BT expands in Malaysia with global shared service facility

• BT to establish global shared service facility in Kuala Lumpur in early 2013
• Facility to consist of a Global Development Center and a Contract Delivery Shared Service Center

BT and the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) have announced that the former will establish a global shared service facility based in the Bangsar South section of Kuala Lumpur in early 2013.
 
As part of BT’s recently announced investment into the Asia Pacific region and in line with its geographical diversification plan, the company will be in-sourcing key projects to staff in Malaysia in the new global shared service facility, which will consist of two centers, each providing services to meet BT’s business needs globally, the two said in a statement.
 
The first is the Global Development Center (GDC) which will provide services in information and communication innovation and development, joining the network of eight other GDCs around the world in providing IT solutions (including development, upgrades, migration, architecting, etc.).
 
The second is the Contract Delivery Shared Service Center (CDSS) which will be part of a global network providing commercial, contract management and project management business knowledge as well as process outsource activities in support of BT’s managed network IT services contracts with its largest multinational customers.
 
“BT’s expansion in MSC Malaysia is an exciting opportunity to create geographical diversity in our technology business and to collaborate with Malaysian universities to develop the key skills and expertise required to enable BT to deliver for its customers around the world,” said Clive Selley (pic, right), BT Group chief information officer.
 
“This is important to us as we chose MSC Malaysia because of its globally competitive and multilingual workforce,” he added.
 
The initiative will create a significant number of high income, high value jobs in Malaysia, BT claimed. The company said it would also ensure the new teams in Malaysia will be exposed to cutting-edge technology and methodologies.
 
Datuk Badlisham Ghazali (pic, left), MDeC chief executive officer, said, “BT is an innovative leader in the telecommunications industry and we are excited to welcome its expansion in MSC Malaysia to create more employment opportunities locally.
 
“We believe its decision to put up a new shared service facility here is a strong endorsement of MSC Malaysia’s draw as a vibrant global hub for the high‐technology industry.
 
“In line with the goals of Digital Malaysia, investments such as this will be instrumental in accelerating the development of our nation’s digital economy, as well as providing the rakyat (citizenry) with the knowledge and expertise that will spur us towards our goal of becoming a developed economy by 2020,” he added.
 
The Shared Services and Outsourcing (SSO) industry has been an important part of Malaysia’s ICT-led aspiration to transform into a high-income, knowledge-based economy, MDeC said.
 
At present, there are over 233 MSC Malaysia Status SSO companies, made up of major local players and multinationals, which have set up operations in Malaysia, supporting various local and international services including Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO), Knowledge Process Offshoring (KPO) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).
 
Last year MSC Malaysia saw revenues of over RM9.14 billion (US$2.99 billion) in the shared services and outsourcing sector, with investments of over RM7.7 billion (US$2.52 billion), resulting in the creation of 59,000 jobs to date.
 
This strategy has successfully positioned Malaysia in the global SSO map, evidenced by the A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index 2011, as one of the top three global SSO locations, after India and China for the last eight consecutive years, MDeC said.
 
BT has been operating in Malaysia for close to 20 years. In 2004, BT established a research and development (R&D) facility that has contributed to the creation of Malaysian intellectual property (IP), as well as the training of knowledge workers on cutting-edge technology and innovation processes.