Could we please stop equating the BPO sector with Call Centers. Every time a discussion on the BPO sector starts it is inevitably reduced to a discussion on call centers.

This is one of the biggest problems domestic outsourcing companies face since the BPO discussion seems to be only about call centers (for those of you at the CEO Breakfast earlier this year you will recall it was one of the main issues CEOs identified . They said the message they received was essentially BPO=Call Centers). There are numerous BPOs in the country that offer back office processing services from imaging and data storage to mail sorting and delivery (perhaps the stock brokers would have been advised to use them to prevent the Safaricom refund fiasco), and when we fail to highlight the diversity of the industry we lose valuable opportunities for marketing and visibility for these companies and the industry as a whole.

Business Process Outsourcing is much larger that call centers and if we on this list cannot seem to make that distinction that is a major problem.

May I also suggest that the ICT Board has more work to do on promoting domestic as well as international BPO work. Without a viable domestic market, we will not be able to nuture and grow local companies. Before the international business comes it would be helpful if local companies had local business to help sustain them, provide refernces as well as cushion them against the longer sales cycle for international contracts. Government can help by leading the way as it looks at implementing the eGovernment initiative as well as in providing incentives for local business to outsource.

Marilyn

Many thanks and best regards,

Marilyn M. Kamuru

eManage Africa Ltd.

P.O. Box 18136 00500

Nairobi, Kenya

Tel: (254) 20828 383; 20 34550

Cell : (254) 725 525 972, 736 225 384