Cebu inches a notch higher in Tholons’ Top 100

CEBU, Philippines - Despite some issues on infrastructure and other concerns, Cebu managed to rise up a notch higher to number seven in this year's Tholons' Top 100  IT/BPO investment destinations in the world.

 Tholons, a global full-services strategic and advisory firm for world's outsourcing and research, placed Cebu in the 7th place, after being stuck at 8th rank in the past three years.

  "One of the important shifts in the APAC region in this year’s Top 100 List, was the rise of Cebu City in the Philippines – moving upwards, from 8th to 7th spot," read the Tholons report released over the weekend.

 According to the report, the continuous improvement on infrastructure as of first quarter of 2015,--the PEZA counts a combined 27 IT Centers and IT Parks to be operating in Cebu, and an enlarging talent pool that draws diverse talent from the Southern archipelago, has allowed the city’s IT-BPM sector to sustain recent developmental gains.

 "The province of Cebu is likewise considered the educational hub of Central and Southern Philippines, with the Central Visayas Region counting 138 higher education institutions (public and private) in its fold, reaching almost 260,000 undergraduate enrollees for the academic year of 2013-2014," the report emphasized.

  However, with this development, Tholons urged Cebu to be more active in promotion and marketing, as its potential is expanding.

The advisory firm believes that Cebu City "has not been marketed enough" in the global services outsourcing marketplace, as the industry's identity remains (somewhat) BPO-centric.

 The report mentioned though that this observation may not necessarily be a problem inherent of Cebu City, "but more so a characteristic of the Philippines IT-BPM industry in general – it nonetheless reflects the tremendous upside and potential for the location."

  Tholons remains bullish on the trajectory and long-term potential of Cebu City as a global services outsourcing destination.

  "There is opportunity for Cebu City to capitalize on the prevailing weakness of global competition. Economic turmoil in several of Latin America’s key economic markets for example, has temporarily dulled the region’s luster, pushing large service buyers/providers to re-focus activities on proven locations which can provide both scale and better long-term sustainability," the report said.

Moreover, the rash of global geo-political incidents should also compel service buyers/providers to favor ‘safer service delivery havens’ such as Manila NCR, Cebu City and the host of established delivery locations in India.

 Today, Cebu City’s local IT-BPM industry is a healthy mix of services, cutting across all three major service lines (ITO, KPO, BPO).  The variety of process groups being fulfilled in the city also mirrors the diverse talent pool available to the location (i.e. software development, FAO, medical transcription, and contact support services, among others).

  Large multinationals such as JPMorgan Chase, Aegis, Accenture, Teletech, IBM and Convergys, among many others, have all established delivery centers across Cebu City’s numerous IT Parks and Centers.

  Last year, an estimated P36.2 billion was poured IT-BPO sector to Cebu's economy, in terms of direct salary given to the 120 thousand employees.  (FREEMAN)