ISELEC 1B – November 9

For that morning we discussed about the IT Sourcing Lifecycle and the Transition Phase. I already have a copy of the PowerPoint ahead of time and was able to read beforehand. The evening before our class for BPO, it was announced that we were supposed to attend the class 5 minutes earlier. Guess what? It didn’t happen because of the technician which ma’am really hated a long time ago for taking his job for granted and for being late all the time. Well, it doesn’t matter since we were able to cover all the topics that we were supposed to discuss and our group and other group was able to give their presentation to the class.

Okay moving forward, there are two kinds of lifecycle. First is Cullen, Seddon & Willcocks which proposed 4 phases – Architect, Engage, Operate, Regenerate – and every phases has its own stages. Under the Architect phase are Investigation which is to identify goals, Target is to identify the areas in which outsourcing can beneficial to their operations, Strategy or planning that will enable effective decision making during the rest of the life cycle and Design which define the planned configuration of the deal. Under the Second phase which is engage you need to Select and Negotiate to the most appropriate vendor then complete the transaction through a contract. After Engage Comes the Operate Phase where you need Transition from your old service to the new service smoothly then Manage the outsourcing relationship afterwards. Last but not the least is the Regenerate Phase which talks about if the client is going to refresh his/her contract or wheter to engage in additional contracts with the supplier.

The second Lifecycle doesn’t differ much though it has 7 phases provided by US GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE which compares to 4 phases of Cullen, Seddon & Willcocks. But if you’re going to analyze they were just quite similar with each other. It only depends to the PM on which Lifecycle suits the project. The 1^st phase is Determine the sourcing strategy 2^nd is Define the operational model, 3^rd is to Develop the contract, 4^th is to Select provider, 5^th is Transition to the provider, 6^th is to Manage the provider’s performance and the 7^th is to Ensure the services are provided.

It was also discussed the 4 major areas to focus on in transition projects. Resourcing Strategy, Risk Assessment, Communications, and Close out & Acceptance.

It was really great if you’re going to read the topic subject of discussion ahead of time before the teacher presents it to the class. In that way I didn’t have a hard time to understand the topic even though ma’am was rushing the discussion a little bit (No offense but it is true). Looking forward for the next topics and hope I won’t get late.

ISELEC 1B – September 3

September 3, 2015, the day I almost got locked out of the room. Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s go back 30 minutes before the incident. I woke up 6:00 in the morning just to turn off my alarm and go back to my precious sleep. Then after 15 minutes, there comes my second alarm that is like trying to whisper in me to wake up. Though I want to ignore my awesome alarm, Losing My Mind by Lee Sung Hee, Ma’am Kit’s class takes precedence rather than my most precious one. With my eyes all blurry, stinking breath and mess hair, I pulled myself out of the bed and took my bath towel to my head and went towards the Comfort Room to get myself fixed. By 6:30, I told to myself “I’m going to have a great day. And a great day always starts with a great breakfast”. So I decided that I’m going to have Toasted Siopao in Rosarito Street just by the next corner from my dorm. But what would you expect? It is 6:30 in the morning and the bakery usually opens at 7:00 so I got upset since everything is not going as I thought it was. But I didn’t give up. There’s another bakery that sells Toasted Siopao in Lacson near my College Building. So I decided to take a detour before heading to my class since it was only 6:35. I took my time leisurely since I’m too early for my class anyway. I phoned some of my classmate just to say good morning and at the same time to let them inform me if Ma’am Kit is already present. It took me 20 minutes just to get to my destination, Toasted Siopao Bakery in Lacson. To my disappointment, even the Bakery in Lacson is still closed. Darn! How much worse could this day would be. Luckily on my way back to my College Building there’s a “magtataho”, a vendor who sells soy milk with sago and a special syrup in it, and I bought 20 pesos worth of taho to relieve my disappointments. Guess what? Without me knowing it was already 6:58 and I’m now running late despite all the struggle it took me just to get up early. When I got to the 3^rd floor of the building, floor for my BPO class, I went pass by my classroom forgetting what my room number was that I almost went in the wrong room. Every door has a glass window on it which lets people on the inside who pass by the room. Ma’am Kit happened to see me pass by the room and I saw her running just to go all the trouble to lock me out of the room. Unfortunately, not as clever as I am, she wasn’t able to lock the backdoor which got me inside the room.

Every meeting is a quiz day in Ma’am Kit’s class. As I took my seat my classmates were already taking the quiz for the Chapter 2 of our class which is the Service Management Topic. I studied the night before which made me confident that I was going to get a good score this time. As confident that I thought I was, my score was the opposite of it for I only got 80+% score. Nah! Never mind, I’ll just get redemption on my next quiz. Moving forward, as usual, we had our discussion about chapter 3 which is about Global Sourcing. Ma’am Kit asked the group what were their initial idea about the Topic. I raised my hand and said “It’s Outsourcing all over the world?” She seemed to be annoyed with my answer and called out if there are any more answers. She then gave the Definition and it was almost the same as to what definition that I gave. I just told to myself “Whatever!”. She then determined the 6 categories that needed to be understood about global sourcing. Material Cost, Transportation Cost, Inventory carrying cost, Cross-border taxes, tariff, and duty costs, Supply and operation performance and tasks. These topic is somehow related to our Accounting class that’s why I didn’t had a hard to understand what Ma’am Kit was discussing. She then discussed about the Supply Manager role and the HS Code. Then after, we talked about the 13 Incoterms. The Advantages and Disadvantages and Positive and Negative effect of Global Sourcing.

There were some terms that were new to me especially in the 13 Incoterms. However, with a little bit of review and overnight, I bet I’ll be able to get it in no time. I hope I don’t get lock out next meeting and I hope I get a good grade next time. 😀

ISELEC-1B-August 27

August 27, a wonderful day and a bit disappointing at the same time for me. Weird isn’t it? Well, it’s a wonderful day because for the very first time I wasn’t late for my BPO class that is because it was our first quiz and I can’t afford to miss it. A bit disappointing because I studied until 4am that day for that quiz and I didn’t get to achieve my expected grade. Anyway, past is past and there’s nothing I can do to change what already happened. Move on! And never sulk about the past!

After the quiz, as you expect, we had a discussion about the next Module which is Service Management. It was quite the discussion for I was enlightened what the Service Management was really about. The Life Cycle for Service Management starts with Service Strategy then Service Design proceeding to Transition then to Operation and lastly to CSI. In every stage of Life Cycle are handled by different management. Like in the Service Transition, It is handled by Project Management, Change Management, then Releasing of this Changes will be taken care of the Release Management. Once you release this changes you need to share the on how this changes works, which is care of the Knowledge Management. After this is the Service Operation who are the one using the application such as Technical consultant, software engineers and other end-users. Well, of course it doesn’t end there. There’s always a need for continuous improvement for the service of a company to stay competitive which is the last Stage of Service Management, Continual Service Improvement. The discussion didn’t end there for we had 2 hours of discussion. Afterwards, we talk about the Roles in the Service Management – Service Manager who communicates to the client, Service owner who communicates to the Service manager and the Process owner who ensures that the process are being done correctly and the one who implements them. Furthermore, we also talk about on “What to outsource when starting up a business”. There are 6 key Areas to Outsource. These are Cost of Sales, Professional Fees, Technology cost, Administrative Cost, Sales and marketing cost and Wages and Benefits. We identified the 6 Key Areas to Outsource but when would you need to outsource? You need to keep in mind if the Key Area would result to a competitive advantage, if it’s a commodity, or if the cost of would lower the cost if you make those key areas in-house.

We ended our discussion but our learning doesn’t end right there and as you expected we’re going to have a quiz again next week. Nevertheless, I always look forward to attend my class even though I’m late most of the time. About my suggestions and comment, I would say I’m looking forward for more activities just like last week. It wasn’t just educational but we are also being made aware of what kind of life or what to expect in the industry.

IS ELEC 1B – Aug 20

We are all facing problems in life, might it be major or minor, and here I am facing a petty adversary. I’m Aerol Parras, some people call me Tom, an Information System student of the prestigious pontifical and royal University of Santo Tomas with a student number of 2011027783, age 19, living on the second floor of a building which is steps away from school and I’m currently facing a problem that most college students fail to surpass, to wake up early for their 7 o’clock class. I found myself in a huge dilemma whether I’m still going to attend my class or I’m just going to miss it since I’m already 1 hour late anyway. It took me all the efforts and persuasion to tell myself to get up, fix myself and get ready for school. So as you can tell, I still attended my class.

First class for my Thursday schedule is my elective major course which is Business Process Outsourcing. How much worse can it be to have a major course early in the morning just to find yourself late in it? If you guessed it right, it’s a living hell that came upon to earth. My heart was pounding as I turn the knob. All I’ve been thinking were alibis and reasons to slip by ma’am Kit’s reprimands, my professor for the course. I entered the room just to found my classmates clustered in groups of 9 members, a classmate seated in front of the class and my professor who’s as gorgeous as the morning sun as always. The first thing in my mind was “Sh*t, hope my friends still take me to their group”. As I put my bag on the shelf, Ma’am Kit took my attention and told me to sit in front beside my classmate who’s already there. Turns out our class is having a group activity that demonstrates outsourcing in the real world. As I made my way in front to be seated in front, Ma’am Kit was explaining the instruction and objectives of the activity. I was relieved, even tap my classmate who’s also seated in front and said greetings for I thought I got off the hook with all the reprimands and lectures that I am about to get. After giving all the instructions, Ma’am Kit gave me a not so pleasing look and teased me about my things in my past. She then gave us a role as the customer/client. What choice do I have? So I just took just like she instructed. Then the activity started and every group now identified themselves with their role of their like – Manager, marker, cutter, time keeper, designer 1, designer 2, brander, logistics and QA – which are made up for an imaginary Birthday Card Maker Company. These roles were then divided into 3 making the manager, marker, cutter, time keeper to be in one country while the designer 1, designer 2 and brander to be in another and logistics and QA in the same manner. In this set-up, roles in every country are not allowed to communicate with each other. And my role as Customer was that I was the one who’s going to give demands, request requirements and designs to my liking about what kind of Birthday Card that I want. The QA then came to me asking me what I want and I gave him something complex. A birthday card with something that pops-up a cake when you open it, a simple design in front and a logo on the lower back. They then had 10 minutes to make 10 cards as minimum requirement production. Time’s up! The QA then gave me all their produced birthday cards that looked done in a jiffy. Ma’am Kit then had us, customers, to evaluate if the Groups were able to meet our requirements. I evaluated the Group that was assigned to me as 0 out of 10 for they didn’t meet my main requirement which is the pop-up cake when you open it. Ma’am Kit then discussed about the adversaries that every group encountered and give them advises to overcome them. And so the second round began, The QA once again came to me asking for my requirement. I gave him the same requirement and agreed to deliver a quality product this time. After 10 minutes, they were able to meet my requirements then gave them a score of 10. But here comes the third round. I gave him the same requirement but this time the QA realized that my requirement is too complex for the time allotted for them to finish the product for this time they were also asked to produce me a special kind of birthday card with a complex requirements. He then gave me an alternative and I agreed upon to his terms. But I gave him a something challenging for the special birthday card. They then separated a member to produce the Special Card which in BPO we call outsourcing. Then, game over. I gave them a score of 10 once again for they were able to meet up my expectations and requirement might it be for the normal card or for the special ones.

I wasn’t able to experience my classmates thrilling experience with the activity but I also learned some stuff by from watching my classmates doing the project. Moreover I was able to see the view of the customer/client regarding how they can be demanding. But we don’t always need to meet the demand of our client if our resources don’t allow might it be in terms of human or financial.

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