEO out service provider Arvato.

What's the missing link in business outsourcing partnerships today?

By Matthias Mierisch CEO at Arvato

"Those of us who live and breathe business outsourcing know that the drivers for engaging with a BPO provider have changed hugely - while cost savings remain a given, companies are looking for ways in which they can become agile enough to capitalise on changes in market trends or customer demand, to further long-term growth.

An independent research study with 100 senior BPO clients we commissioned confirmed this, but also indicated that there are still factors on both sides of BPO relationships that are limiting the sector's potential to contribute more to both individual organisations and the UK economic landscape as a whole.

In particular, there is a disconnect between the drivers for outsourcing, and the attributes organisations look for in a partner. Today just 10% of organisations describe cost-cutting as the primary role that their BPO provider plays, ranking access to specialist skills and expertise (72%) and growth and expansion potential (66%) far higher. These drivers are all more about the strength of 'people' than just simply 'process' based in nature and they are focused on enabling success as a ultimate goal, rather than immediate savings. However, almost three quarters (74%) reference 'adhering to strict KPIs'? or 'well-defined processes' (69%) as the most important attributes - arguably hygiene factors in empowered outsourcing partnerships that deliver and add real value.

While 71% cite the ability to adapt to changing industry and relationship dynamics as a key expectation of their BPO provider, currently 67% of suppliers have to submit a change request for even the smallest changes to processes. This conservative approach is reflective of tight budgets and a fear of spiralling costs in today's economic climate, but also highlights a trust issue that has to be addressed openly by both parties.

The outsourcing industry is already contributing ?207bn (8%) of the total UK economic output[1], but by facilitating better, deeper and more effective engagement, business outsourcing can reach its full potential and deliver more value to clients and their customers.

An agile, flexible programme isn't just about dealing with forced change but the willingness to deliver and step beyond contractual agreements to try fresh approaches, or amend priorities to deliver real value, even if that's more difficult than just delivering what's in the contract. Establishing an effective engagement approach, where everyone understands the overall objectives and is incentivised to playing their part, means that the contract can stay in the drawer to enable the best outcomes.

Effective engagement is the first theme of arvato's Open Outsourcing report series, which aims to get to the heart of real-life outsourcing relationships. We've collaborated with industry experts and clients to understand the elements that ensure business outsourcing is delivering the very best results for both parties."

To read more about the click here. http://www.arvato.co.uk/openoutsourcing

Tell me what you think?

Source: http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/inside-outsourcing/2012/10/cost-cutting-primary-driver-in-only-10-of-bpo-deals.html

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Big Education Ape Nite Cap 10-30-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2

James Baldwin said it best:?

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."

A BIG EDUCATION APE NITE CAP

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19th Ward Parents leader on chaos in Chicago Public Schools | Parents Across America

19th Ward Parents leader on chaos in Chicago Public Schools | Parents Across America: 19th Ward Parents leader on chaos in Chicago Public Schools by pureparents By Becky Malone Guest Commentary October 26, 2012 (originally published in Daily Southtown newspaper) [image: Malone] There is a plague spreading through the Chicago Public Schools. It has left in its wake a score of school closures and school turnarounds, an unfunded longer school day lacking adequate resources to support high-quality education and the first teachers strike in a quarter century ? a bitter fight to ensure ...more ?

TRS board of trustees restates what it said in March. Silent on Ingram. Are you reassured? Me neither. ? Fred Klonsky

TRS board of trustees restates what it said in March. Silent on Ingram. Are you reassured? Me neither. ? Fred Klonsky: TRS board of trustees restates what it said in March. Silent on Ingram. Are you reassured? Me neither. by Fred Klonsky *Springfield, IL ? The Teachers? Retirement System Board of Trustees today issued the following statement regarding the on-going debate in the General Assembly concerning an overhaul of the state?s pension code:* *?The Board of Trustees of the Teachers? Retirement System reiterates and reaffirms its resolution of March 30, 2012 (as amended on April...?more ?

Source: http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2012/10/big-education-ape-nite-cap-10-30-12.html

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Top PPC Tips For Local Businesses | PPC Hero?

Here?s the deal ? you want PPC to power your business, but you offer a product or service that can only cater to the local community. What options does that leave you? There are really two things I want to focus on ? the first is making sure your PPC is as awesome as it can be, and this comes from taking advantage of all the tools and tricks available to you as a local business. The second is ensuring you get enough traffic to make your business viable, which can be tricky, particularly in smaller towns.

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Be More Targeted

The main thing you have going for you over your huge corporate conglomerate competitors as a local business is that you can afford to be much more targeted with your paid search efforts. Below is a quick table I pulled in Excel from one of my clients? campaigns. We are currently running a test to see if ads that feature their location in the headline perform better or worse than their current top ad. As you can see including the location has so far resulted in double the conversion rate and a much lower cost per conversion. Although there is a lack of statistical significance here, these results are reflected across the board in the other campaigns we are testing ? in only one out of nine campaigns are the original ads generating more conversions. This tells us that there is something to be gained from emphasizing your locality to your customers.

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Alongside making sure your ads are targeted, make sure your website and landing pages also play upon your location and how you serve the local area. If your ads mention your location don?t allow there to be a potential disconnect where you customers are wondering if they are in the right place.

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Make sure you make good use of the excellent array of location targeting available to you. Google recently started allowing you to target down to the ZIP code in the US. This gives you an excellent opportunity to gather some data about which neighborhoods generate the strongest returns for you by putting different ZIP locations in their own campaigns. It?s also really useful if you deliver only within certain areas ? you don?t want to be showing your ?Free Pizza Delivery? ads to people outside of your delivery area or you are just going to annoy people.

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Getting the Traffic

One of the biggest issues you are likely to face advertising only within your locality is a lack of traffic. I recently spent a day setting up the most perfectly targeted, segmented and quality score optimized campaign for a client, who turned out to only get 49 impressions in a week. Sometimes with all the best intentions in the world, you just simply can?t get enough search traffic to sustain your business. In this case we suggest taking a wide approach to PPC. Rather than focusing on making everything in your account as granular and quality score optimized as possible, you need to cast a wide net. This doesn?t mean you can?t still be targeted, but it does mean you want to start early with branching into different PPC channels.

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A few good starting points will be:

• Bing ? this is the easiest win for extra traffic. You can pretty much copy + paste your Google AdWords campaigns if you don?t have time to manage it separately.
• Facebook ? Can be a real driver of interest and traffic for local businesses. Make use of a combination of location targeting and interests here. For example, someone in Bloomington, IN with ?pizza? as an interest could be targeted with a ?Bloomington Pizza Lovers? ad that offers a 10% online discount.
• LinkedIn ? Expensive, but can be great if you know your customers? demographic well. Good for local businesses that offer corporate services.
• Twitter ? Use promoted tweets to push events or information to people in your area. Be aware, Twitter?s location targeting still has trouble with some smaller locations. Having just checked, it was unable to target Bloomington, IN (home of PPC Hero), but was able to target Indianapolis.

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Google Display Network and Remarketing are also going to be potential areas of traffic generation that should outperform your local searches. I don?t know about you, but I tend to notice the AdSense ads that mention my hometown a lot more than the generic ones that I tend to have partial blindness towards. I?ve seen above average display CTRs for many of the display campaigns I?ve set up for local businesses. If you are in an expensive and competitive industry such as insurance or law, display also offers you a chance to buy in clicks for much cheaper than you would be able to afford in Search ? $2 vs $30 in one extreme case I found.

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If you can afford it, I?d also recommend setting up call tracking for your local PPC efforts. Locals are more likely to call up, whether to check for restaurant reservations, order a pizza, schedule a visit to your legal offices etc. It is important you start this early as in a low click environment you?ll want to nail down the types of keywords that are leading to phone calls and driving interest in your business. You can go with Google?s phone call extensions as a good starting point, or if you have a bit more money available think about using an option like Mongoose Metrics who will set up something a bit more advanced for you.

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Being local

As we spend most of our time, fellow PPC Hero Sean Quadlin and I were discussing the latest season of ESPN?s 30 for 30 show in the office yesterday, particularly There?s No Place Like Home ? a documentary about trying to return the original rules of basketball to their rightful home with the Kansas Jayhawks. Sean happens to have a friend in Kansas who knew the director wasn?t a true Kansan because he endorsed the phrase ?There?s no place like home? ? a phrase people from Kansas refuse to use due to rampant overuse. Whether or not people in Kansas do in fact despise the phrase or not, it did raise an interesting point ? as a local business you should have one strong advantage over national companies ? namely that you are aware of ideas, phrases or terminology that will and won?t go over well with your local audience and that will make locals believe you are genuine. If you really want to get ahead, make sure you think carefully about the different ways locals might react to your ads and website compared to the norm.

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?There?s No Place Like PPC Hero, Toto?

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Location extensions are a great tool your local business should be making use of for two main reasons:

1. You gain additional points for both trust and ease of use if someone is searching for a product or service you offer and sees on Google Maps that you are located nearby.
2. If I?m driving and suddenly decide I want to buy lunch (see below)/clothes/insurance, a quick search on Google Maps (having pulled over safely) for a nearby location will probably be my main source of information. A good ad with location extension will help convince people like me to come to your store thanks to the convenience of the GPS.

You can tell I?m getting hungry

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Finally try and get your customers to leave feedback for you ? positive Google review extensions on your ads will help increase your CTRs. I?ve also seen good success with Google Plus extensions ? particularly if you have a lot of followers. If you can attract followers by updating your menu specials or giving out coupons on Google Plus, it will be a benefit to you in the long run.

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Hopefully this should get you thinking about how you can up your game in the local PPC world! If any of you have found success with local PPC advertising, let us know what you did in the comments below.

About the Author

With three years of Internet Marketing experience in the UK, Sam joined Hanapin as an Account Manager shortly after moving to the States. He has worked predominantly in online price comparison, overseeing the launch of a number of sites worldwide, and managing over half a million clicks per month spending six-figure monthly budgets. Sam comes from a performance marketing background, so he works with a passion for optimizing PPC accounts and driving down costs for our clients.

Source: http://www.ppchero.com/top-ppc-tips-for-local-businesses/

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Healthy treats to make your Halloweekend guilt free | The ...

By Angel Feliciano, News Staff

Trick or treating is one of the perks of Halloween every student looks forward to. After all, who doesn?t love getting free candy and drinks and enjoying them too? But if you?re worried about the calories this holiday, don?t be. There are several alternatives to some favorite treats and alcoholic beverages so anyone can enjoy the season?s festivities ? guilt free.

UNREAL Candy

Chocolate candies such as M&Ms, Milky Ways, Snickers and Reese?s are popular Halloween candies throughout October. But if you?re worried these junk foods won?t fit into your holiday calorie count, UNREAL Candies offers healthier alternatives that will settle your late night craving. From candy coated chocolates to chocolate caramel nougat bars and peanut butter cups, UNREAL Candies are made to taste great without the added corn syrups, hydrogenated oils, artificial colors and flavors, preservatives and GMOs.

If its natural ingredients don?t convince you, its nutritional facts will. Compared to the sugar content of Peanut M&Ms (25g), UNREAL?s chocolate candy shell peanuts are only 16g. The UNREAL chocolate caramel nougat is 100 calories less than a 270 calorie Milky Way bar. The sugar content is also 16 grams less and has the same sugar content if you were to eat a medium apple. If you?re a fan of peanut butter cups, the UNREAL 77 Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups Unjunked have only 11 grams of sugar compared to Reese?s, which contain 21 grams. More fiber and protein are also ingrained into Unreal Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups compared to Reese?s Peanut Butter Cups.

100 Calorie Oreo Dipped Delight Bars

Before you devour a handful of Halloween Oreos during your friend?s costume party, you might want to think about how many calories are in each cookie. Two Oreo have a total of about 80 calories. If you love the Double Stuff Oreos, then you?re consuming about 140 calories per two cookies. To still get your chocolate cookie fix, try the Oreo Dipped Delight Bars with only 100 calories per bar. They are tasty and you can taste the the crispiness as soon as you take that first bite.

Jelly Beans, Jolly Ranchers and Tootsie Rolls

These tiny treats can be the perfect portion to satisfy your sweet tooth. Jelly Beans come in dozens of flavors including chocolate, cookie dough, popcorn and even ice cream, cocktail and soda flavors. Another perfect on-the-go snack are Tootsie Rolls. These candies are low in saturated fats, have no cholesterol and hardly contain any sodium. Jolly Ranchers are also a great hard candies to snack on and come in a variety of fruity flavors, that can easily replace your craving for Skittles or Starburst. With only 70 calories in three candies, this is definitely a candy that won?t make you feel guilty.

Mixed Drinks

There are plenty of mixed drinks out there, but if you are looking for a drink that is low in calorie count, try a Mojito. It only has 160 calories for 1.5 oz, compared to other mixed drinks like a creamy Pina Colada, a Mai Tai or zesty Margarita. A regular mojito contains rum, sugar, club soda and sugar water. Substitute the sugar with artificial sweeteners and club soda with diet sodas instead.

If you don?t feel like making your own mixed drink, there are many low calorie alcohol brands such as Skinnygirl cocktails. Skinnygirl cocktails come in different flavors, such as White Peach Margarita, Pina Colada, Sangria, White Cranberry Cosmo and more. All are low calorie. Skinnygirl also has a delicious vodka and wine selection when you?re ready for a night out.

Beers

Every college student loves a cold beer on Halloweekend. However, a regular beer can be as many as 150-200 calories. If you want to avoid drinking these useless calories, try Bud Ice (136) or Milwaukee?s Best Ice (144). If you?re in the mood for a lighter beer, try Budweiser Select ? it only has 99 calories. If you?re opting for something lighter than Bud Light or Coors Light, try Miller Light. It only has 96 calories and 4.2 percent alcohol.

By simply substituting these tasty treats to your Halloween diet, you can spend more time partying rather than trying to get your costume on.

Source: http://huntnewsnu.com/2012/11/healthy-treats-to-make-your-halloweekend-guilt-free/

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Covert Cash Conspiracy - Make Money Online | Free Traffic Building ...

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

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Source: http://incbizzmarketingtips.com/310/covert-cash-conspiracy/

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Wikipad gaming tablet delayed... for refinement - Liliputing

The Wikipad gaming tablet was supposed to launch today, but the company behind the $499 Android tablet with a physical game controller has postponed the launch indefinitely.

In a statement to The Verge, the company says the delay is to make a ?refinement? to ensure that the first customers are satisfied with their tablets. The Wikipad makers also say they?re ?enhancing? the ?Wikipad bundle.?

It?s not entirely clear what the enhancements or refinements will include. We could be talking about software or hardware updates. But according to the statement, customers who pre-ordered the Wikipad will get any new features for free, along with a ?bonus gift.?

The last we?d heard, the Wikipad tablet was expected to feature a 10.1 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel IPS display, a 1.4 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, and removable hand grips featuring hardware buttons for controlling video games. It has 1GB of RAM, up to 32GB of built-in storage, and a microSD card slot for extra storage.

Prices start at $499? but GameStop has stopped taking pre-orders for now.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed, follow us on Twitter, or "like" us on Facebook. Thanks for visiting!

Posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2012, 9:22 pm by Brad Linder

Source: http://liliputing.com/2012/10/wikipad-gaming-tablet-delayed-for-refinement.html

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EU considers sending 200 troops to train Mali army

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is considering sending about 200 troops to train Mali's army to retake the Islamist-held north, but is not willing to deploy them in battle, EU officials said on Tuesday.

Fears are growing in Europe that the African country could turn into a platform for terrorist attacks, after Islamist fighters seized two-thirds of its territory earlier this year.

"There is a willingness among member states to put boots on the ground - but only on the parade ground," one of the EU officials said. "I haven't heard from member states a willingness to put people in the field."

The EU discussions are among international efforts to mobilise against the militants in northern Mali, which has attracted Islamists, criminal networks and Al Qaeda-linked gunmen.

The militants are recruiting hundreds of locals, including children, and a trickle of foreign fighters. The EU officials said the region was becoming a haven for traffickers - of people, drugs and cigarettes - and that this money was financing terrorists.

EU leaders said at a summit on October 19 that the Mali crisis was an "immediate threat" to Europe. Foreign ministers had called four days earlier for the EU diplomatic service to draw up a plan to help Mali's military.

Three such plans have been under consideration, said an EU official: help only with training; training plus reform of the army's structure; or both of these, plus mentoring.

The third scenario envisaged sending EU troops into combat with Malian troops. But member states are not willing to risk sending their troops into combat, said the official.

LOW MORALE, CORRUPTION

Instead, EU member states had decided that a combination of training and restructuring was the best option. Roughly 200 trainers, protected by a security force of a similar size, might be involved, said another EU official.

The Malian army had 6,000 or 7,000 troops, which were mostly badly equipped and poorly trained, and suffered from low morale, corruption and nepotism, said the official, adding: "It needs civilian control and lines of command to be made clear."

France, the region's former colonial power, drafted an October 12 U.N. Security Council resolution asking African states and the United Nations for a Mali military intervention plan led by the West African ECOWAS bloc within 45 days.

ECOWAS has intervened militarily in past African conflicts, including the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The European Union is considering help for ECOWAS with military planning and logistics, and an EU planner was already in Bamako helping on this, one of the EU officials said.

The EU diplomatic service plans to report on its plan for Mali at the next EU foreign ministers' meeting, scheduled for November 19. After that, planning could take months, or as much as a year, said one of the officials.

"We don't overestimate the speed at which we can move," he said.

Six French hostages are being held by the Islamists. President Francois Hollande is said to believe there is a risk that al Qaeda's North African arm, AQIM, is cementing its base in the West African state, creating a launch pad for an attack on French soil.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in October: "If the north collapses, if terrorist training camps spring up... it will also threaten us in Europe."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-considers-sending-200-troops-train-mali-army-051454368.html

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