MicroSourcing Newsletter December 2011

ISSUE

08
The

DECEMBER MicroSourcing Quarterly Newsletter
2011

WHAT’S INSIDE
A MicroSourcing Holiday Celebration MicroSourcing’s 2011 Milestones

December 17 - MicroSourcing employees and clients headed to Seventh High at Journey towards ISO Certification
Bonifacio High Street in Taguig to celebrate Christmas - disco/hip-hop style, inspired by New Offices - Cebu, MOA
the Party Rock Anthem of American electro pop duo LMFAO.
MicroSourcing Forms Partnership with
Three groups rocked the house down in the dance competition as they showed their InContact
party rock moves. The judges named OH Cobra Dancers as the winner of the contest.
PH Beats India in Voice-based
They got the Php10000 cash prize, while runners-up OH H.O.T Kru and MMO received Operations
Php3000 and Php2000, respectively.
OE Department Launched
The fun did not stop after the competition - overflowing beer and party rock music fueled
Meet the New IT Manager:
everyone to dance the night away. Cash, gift certificates, and various items were also
Sameer Bhagat
given away to employees during the raffle. It turned out to be an awesome event to end
Sendong Relief Drive
an equally awesome year for the company.
MicroSourcing Holds Halloween
"Spooktacular" Treat or Treat Event

My Dream in a Shoebox Outreach
Program

Holiday Budget Management

MicroSourcing's MicroSourcing Kicks Off
2011 Milestones Journey towards ISO Certification

Year 2011 has been a very fruitful one for
MicroSourcing. We've seen great developments
that will forever be in the company's growing
list of milestones.

Early this year, MicroSourcing had closed pretty
big deals with firms from the healthcare and
financial services sectors. This prompted the
company to expand operations as well. The new
delivery center was officially opened last June at
the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

Another significant development came in last A total of 35 employees of MicroSourcing, consisting of representatives of the management team
November when MicroSourcing opened a delivery
and the departments, started the journey towards ISO 9001 and 27001 Certification in a whole day
center in Cebu City - the company's first office
event at Eastwood Richmonde Hotel last October 26.
outside Metro Manila. To cap it all off, we are set
to open another office at the MOA Complex in
Led by Sophie Woo, Head of Operational Excellence, the certification has been identified as one of
Pasay City by January 2012.
the company's main objectives for the first half of next year. CEO Philip Kooijman explained during
As we strive to be the services provider of choice this meeting that a good quality and information security management system (QISMS) will help
for offshoring and outsourcing to the Philippines, MicroSourcing to add more value to our customers and stay competitive in this fast-growing BPO
we have started the journey towards becoming business. The kick-off day was followed by a series of training courses and interactive workshops for
ISO certified. The management team and the employees. MicroSourcing has started documenting and auditing the company’s processes and
employees have pledged support in this very procedures to comply with the ISO standards. With full support and cooperation from the
important initiative of streamlining all our
management team and employees involved in this initiative, the company aims to be ISO certified
processes and ensuring that we comply with
by February 2012.
international standards.

As part of this journey, the management formulated our Quality & Information Security Policy.
With all the blessings that MicroSourcing had
received, it’s just imperative to give back, and we
have done that in several instances this year. Quality & Information Security Policy
We’ve partnered with various organizations, MicroSourcing Philippines, Inc. strives to become the services provider of choice for offshoring
particularly Red Cross and the Business and outsourcing to the Philippines. By using our Filipino and international talent and by
Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), providing our employees with a world-class professional working environment, we aim to
in providing school supplies and PCs to schools achieve the highest standards of excellence and customer satisfaction.
in Lipa, Batangas, and in donating relief goods
and other items to the affected families of typhoon
Towards this purpose, we shall:
Sendong in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro.
- Focus our efforts on meeting and exceeding the expectations of our clients and stakeholders;
- Ensure the availability, confidentiality, and integrity of our information assets and those assets entrusted to
We want to thank all our clients, partners, and
us by our clients;
employees for making 2011 a great year for the
- Apply industry standards, best practices, and proven technologies in our business operations;
company. MicroSourcing shows no signs of
- Comply with all applicable regulatory and statutory requirements; and
stopping, and as we welcome 2012, we are in
high hopes that you will continue to support our - Instill a culture of continual improvement and quality awareness in our employees, tools, and processes.

endeavors in the coming years.
Our Management Team is committed to providing all the resources necessary in support of our
Karen Cayamanda Quality and Information Security Policy and Objectives and by working together with our
Editor-in-Chief employees, partners, clients, and stakeholders, we can surely achieve these goals.

www.MicroSourcing.com MicroSourcing Newsletter December Issue 2011 P2

MicroSourcing Opens
New Office in Cebu City
Outsourcing and offshoring solutions provider MicroSourcing had set another
milestone as it officially opened a new office in Cebu City last November 15.
This is the company’s first delivery center outside the Metro Manila area.
MicroSourcing’s new office has a capacity of 210 seats and is located at 12th
Floor TGU Tower, Asiatown IT Park, Lahug, Cebu City.
Asiatown IT Park covers 24 hectares of industrial land at the northern district
of Cebu City. It has an underground telecommunications setup with
high-speed Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) backbone, 23 kv underground
power supply, two backup water deep wells aside from the local water supply,
and centralized sewage treatment. Moreover, the IT park offers not only
business space but also areas for recreation and entertainment.
The IT park is a Special Economic Zone which offers government incentives
for developers, IT park facilities/utilities providers, and IT enterprises registered
under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).
Weeks prior to the official opening, the Manpower Acquisition Department
launched a Recruitment Caravan in several establishments throughout the city
to find suitable candidates for various positions, primarily Computer-Aided
Drawing Technicians who are needed by one of MicroSourcing’s largest
clients. The company is also looking for individuals who can fill positions in the
fields of IT, Human Resources, and Finance.

MicroSourcing Set to
Open New Office at MOA Complex
After opening a delivery center in Cebu City, MicroSourcing is
set to open another office in January next year - this time at
the Mall of Asia (MOA) Complex in Pasay City, Metro Manila.
This new office occupies the 10th floor of TwoE-comCenter, a
modern structure that is designed for business process
outsourcing (BPO) companies. Its features include an iconic
archway that connects the two buildings. This creates a large
window, offering a breathtaking view of Manila Bay.
TwoE-comCenter is registered under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), with 100%
backup electricity, 20 elevators, smoke detectors, sprinkler systems, and a cabling system provided by
the country's leading telecommunications companies. It is also environment-friendly, making use of
insulated glass units and energy-saving air conditioning systems.
The building was developed primarily for the corporate sector, but it also has features and facilities for
recreation and entertainment. It will soon be home to several establishments where employees and
guests can shop. They can also eat and relax at fine dining restaurants located at the fourth level.


MicroSourcing Philippines Beats India
Forms Partnership in Voice-based Operations
with InContact by: Sarah Joson

Though MicroSourcing started as a
non-voice BPO player, many clients have
requested voice-based services. This
prompted us to expand our service
offerings and enabled us to diversify our
business portfolio.
To meet the requirements of our clients, we
need an innovative call center approach
that's both low-cost and increases flexibility
of our voice services.
The solution? We have formed a strategic
partnership with InContact - a cloud-based Westerners who are transacting with their Industry experts also noted that Filipino

call center company that offers flexibility, local airlines, telecoms, and financial agents were able to assist complainants

ease of management, state-of-the-art and institutions are probably speaking with a who said they were having a hard time

comprehensive reporting tools, and call center agent from the Philippines. This understanding Indian agents.

reduced telecom costs. is due to the fact that the Philippines has Other advantages of putting up shop in the

Since InContact is cloud-based, it can overtaken India in the call center sector. Philippines are better utility infrastructure,

support multiple sites without physical Contact Center Association of the less power interruptions, and safer

infrastructure. With this feature, all call Philippines Executive Director Jojo Uligan environments for employees.

center solutions will be on the same said India, the pioneer in offshore call The outsourcing industry in the Philippines

system, making it easy to have consistent center operations, provided 350,000 contributed $9 billion or 4.5 percent to the

practices and managed multiple agents, but was overturned by the country’s gross domestic product, a major

geographically dispersed sites. Philippines even if it was less populated. improvement from figures reported in
The Philippines became a favorite among 2000. The industry also gets strong
BPO providers due to the fast evolution of government support through training
the outsourcing industry and English - programs and tax breaks.
speaking skills of workers in the country Industry leaders expect that the Philippine
which customers prefer and understand outsourcing industry will show continuous
more. Filipinos are also accustomed to growth and expand service offerings, tapping
mainstream Western culture, whereas Indians business processes such as accounting and
are more inclined to the British culture. insurance claims processing.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/


Operational Excellence Department Launched

Sophie Woo and Marvin Roxas recently joined MicroSourcing as part of the Operational
Excellence (OE) department, which is responsible for streamlining and optimizing business
processes for MicroSourcing internally as well as for its clients' operations if needed.
Sophie had worked for consulting firms in Amsterdam and London before starting an internet
company. She is now the head of the OE department and also serves as MicroSourcing's Quality
Management Representative (QMR).
On the other hand, Marvin has extensive experience in the Information Security and Compliance
(ISC) field for large BPO companies in Manila. He was involved in several ISO 27001 projects
where he was responsible for the security controls.
One of the first initiatives of the OE department will be implementing an integrated quality and
information security management system for MicroSourcing. The ISO kick-off took place last
October 26. The company aims to achieve ISO 9001/27001 certification by February 2012. This
will make MicroSourcing one of the few BPO companies in the Philippines which will be certified
for both standards.

If you would like to know more about what the Operational Excellence department can do for
you, please contact Sophie Woo at sophie@microsourcing.com.

Meet our New IT Manager

Sameer Bhagat
“He is a Cisco Certified Network Associate
(CCNA) and holds a number of certifications in
platforms like Redhat, VMware, and Microsoft.”

Sameer has more than 10 years of IT He is a Cisco Certified Network Associate
experience in the BPO industry, working (CCNA) and holds a number of certifications in
with a number of Fortune 500 clients in a platforms like Redhat, VMware, and Microsoft.
wide variety of verticals. Before joining As the head of IT, Sameer is in charge of
MicroSourcing, he had worked for more identifying, deploying, and managing the
than four years at Infosys as part of their best possible IT solutions for our clients
pioneer team in the Philippines. and assuring our compliance with our IT-
Sameer brings to MicroSourcing a lot of and information security-related
experience in implementing industry certifications. Sameer holds a Bachelor of
standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 27001, Science degree in Commerce from the
PCI-DSS, SAS 70, SOX, and ITIL. University of Nagpur (India).


MicroSourcing Extends Help to Typhoon Sendong Victims

Typhoon Sendong (International name:
Washi) triggered massive flash floods last
December 16. This led to more than 1000
casualties in Mindanao, specifically in
Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro. The
typhoon also hit some parts of Visayas
and Palawan.
MicroSourcing stepped up to help those
who were greatly affected by
this calamity. The PR and Social Media Marketing arm of MicroSourcing, headed by Nona
Tajanlangit-Kooijman, worked together with Red Cross and launched the Sendong Relief Drive,
encouraging all employees to share their blessings and donate basic necessities for the families
who are staying in evacuation centers in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro.
In a matter of nine days, MicroSourcing was able to collect 13 boxes of clothes, 251 MS Family
Bags containing relief goods, two boxes of assorted medicine items, two boxes of rice, bottles of
water, new blankets, and toys.
Cash donations were also accepted, with a total of P130,037.75 as of December 29.
Most of the clothes were delivered to the affected areas through the Red Cross military plane.
Meanwhile, 170 MS Family Bags and two boxes of medicine items were personally distributed by
MicroSourcing volunteers to evacuees in Tambacan Elementary School (Iligan City) and West
City Central School (Cagayan de Oro). The rest of the donations will be delivered through Red
Cross.
MicroSourcing is very thankful to everyone who supported this endeavor - from the employees
and clients, to the volunteers from Business Development Department, MicroSourcing Managed
Projects, Operations, Finance Department, Human Capital Strategy and Delivery Group, Facilities
and Client Services, and Creative Services Group.

Cash Donations:
EV
OH
MMO
Mark and Sophie Kooijman
Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel Santos

www.MicroSourcing.com MicroSourcing Newsletter December Issue 2011

Last October 28, MicroSourcing held the “Halloween Spooktacular Treat or
Treat: No Tricks, Just Treats” event at its headquarters in Eastwood City as
well as at the Picadilly office in Taguig.
Employees invited their relatives (seven years old and below) who all donned
brightly colored and sometimes scary costumes. As part of the Halloween
tradition, kids roamed around the entire office for the trick or treat in different
departments. After filling the bags and buckets with candies and chocolates,
everyone proceeded to MS Café for the awarding ceremony which was
facilitated by the Human Capital Strategy and Delivery Group.
Eyob Kooijman (son of VP for Operational Excellence Sophie Woo) and Yumi
Sison (daughter of Business Development Associate Reggie Sison) got the
awards for best child “spooktacular” costume.
Meanwhile, members of the Manpower Acquisition Department got the best
themed team/department “spooktacular” costume award as they dressed
up and performed as the cast of popular TV series Glee.
Other employees also joined the event wearing costumes of famous
movie characters such as Harry Potter, Death Eaters, Edward from
Twilight, and Sailor Moon. Of course, the event would not be complete
without employees who wore masks and dressed up as witches and vampires.


MicroSourcing Takes Part in

My Dream in a

Shoebox Outreach Program
In this season of joy and giving, MicroSourcing was given a
wonderful opportunity to be part of My Dream in a Shoebox -
an initiative that aims to give shoeboxes filled with school
supplies to less fortunate children.
Now on its third year, this program was spearheaded by
outsourcing industry body Business Processing Association
of the Philippines (BPAP) and marketing communications
company TeamAsia.
The first distribution day was held last December 19 in three
schools in Lipa, Batangas. More than 700 shoeboxes and 10
PCs were given to the students of Tambo Elementary School,
400 shoeboxes and 10 PCs to Paninsingin Elementary
School, and 500 shoeboxes and 10 PCs to Pinagkawitan
Elementary School.
Nona Tajanlangit-Kooijman, Head of PR and Social Media
Marketing, encouraged all MicroSourcing employees to be a
Shoebox Sponsor. They gave shoeboxes with school
supplies, while others donated Php50 for a set of items per
box. In the end, the company was able to donate more than
300 shoeboxes and a total of Php14000 in cash. Aside from
these, MicroSourcing also plans to donate five PCs for the
computer laboratories of the chosen schools.
A lot of companies served as sponsors to this outreach
program. These include Teletech, Chevron, Shell,
FirstSource, PacificHub, Fujitsu, JP Morgan Chase & Co.,
Henkel, Avis, Stellar, Bank of America, ePLDT, and StarTek.

www.MicroSourcing.com MicroSourcing Newsletter December Issue 2011

Holiday Budget Management:
Trimming the Extra Cost under the Tree

Filipino tradition calls for celebration during the Determine your budget.
holiday season: merry-making festivities, This is a simple rule one learns even in elementary
gift-giving and secret-Santas, and the school: allocate and buy what you need with what you
seemingly endless invitations to Christmas have; going overboard is simply a no-no if you’re
parties fill the schedule of students and trying to stick to a budget. Know your capability to
professionals alike. The holiday season, which spend for the things you will need this holiday season.
starts as early as October, marks the beginning If the price of that pair of shoes is a little out of line, try
of the Christmas hype and the anticipation for going for something within your price range but with
the gifts you want to receive and the things you the same comfort and quality. At the end of the day,
want to have as rewards for your hard work. the accumulated cash you save from your day’s
This time of the year gives us an excuse to shopping can be used as an added budget to buy
stretch our budget and indulge in shopping for extra dessert during Christmas dinner.
the things on our Christmas list, be it for
presents, food or otherwise. Nowadays though, Make a list of what you need to buy.
a lot of options make Christmas shopping Aside from allocating your funds, create a list of items
prone to impromptu buys, resulting in crash you’ll be buying before you head to the nearest mall or
budgets, overspending, and the repetitive grocery. It might be time-consuming at first to come up
swiping of the credit card. with a list of people you’ll give gifts to alongside
For the naturally frugal shopper, one can never different gift ideas, but in the long run, it will save you
go wrong with sticking to a budget and keeping precious time and energy during shopping. Planning
a succinct list of the things you should get by helps a lot in avoiding the hassle of the Christmas
the end of the day. However, this may not shopping rush. So before the calendar shows the
always be the case, especially when discount month of December, get your pen and paper and start
sales and different shop promotions entice the making your shopping list for the holiday season.
shopper to spend on valuables that promise to
be a great buy. Impulsive shopping will always Exercise self-control.
be a pitfall, but with the atmosphere of giving Now we all know that discounted items are hard to
palpable in the air, one could easily disguise resist especially when these marked down deals of
this as a necessary purchase in the name of stores and boutiques are offered during Christmas
the holiday spirit. So how do you really avoid sales. When faced with the ineluctable decision of
those holiday blunders and prevent welcoming making an extra purchase, consider the necessity of
a new year with exceeded credit limit and the item. Do you think you deserve it as a reward?
diminishing bank accounts? One need not to Should you decide to buy it, will it result to major
re-learn the basics of economics to know that adjustments in your budget? Buying gifts for ourselves
wise spending is the key. is never a bad idea - impulsive buying is.

This festive season, sharing requires sacrifice and a little bit of spending more than the usual. At the same time,
it is also an opportunity to give back to the people who have touched our lives for the year that has been.
Christmas shopping need not be a tedious task of computation and budget allotment. One must simply be
rational in spending so as to make giving a more meaningful act.


MicroSourcing Newsletter December 2011

MicroSourcing Newsletter December 2011

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