Get Adobe Flash player
Archives

Archive for June 2010

Aldermore Commercial Mortgages exceeds expectations
Intermediaries using the lender for commercial deals since this time last year said the lender’s success was due to “sensible” lending decisions and open lines of communication with the broker community.

Read more on Mortgage Introducer

Interest rates creep lower
VietNamNet Bridge – As inflationary fears ease, bankers expect the deposit interest rate to settle at ten percent per annum and lending interest rates to creep down toward the twelve percent range.

Read more on Vietnam Net

MONEY & BANKING
MONETARY POLICY: RBI hikes key policy rates by 25 bps to tame inflation Banks may hike deposit, not loan, rates first. The Reserve Bank of India on Friday took yet another baby step to stem the rising inflationary tide.

Read more on The Hindu

(AFX UK Focus) 2010-07-02 12:59 China c.bank issued extra bills in June, data show
SHANGHAI, July 2 (Reuters) – China’s central bank issued 360 billion yuan ($53 billion) in bills in June in addition to issuance in its open market operations, calculations from official data showed, apparently aiming to prevent a large volume of maturing special bills from flooding the market with cash. Two banking sources said the extra bills had likely been sold to Industrial and Commercial …

Read more on Interactive Investor

Share

The outsourcing industry, also known as BPO, in the country is the latest fad; more so, is the most lucrative field at present. Employing more than 2 million Filipinos, it is considered as one of the last strongholds of a struggling economy. It being so, territorial expansions are currently being made outside established commercial districts like Makati and Ortigas. Pampanga, Baguio, and Davao Cities are some of the few that have been added to the growing business outsourcing network.

 

As different markets are growing at various rates around the world, the concept and scope of outsourcing is still evolving. This could only mean that there is plenty of space for growth. From formerly outsourced services such as financial assistance, online helpdesks, mailroom services, manufacturing, telemarketing and business consulting, top companies are now investing as well into the prospects of outsourcing record management, advertising, administrative information systems, supply/ inventory, recruitment, and reprographics. This only shows that the pressure for the industry to expand their services – vertically and function-wise – and improve their services in order to accommodate clients’ demands is high. In embracing outsourcing, the impetus to execute strategic and careful planning of their workflows is recommended.

 

Below are the drivers behind today’s outsourcing decisions:

Accelerated reengineering benefits. Reengineering aims for dramatic improvements in critical measures of performance such as cost, quality, service, and speed. By outsourcing a non-core function to a world class provider, the organization can begin to see the benefits of reengineering.
Access to world class capabilities. World class providers make extensive investments in technology, methodologies, and people.
Cash Infusions. Outsourcing involves the transfer of assets from the customer to the provider.
Free resources for other purposes. Outsourcing permits an organization to redirect its resources, most often people resources, from non-core activities toward activities which serve the customer.
Function difficult to manage, or out of control. Outsourcing is certainly one option for addressing this problem.
Improve company focus. It allows company focus on its core businesses by having operational functions assumed by an outside expert.
Make capital funds available. There is tremendous competition within most organizations for capital funds. Outsourcing can reduce the need to invest capital funds in non-core business functions.
Reduce operating costs. An outside provider’s lower cost structure, which may be the result of a greater economy of scale or other advantage based on specialization, reduces a company’s operating costs and increases its competitive advantage.
Reduce Risks. Shared investments spread risk and significantly reduce corporate jeopardy born by a single company.
Resources not available internally. Companies outsource because they do not have access to the required resources within the company.

 

To conclude, Oracin and Boyd (2008) gives essential guidance on how BPOs should evaluate how they might execute strategies given current state of the constrained economic climate:

 

Evaluate your “operational” delivery infrastructure and determine how it can scale both up for large international opportunities and down to meet the requirements of midsize businesses. Significant opportunities await those that can demonstrate their ability to support both large and midsize businesses.
Determine which model, build-buy-partner, best suits your strategic vision. If you are a new entrant in this market, adopt the partner model to not only gain quick transaction but also to learn what works best.
Pay close attention to existing contracts especially in these economic times, to ensure that your clients believe you are bringing true value with your outsourced services.
Focus on the growth markets, especially managed print services and imaging and document archival opportunities. The former will provide you with a beachhead with your clients and the latter will provide insights into the client’s document-intensive processes and the opportunities that reside there.
Solicit and engage large BPO that are aiming to take complete control over entire business functions for their clients. The numbers in this market are very large and there are significant opportunities for partnerships to subcontract specific functions within the processes.

 

BPOs are fairing well despite economic crisis. Resorting to this option for companies still appear to be the cheaper option to go. Trend shows that outsourcing is a profitable industry based on general industry reports and individual financial statements of several companies.

Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero. Member, International Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Graduate Student, Industrial Relations, University of the Philippines Diliman.

Share


inflation.us What will happen to vacant commercial buildings as the economy begins to unwind? The Answer is right in front of my eyes. They will be destroyed.

Share

Small Business Borrowing Drops in May
The overall volume of financing to U.S. small businesses, sank about 5% in May–the lowest level in seven month.

Read more on FOX Business Small Business Center

India hikes interest rates by 25 basis points
MUMBAI -India’s central bank on Friday hiked two key short-term interest rates by 25 basis points in a bid to tame double-digit inflation. Read more…

Read more on The Malaysian Mirror

Intesa CEO Passera Seeks Tighter Liquidity Rules for Banks, Sole Reports
Banks need “more stringent” rules on liquidity and limits on the amounts they can borrow, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA Chief Executive Officer Corrado Passera wrote in Il Sole 24 Ore today.

Read more on Bloomberg

(AFX UK Focus) 2010-07-03 03:45 Glance-PRESS DIGEST – British Business Press – July 3
The Daily Telegraph

Read more on Interactive Investor

Share



clscause.com Are you in the right business but the wrong space? Commercial Lending Solutions connects you with capital and the support to get you into the right space. Don’t be a finger sandwich, be a HERO! Commercial Lending Solutions, advancing your cause… Thanks to Efe’s Mediterranean restaurant in Marietta Square!

Share

A residential real estate broker, or salesperson seems to have their duties a little more spelled out. The duties of a commercial real estate broker has something to do with ‘due diligence.’ What exactlyl is that?
Actually Roger it did..for some reason when I google it..I came up empty..Thanks.

Share

Raman Roy is a true legend in the outsourcing space, having played a crucial role in the development and growth of India’s third-party BPO industry. A man with as good a claim as any to the title “Father of BPO”, Roy began his career with TCS before moving – via American Express – to GECIS, the previous incarnation of Genpact, under Pramod Bhasin. In 2000 Roy went independent, setting up BPO trailblazers Spectramind, which was bought by Wipro (changing its name to Wipro BPO) in 2002. Four years later, having seen out his obligations as head of the new subsidiary, Roy struck out on his own again with the formation of Quatrro, the “next generation” sourcing provider of which he is currently chairman and managing director.

SSON: You’re one of the true pioneers of India’s outsourcing industry. What do you see as having been the crucial developments and success factors in the creation and expansion of the industry in India?

Raman Roy: The main success factor has been the commercial availability of technology. That made distances irrelevant. Geography is history. The availability of technology that allows companies to leverage the intellectual capital from different parts of the world has played a big role. On top of that the ability to train people, and to demonstrate that this is doable and it is a viable option, has also played a big role.

SSON: And to what extent do you see yourself as having played a critical role in this process?

RR: Well, I guess the guy carrying the baton gets a little bit of credit… If you let people carry on with their drums and their guitars by themselves, the music might not come out. You know, I could give you stories of the challenges that we’ve had that would make you burst into tears. It’s very good to look back on what happened and look at the success of having created an industry, but some of the challenges we had, some of the disbelief from the bosses, from the government, from the employees – the employees thought I was loony. They thought it would never work so they didn’t want to join me. It was challenging.

Did one play a role? I guess I did – but there was a whole lot of other people. Technology played a big role. The people who actually did the jobs played a big role. The customers who gave me the opportunity to demonstrate what we could do played a big role. But putting it all together – I guess I was carrying the baton, while a lot of people contributed to the success of this industry.

SSON: You’ve spoken there about early challenges; years on, what do you see as being the biggest obstacles and/or challenges to India’s continued dominance of the BPO space?

RR: If you look at the numbers right now, as per the report done by NASSCOM and Everest, the size of the industry is about $200 billion. Last year India did about $11 billion. Therefore, if you look at the penetration into the industry, it’s about 5%. In the $11 billion there are captives – Amex doing work for Amex, Dell doing work for Dell, AOL doing work for AOL, GE for GE and so on. In the $250 billion, the captive work is not included: that’s purely third-party outsourcing. So the actual penetration into the industry is about 3.5%. Now if that is the penetration, the opportunity to grow is somewhere in the region of 95-97% of the size of the industry. So the opportunity of what can be done is huge.

To your question of what are the biggest challenges: the biggest challenge is the availability of trained manpower. Because the appetite of this industry is very high, and our training methodologies, our training systems, do not meet international norms. I’ll give you an example: as one of the projections that we did at NASSCOM, out of the projected future size of the industry about $6 billion is finance and accounting. The majority of the world does their reporting of finance and accounting and the processing of those transactions as per US GAAP: the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Not a single college, institute, university, polytechnic in India teaches US GAAP. And we want to become the back office to the world! That is a big challenge.

Today we have a very large accounting unit within Quatrro and we work essentially for US customers on US GAAP – so we hire accountants and we train them on US GAAP. But to what extent is it for the industry to carry out – when did the industry become the trainer and the educator? Can we achieve our aspirations and ambitions for bringing in $6 billion in finance and accounting? That becomes open to question. So training manpower and an integrated approach to fulfil global needs, not Indian needs, is to my mind one of the biggest musts for us to continue to grow and have a dominant position in the international market.

SSON: What about the impact of the current economic downturn – do you see that as having a negative effect on upon outsourcing in general, and India’s position in particular?

RR: Actually I see it as being the other round: it’s a good opportunity. The United States has officially announced it is in a recession, with GDP going down. Which means logically the top line, the revenue of the customer base, instead of growing, will reduce. But they still have obligations to their stakeholders, Wall Street, the private equity guys and others to make a profit. And therefore, given the fact that their top line is going down, they have a requirement to bring down the cost. And one of the options available to them is offshoring, because in their own home market their ability to bring down costs is very limited.

However, the flipside right now is that this is not just a recession: there is a meltdown in the market, and therefore the market is in a state of inertia. There is a total lack of decision-making. So in the short-term this lack of decision-making will impact upon discretionary projects, which can have a revenue impact. But in the medium-to-long term, the way I look at it, it is a major opportunity – because India is a part of the solution, for what the world has to accomplish.

SSON: Is it too early, do you think, to make predictions about how the outsourcing sector will look in, say, five years’ time?

RR: Consolidation is a given: this is a scale industry. Will it have consolidation? Yes it will. Will it grow? I think the offshore industry will grow. Will the tenor change – will there be new products and new offerings? Yes there will – it is not more of the same. Will it play a bigger role from the less developed economies into the developed market? I think yes it will. Will the 5% penetration become 50%? No it won’t! But will that 5% become 7%, 8%, 10%? Yes it will. That industry by itself is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of greater than 20%. So where it is growing at 20%, and our 5% penetration can become 7%, 8%, that is a huge growth that has to be tackled.

Will the present leading companies remain as the leading companies? I think there will be some rebalancing that will happen between people who can adapt to the new economic order, and people who cannot. So I think if you are talking about a five-year scenario, the industry five years later will look very different from the way it looks today.

SSON: More personally, now: why did you feel that the time was right in 2006 to set out on your own again with the foundation of Quatrro?

RR: Well, “Quatrro” as you know comes from the Latin word for “four”, and this is our fourth adventure. Over the last 15 years I have set up three different companies, and between these three companies we created some 55,000 jobs in India. That is what we know, and that is what we enjoy doing, and that is where we think our competencies and capabilities
lie. As we got through our third adventure, at Spectramind, which was acquired by Wipro, and we completed our obligations, as a management team we got together again and said “hey, let’s do something, but let’s do it differently this time”. So Quatrro is very different.

The theme that we have is “beyond the existing” – if you go to our website that’s what you see under our logo – and “beyond the existing” is to say that everything we do within Quatrro is done differently from how it’s been done by others. If it’s just more of the same we don’t do it. And also with “beyond the existing” we are looking at new products, so we’re doing risk management that nobody’s ever done before, leave alone on an offshore basis; we’re doing legal; we’re doing foreclosures – you know the market meltdown that has happened was led by mortgages, and we are India’s largest foreclosure company working with lawyers in the US to help them with their legal work on foreclosures. We are India’s largest legal process outsourcing company as a result of the work that we do on foreclosures, which is new – nobody else does it out of India.

We do interactive gaming; you know the games that you play on your mobile phones, on Xboxes et cetera? We are the world’s largest in proofing and testing and localization. Again, a new area that nobody else had done before. We have a different go-to-market strategy for our mortgage business, for our accounting business. So we saw this as an opportunity to be able to leverage our learnings, to create something more worthwhile and something we can be proud of.

SSON: What are your ambitions for Quattro over the next couple of years?

RR: That’s a tough one to answer, frankly! You know, a few months ago, one of my employees said to me “hey, you don’t have to do this! Why are you doing this?” – and the answer I gave to her was that, downstream, I have two daughters who are today aged 16 and 10; when they have kids and I have a grandchild sitting on my knee, I want to be able to turn round and say “look at this wonderful industry your granddad played a role in creating –  and your granddad also played a role in differentiating what India could be all about”.

So we are looking to create something that we can be proud of – and if we can be proud of it it will have value, and if it has value we’ll hopefully make some money out of it. But money is not the only criterion – it is important, don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying I’m doing this as a social service, I’m not. But why we are doing it is to create something we can be proud of, to be able to demonstrate to the world what we out of India are capable of.

SSON: What and who have been the formative influences on your career?

RR: You’re asking tough ones! Well, I think there have been multiple people who have had an influence. Family played a role, teaching me that you must have a sense of pride in what you do and be able to demonstrate it. My mother played a big role. My wife has had a huge influence in saying “you have to believe in yourself, go and do it” – otherwise I wouldn’t have quit my job and started out on my own. Mahatma Gandhi, for what he believed in and the way he lived his life, the respect and dignity, has had a great influence on my thinking. Innovators like Bill Gates have played a big role. So I don’t think I can single out one or the other. Life is like a chemical reaction: various things come in at various stages to have an impact.

SSON: What was the best advice you’ve ever been given?

RR: At one point in time I was told by my then-employers that if I what I was doing didn’t succeed… I told them that they’d have another job for me if this didn’t work and I was told “look pal, either it works or – you’re the one who’s been saying he could do it out of India – if it doesn’t work you lose your job”. So I gritted my teeth and I said “I will show you what we are capable of.” Was that advice? No, it was more of a threat – to say that “if you don’t succeed, this chatter you’ve been giving about the technology being available and Indians being able to do the job will become nothing”.

For me that was a life-changing experience: for months together I was a possessed man, wanting to show the world what could be done here. And the hurdles I encountered were pretty huge – but ultimately the taste of success was very, very sweet. I would say it was that threat, saying I wasn’t going to be able to do it, that played a bigger role than any meaningful advice I’ve been given.

SSON: Finally: what advice would you give anyone just setting out on an outsourcing journey?

RR: I would say: experiment. I would say you’re only limited by your imagination. I would say, do not look for a vendor: look for a partner. Because this is about partnership. This is about assisting each other. This is a marriage where you co-rely on each other and you make a success of it. If you look at it as a partnership, and you are willing to experiment, it will be great for both the partners.

More Articles: Want to receive more articles like this? Have a tip, learning or case study you want to share?
Join our growing community of shared services and outsourcing professionals.

Sign up to our eNewsletters and ensure you receive the latest news, articles and features from our growing global community… Find out more at www.ssonetwork.com or email enquire@ssonetwork.com

Jamie Liddell has worked in journalism since he was a 17-year-old cub reporter for The Tico Times, Costa Rica’s highly regarded English-language weekly newspaper. Holding an MA in English from Clare College, Cambridge University, Jamie came to SSON from the world of overseas property publishing where he worked on the industry’s best-selling publications for the UK and Ireland, and gave seminars at consumer and b2b exhibitions and conferences internationally.

Share

Everyone wants to remain free from any sort of financial obligation. But what to with the financial deficits which come in between running or establishing any enterprise? To fight away from such crux, the lending authority has come up with various loans. Commercial real estate is one of those loans which are used to buy, improve or refinance commercial property. Availability of this loan online and offline has opened the financial knot of aspired borrowers. For instant appraisal and quick result, online method of availing commercial real estate is in vogue.

Basically, Commercial Real Estate deals with all properties, both rental and for sale, that are not residential. So any grocery store, book store, or coffee shop that moves into an area must deal with a commercial real estate representative to make the buy or leasing agreement. Likewise, builders who focus in buildings that will be used for non-residential belongings should use a commercial real estate negotiator in their planning and to lease or sell their buildings out for business.

Financing sources for commercial real estate include mortgage banking firms, savings and loan institutions, regional banks, insurance companies, and private investors. Commercial real estate financing can take on very different terms, and the way deals are structured is based on a number of factors including:

• Anticipated use of the property

• Geography

• Size of real estate

• Perceived risk to lender

• Market conditions

• Anticipated returns from the property

The areas mentioned above must not be forgot to be examined the business owners to seeking to seeding for their commercial real estate financing. And then, the need is of the type of loans offered by the lenders in accordance with their requirements and anticipated growth.

Despite the many types of commercial real estate, lenders always remain primarily concerned with the level of risk. Therefore, individuals must see the following documents before:

• Financial statements on all principals involved demonstrating a solid income stream

• Property appraisal

• Profiles of the management team

• Income and expense statement for the property demonstrating a solid income stream

• Plan, including construction blueprint for the use of the property.

Spend some time with an appropriate legal advisor, check and optimise, and ensure the utilities are whether in serviceable condition. Although these factors may not be an immediate part of the financial considerations individuals should be as shortcomings in due diligence can prove expensive and, of course issue uncovered should be reflected in the purchase price of the property.

Tim Kelly is an expert in finance having completed her LLM in Finance (Master of Laws in Finance) from Institute for Law and Finance at Frankfurt University. She is currently working with Commercialrealestate as a financial advisor. To find commercial real estate, commercial real estate loan, commercial real estate loan, commercial real estate loan rate, commercial real estate loan major visit http://www.commercialrealestateloan.co.uk/

Share

Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is one of the four metropolises of India. The capital city of Tamil Nadu, Chennai is the core of all economic, political, and business activities of the state. Chennai is fast achieving repute for IT as well as industrial development. The city provides a fluid environment for investors and buyers to plunge in and explore in both residential as well as commercial sectors.

The Indian real estate is a budding sector and is a boost to the Indian economy. Chennai’s’ real estate segment is impelled by the residential and the commercial sectors. The booming IT industry plays a major role in the commercial upswing in Chennai.

Chennai real estate is a potential market. Being the fourth largest metropolitan city of India, Chennai houses regional offices of many major corporate houses. It stands amongst the trade capitals of the country.

Chennai’s property trends have witnessed gradual upturns with the establishments of a multitude of IT/I.T.E.S and BPO firms, which have generated a plethora of services, employment opportunities and growth prospects for the population. This has led to a significant rise in the real estate demand. Due to the changing lifestyles of the people as a consequence of immediate developments introduced by the growing urbanization, a considerable rise in the property graphs has been recorded. The real estate segment caters to the land requirements for a huge mass of population.

Property in Chennai and land values is relatively cheaper than the trend followed in other metropolitan cities due to the availability of larger and suitable tracts of unutilized land. Having a vast coastline, the city stands at an advantageous position as compared to the other metro cities of India. With a lucrative investment scope, advanced infrastructure, intellectual talented workforce, sound English language skills enhancing the comprehensive developing environment, Chennai is rapidly emerging as a potential destinations for investors and buyers across the world.

The city is also proceeding to becoming a prime manufacturing hub for electrical and electronic industries as well as for auto components.

Chennai offers a stupendous inflow of real estate developers and builders due to the budding commercial scenario as well as affordable cost of living.

An abode to several multinational firms, Chennai has witnessed considerable growth in the commercial segment. The booming BPO, IT and I.T.E.S industries have played a vital role in amending the real estate market of Chennai, preparing it to adhere to the needs of the upcoming business and financial market.

 

Equally in step with the commercial sector, Chennai’s residential segment is also on an upswing, further accelerating real estate graphs of the city. The rising trend of luxurious complexes, flats and apartments in Chennai have poised the residential sector, catering to the growing demand for a quality lifestyle.

The progressing commercial market and increasing influx of IT experts have elevated the residential sales, compelling higher investments in the sector by competent builders and buyers.

Chennai is consistently gaining a vantage over neighbouring cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad as a result of better skilled manpower. Multinational companies exhibit a higher interest level in the city due to cheaper lodging facilities and sparse operational costs.

The retail sector has also picked up as a result of the increasing commercial and residential stakes in the real estate market. According to the President of Chennai Real Estate Agents Association, the land for setting up a shop is carefully chosen by the retailers. The vicinity of the prospective shop is thus judiciously contemplated upon.

With the growing commercial opportunities and advancements, Chennai is regarded as the commercial capital of India. The city is extensively emerging as one of the most sought after junctions by foreign buyers and investors, who thrive to make a mark in the Indian real estate.

With Chennai real estate witnessing appreciation at a fast rate, property investment in the city is worth the idea.

Kriti Seth writes on behalf of 99acres.com, which is an internet portal dedicated to meet every aspect of the consumers needs in the real estate industry. It is a forum where buyers, sellers and brokers can exchange information, quickly, effectively and inexpensively. At 99 acres, you can advertise a property, search for a property and browse through Chennai property and other Properties.

Share
Share