How is outsourcing changing and how can Jordan position

itself in this new context?Mark Hillary: CEO, IT Decisions

MENA ICT

Jordan, March 7 2013

“…In 2013, [analyst firm] has included Jordan at the list of top 30 offshore destinations…”

Take all these lists with a pinch of salt…• Can you really compare countries with anything

other than a broad brush?• Cities, companies, cultures all different even

within a nation…• Most business customers don’t buy from a

location because of a list• Most importantly, are your potential customers

really reading this stuff?

• We are no longer living out the Millennial outsourcing goldrush… you need to work harder these days… what is your USP

• What services are you providing? Is there something unique you can offer?

• India is the usual benchmark for ICT outsourcing, but that was a special case, you cannot just copy NASSCOM

• The sector is already very important to Jordan - already 14% of GDP

The world has moved on• The world has changed enormously,

especially in the past 5 years – post Facebook

• We are living in a far more globally connected world --- in terms of business, culture, lifestyle…

• Graduates today do not remember any life before being connected globally 24/7… Radically changing business from the bottom up

Information Technology is much more than just IT today…

• Almost everyone now is a consumer of technology enabled services, in the past people using IT were specialists.

• As we talk, IT is changing the world, changing every business, and you are a part of that change

• IT is even changing societies, just look at the Arab spring and Occupy movement

What’s the best approach today?

Two key issues:• World has changed, services are going

entirely global and you can target SMEs more effectively than ever with social tools and networks

• Don’t be caught in the trap of copying a traditional offshore outsourcing model and just promoting low-cost service

New business modelsYou have great people – a lot of them -

and the Internet infrastructure now supports global working…

Jordan hardly registers on oDesk, yet this is where skilled individuals in the Philippines, Egypt, Bangladesh are all looking for work

Scaling it upoDesk is making freelance working

really take off elsewhere, but you also need to scale up and help SMEs

Outsourcing is a normal, accepted business practice used by every large company. SMEs are suffering in many countries – the potential to help them is enormous!

Innovation… being smaller can be better!• Facebook: 3,000 employees• Google: 54,000 employees• Amazon: 88,000 employees• Twitter: 900 employees• Instagram: 13 employees

You don’t need to think of this in the model of traditional outsourcing at all… it’s just global services!

Summary• Play to your strengths – the SME clients for

corporate work and the end consumer market• Think of new markets and services where you can

excel plus new ways of delivering global services, not just copying what worked a decade ago

• Delivering globally does not mean low-cost offshore outsourcing – start thinking like consumers of products

• Number of employees no longer restricts innovation, impact, or revenue… you can do great things with a small team and the right ideas

Thank you… stay in touch!

Mark Hillary – based in São Paulo

www.linkedin.com/in/markhillary

mail@markhillary.com

Twitter: @markhillary