Outsourcing Malaysia aims to be indispensable asset to members

•  Adds B2B element to its annual Smart Sourcing Summit
• Speed of execution key to survival in hyper competitive era

 

AS the industry body tasked with championing the interests of the Global Business Services sector in Malaysia, Outsourcing Malaysia promotes the interests of a sector that generates US$4 billion in revenue from over 500 companies that employ around 100,000 people, many of them skilled knowledge workers. About 33% of them are employed in the Shared Services sector.
 
The industries served by the sector include BFSI, F&A, Healthcare, Government and Telco to name a few.
 
Under the leadership of its chairman, Cheah Kok Hoong (pic), who took office in Oct 2015 for the 2016-2017 term, the primary focus this year for OM has been to work towards becoming the single point of contact for all matters relating to the GBS sector.
 
OM aims to be the reference point for any industry data, for information on service providers and to support investments into the country.
 
“In tandem with this, we continue to support the industry with nurturing, with enrichment programmes, upskilling their talent pool and also by providing thought leadership,” says Cheah.
 
Its thought leadership and enrichment activities are mainly anchored around its yearly Smart Sourcing Summit which has become one of the leading such conferences in the region.
 
This year’s conference with its “Disrupt or be Disrupted” theme, coming up next week on the 26 has a solid lineup of speakers and panel sessions with the opening keynote by Supermax Corporation Bhd chairman, Rafidah Aziz who will share her thoughts on Opportunity, Innovation and Uncertainty.
 
Asked why an “old” conference theme around disruption was chosen for this year’s conference, Cheah points to how the rules of business have changed over the years.
 
“Buyer behavior has changed as well and data is becoming the fuel to a successful business. Companies must think like a disruptor, investing both in the innovations that sustain their business and in new revenue streams that can defend against potential competitors.”
 
Thus, the key to survival is to change the game internally with companies having to accelerate their speed of execution as well as their agility to seize new opportunities.
 
Cheah notes that when a company can do both, it goes from just surviving to thriving. “This capability to out-execute and disrupt is quickly becoming a critical competitive advantage for the 21st century company.”
 
What can delegates expect to get out of this year's conference?
 
Expecting the 300 odd participants at this year’s conference to pick up some useful pointers and trends they can apply, the conference aims to bring about thought leadership and best practices from industry peers.
 
And while its yearly conference brings about different industry topics which has provided great insights to its members, Cheah is particularly excited about the B2B addition this year.
 
“What’s new at this year’s conference are the B2B meetings with 20 buyers who have budgets for non-core activities they intend to outsource. These buyers will be meeting our members and this is a key value that OM provides in helping generate revenue for its member companies,” says Cheah.
 
More information on OM’s Smart Sourcing Summit can be obtained here.