BPESA Newsletter - October 2019
- October 28, 2019
We are rapidly approaching 2019-year end and while the sector has enjoyed much success and progress, we look forward to the remaining initiatives and key tasks ahead before we get ready to tackle 2020. This newsletter highlights key developments progress made in the past few months and brings to your attention a number of important events and activities leading up to year-end.
2019 GBS Investor Conference and Awards #GBSEvent2019
The 2019 GBS Investor Conference and Awards is just around the corner - #GBSEvent2019 – the flagship event of the South African Global Business Services (GBS) Sector.
BPESA, in proud partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) and host city Durban (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa), will be hosting this prestigious event from 19-21 November. Social transformation discussions from macro to micro influences, how globalising forces impact on local communities & national societies and the role Global Business Services must play. Aimed at showcasing the demand and supply opportunities along with the distinctive empathetic attitude and value potential of South Africa’s youth. The event embraces Impact Sourcing in its many forms and delves into the integrated experience of the digital world in which we live and compete.
There’s no better way to celebrate the youth and potential of our beautiful country like the Ndlovu Youth Choir – our voice of South Africa performing at the #GBSEvent2019. This is an event not to miss as we celebrate excellence and plan for the exponential growth of our Sector.
National GBS Award Finalists will be announced early November. To view who is in the running from a regional perspective, Please see the Regional Finalists.
Event Tickets are still available with discounted rates for all BPESA Members.
Visit the #GBSEvent2019 site here.
Recent Marketing and Investment promotion initiatives
India / NASSCOM trip September
BPESA and Genesis Analytics spent a week in India, hosted by NASSCOM, to observe and learn from them how they are managing the transition to the digital economy and to better understand how they have achieved such success in mobilising the digital / ICT and BPM role players to develop and grow the market.
The trip included attending the BPM Strategy conference where BPESA was afforded the opportunity to engage with many other stakeholders interested in the GBS Sector in South Africa.
Most importantly, NASSCOM and BPESA have identified several areas of collaboration which will be initiated in 2020.
London trip October
BPESA and the dti were joined by several South African GBS company executives in London on the 7th and 8th October to present the new value propositions for Alternative Legal Services (ALS) and Finance and Accounting (F&A). Case study presentations by Cognia Law, Hogan Lovells and Herbert Smith Freehills demonstrated the real value of delivering ALS from South Africa. CCI, Outworx and WNS presented case studies to a different audience on the 8th October, focusing on South Africa’s deep capabilities in insurance, compliance and F&A in general.
The South African GBS Value Proposition Refresh
In 2018, BPESA commissioned the Everest Group to produce a Value Proposition for the South African BPO Sector. The 2018 BPO Value Proposition was a great success and a testament to the sector’s high growth and future potential.
This sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in the economy, having created more than 19,000 jobs since January last year and is on track to create 100,000 new jobs by the end of 2023.
This year, BPESA have recommissioned the Everest Group to conduct a refresh of the 2018 BPO Value Proposition and to develop a Value Proposition for South African Global Business Services including Digital, ICT and Shared Services over and above BPO. We are very excited to announce that the 2019 GBS Value Proposition will be published in time for the 2019 GBS Investor Conference and Awards.
Solutions Exchange
BPESA joined its partners in the dti and Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and key role players from the public and private sector to define actionable solutions to youth unemployment in the country.
The Solutions Exchange, which took place at The Campus in Bryanston, Johannesburg on the 10th October, included Action Labs for job creation, Pathway Management, Pay-for-Performance models, and the launch of the new Social Index for SA.
BPESA members, Webhelp and their UK client Shop Direct shared their compelling case study for Impact Sourcing, showcasing both the unquestionable social impact, but importantly, the commercial benefits as well. Intentional hiring of marginalised individuals opens up pools of talent which benefit the South African GBS sector and society as well.
BPESA and its partners also shared a panel discussion presenting a new vision for growth at scale that builds on momentum in the GBS sector and the evolving digital and ICT opportunity for digital transformation and growth!
The GBS Sector Skills Strategy
BPESA, together with its Members, took on the huge endeavour to formulate an extremely comprehensive and detailed GBS Sector Skills Strategy for 2023.
The development of a Sector Skill Strategy is a key mandate of BPESA to spearhead a coordinated effort of industry role players to provide a sustainable supply of suitably skilled individuals to enable the sector to improve its existing competitiveness position and to grow substantially.
Most of the initiatives identified in the strategy have been initiated and will be expanded from their pilot formats to larger scale interventions across all regions in 2020.
The final Quarterly Skill Forums for 2019 will take place across the regions and members and stakeholders are encouraged to attend;
- Gauteng – 26th November
- Western Cape – 4th December
- KZN – 5th December
Impact Sourcing Supplement
BPESA will be releasing an Impact Sourcing Supplement in November at the 2019 GBS Investor Conference and Awards. In addition, the supplement will assist in positioning South Africa’s GBS Impact Sourcing focus through to a global audience where Intelligent Sourcing Magazine and Purple Cow Media expand the circulation beyond South African boarders.
With the theme of the 2019 GBS Investor Conference and Awards being – ‘Re-Imagining 2030’ together - Make an Impact...Change a Country…Leave a Legacy – we wish to showcase South Africa’s leadership and commitment to the practice of Impact Sourcing. We have an exciting line-up of articles and case studies from leading Impact Sourcing practitioners in South Africa. The 28-page Supplement will be made available to all BPESA Members and attendees at this year’s GBS Event.
Sector Engagement
The past few months have been great for the engagement of members with each other, building business networks and showcasing products and solutions.
The technical and skills solutions sessions held across the country proved to be very popular and were well attended. Companies presented innovative products and solutions to some of the most pressing business challenges the GBS Sector is trying to solve.
Members in KZN, the Western Cape and Gauteng were able to extend their business networks and build new relationships through these engagements. On the back of the success and call from members for more such engagements, the Skills and Technology Solution Sessions will become an embedded feature on the BPESA calendar moving forward.
As part of BPESA’s continued focus on value and quality, we are excited to be road-showing the ISO 18295: Customer Contact Centre Standards. This will be done across Gauteng (26th November), KZN (5th December) and Western Cape (6th December) – seats are limited, so make sure to book your spots now to ensure you start off 2020 with the knowledge required to ensure a quality focused start to 2020.
2019 / 2020 Membership
BPESA Membership registrations remain open as our Membership year runs until March 2020. The Membership registration process is quick and painless on our site with all the information available under Become a Member.
BPESA has enjoyed large growth of its membership base as industry role players continue to collaborate to build a sustainable future for our South African economy and youth.
Receive access to the latest Market and Information Research, Marketing and Investment Promotion, Skills Development, Industry Development and Government Lobbying and Support.
We invite GBS Stakeholders to register as a BPESA Member now with eligibility for discounted rates for the #GBSEvent2019 for registrations received before the event registration closing dates.
2019 AGM
The BPESA AGM takes place on the 19th November in Durban.
All BPESA members are encouraged to join the Board, EXCO and OpsCo and contribute to the future of your Trade Body and Industry Association and the collective development of this thriving sector.
In closing
In closing, I want to thank the BPESA team, all BPESA members, our partners in the dti and Harambee, our partners in Provincial and City Government and the many other organisations that make up the ecosystem in which the GBS Sector functions. Your willingness to collaborate with each other to build this sector into one that can make a real impact on our economy and one that can create hundreds of thousands of youth jobs – is making a difference!!
Andy Searle
On behalf of the BPESA Team
