By Nandasiri Wanninayaka | CEO - Horizon Lanka Foundation
This article appeared in The Sunday Leader on March 02, 2008 http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20080302/BUSINESS.HTM
A village based business process outsourcing (BPO) service that handles part of the backoffice operations of Sri Lanka's largest diversified company, has also been contracted by the country's biggest telecoms operator, whilst having talks to provide similar services to Sri Lanka's largest white goods supplier.
This BPO operation located at Mahawillachchiya, Anuradhapura, that processes data of suppliers' to John Keells supermarket chain (a process that began some months ago) has now been employed by Dialog Telekom to process some of their market research data, Dilip Jayawickrama, Projects Director, Foundation for Advancing Rural Opportunity in Sri Lanka (FARO), an NGO, told The Sunday Leader.
FARO, which was among seven NGOs to receive World Bank grants of Rs. five million each through the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) on Wednesday to develop ICT opportunities to the rural and disadvantaged people, provides support to this BPO operation in Mahavillachchiya.
The village youth involved in this project, some eight of them, had their basics right, that is having a working knowledge of English and in the use of computers, due to the work of another NGO, Horizon, said Jayaweera.
"This made it possible for our entry, such a foundation has to be first laid before we can move in," he added. Jayaweera said that outsourcing of this work by Keells has helped them to cut costs, with eight of their staff who were involved in this work earlier, being relocated to other departments.
He alleged that Dialog which hit the top in a short span of under 15 years, with most, if not all of their work done inhouse, were somewhat cautious in outsourcing their work, though a start has been made, with some of their market research data being now handled at Mahavillachchiya.
In the case of Singer, talks have been initiated, with no business deals having been yet procured, he said. Jayaweera further said that he wants to start a similar BPO unit in Seenigama, a village which was devastated in the recent tsunami.
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