Media
Publication: Chimo Canada
ICT Leaders
Forum Report
By
media journalist
The
Canadian Chamber of Commerce held its first ICT leaders forum. This
committee organized and chaired by Richard Mills, Director, Chalre
Associates is planning on organizing regular meetings to bring together all
those interested in the ICT sector together.
The
goal is to provide a forum for those attending to listen to guest speakers,
initiate discussion and possibly work together in areas of common interest.
Whether it be drafting a letter to relevant areas of the government or
sending out a press release. This session had over 25 senior level managers
from the ICT sector attend the lunch meeting which was kindly sponsored by
Colliers International.
The
CEO of Telus International, Eng Boon Lau, was the guest speaker at April’s
ICT Leader’s Forum. Mr. Lau described his company as a fully owned IT
division of TELUS Communications Inc., a $7B telecommunications company in
Canada rated by some independent analysts as the best managed in the North
American industry. However, he gave most attention to his company’s recent
controlling stake acquisition of one of Philippines’ most successful
contact center organizations, Ambergris Solutions.
The company was started by 3 young entrepreneurs with little call center
experience and not much of their own money in 2001. Over the few years they
have been running business grew explosively to almost 3000 employees serving
a roster of bluechip clients. Controlling interest of the thriving
enterprise was acquired by Telus International (Mr. Lau’s company) in a
deal valued at $43.5M.
Mr.
Lau praised the vision and hard-work of the founders and through extensive
research indicated that Ambergris provided Telus International with the best
opportunity of the many he considered in the region. He believes it is a
“GEM of a company” and that the Philippines is a smart choice for
investment with it English speaking population and educated workforce.
In the discussion period that followed Mr. Lau’s information packed
speech, various senior managers in attendance described their company’s
plans in the business process outsourcing arena. A CFO discussed his
company’s various options with respect to shareholder value maximization.
His company is another call center success story in Philippines and it is
deciding whether it should engage in an IPO, bring in a major investor or
just continue under their current ownership structure. Another out of town
visitor reflected upon his company’s outsourcing plans for Philippines
where it is already a major player.
The meeting overall raised some interesting points about the Philippines and
the direction of its continued success in the ICT sector as well as provided
a very positive environment for discussion.
Present
during the forum was D. Jim Evans (Telus Int’l/Ambergris), guest speaker
Eng Boon Lau (Telus International), CanCham IT Committee Chairman Richard
Mills (Chalre Associates), Sean Georget (CanCham ED), Stewart Hall (CanCham
President) and host Alan Dalgleish (Colliers International).
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