| What
kind of Corporate Buyers is the Sphaero Alliance
targeting?
What
is the primary value that the Sphaero Alliance
is offering to new Corporate Buyers, and how is
that value different from other offshore markets?
In
which Caribbean markets do you have Sphaero Alliance
members?
The Caribbean region is growing into an appealing
contact center nearshore outsourcing market, what’s
the best source of information on the region’s
contact center and BPO business?
The Caribbean
is primarily known as a leisure brand, does it
really have the human and technical resources
for mission critical outsourcing?
Why
have you expanded the Sphaero Alliance from call
center only partners to include business process
firms, site selection and expansion advisory,
law and other professional services members?
How successful are the Sphaero Alliance in generating
sales and how sound are they?
How
did the idea for birthing the Sphaero Alliance
come about, and why a focus on the technology
and innovation space?
Who
are the other Alliance members and what are their
roles?
Who
are our vendor partners, why and how were they
selected?
We see that you
have a Request for Proposal (RFP) platform as
a tool for assisting Corporate Buyers how secure
and easy is it to use?
How
is Sphaero funded and what makes its business
model competitive?
Where
is the North American headquarters for the Sphaero
Alliance and Zagada Markets?
What
kind of Corporate Buyers is the Sphaero Alliance
targeting?
We are focusing our sales, marketing and business
development outreach on the financial sector. While
many of our alliance members are currently serving
a wide range of clients in several industries, Zagada
is committed to building on the success we have
achieved in serving banks, insurance, brokerage
and mortgage clients. We would certainly continue
to server the needs of clients from any industry
that comes to us for support. However, Zagada’s
business development Tig™ methodology has
proven that a focused execution brings the greatest
result. Please visit Our services area or our site
to learn more about our sector focus.
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What is the primary value
that the Sphaero Alliance is offering to new Corporate
Buyers, and how is that value different from other
offshore markets?
The Sphaero Alliance promises to help American companies
perform better. We define quality performance as
“profitable growth.” We certainly help
companies perform from a “cost driver growth”
perspective given our reduce labor costs. However,
our biggest value is our “revenue driver growth”
advantage. Our proposition to help companies grow
revenues is focused on helping companies delver
the best care to their customers so that customers
experience what we define as the Promise of Enchantment™.
We effectively transfer the Leisure Care Dividend
(LCD) that we have accumulated in serving the 35
million travelers coming to our shores annually,
and use that care to deliver the transforming experience
those clients and their customers receive from us.
We integrate our Knowledge capital into a professional
delivery system to bring enchantment to the souls
of customers. Our regional University of the West
Indies system invests over US$100 million in our
young minds each year. This Knowledge Care Dividend
(KCD) distinguishes our capacity to understand,
and deliver a better caring product. So, our real
value is our capacity to integrate our Leisure Care
Dividend (LCD) and our Knowledge Care Dividend (KCD)
into a compelling product we call Enchantment. This
results in creating devoted clients who buy and
talk about their clients services ceaselessly. We
define enchant as “a perpetual state of customer
bliss”™ .The net result is better revenues,
better growth and better customer satisfaction.
In short – Better Performance.
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In which Caribbean markets
do you have Sphaero Alliance Members?
While the Spanish, French, Dutch and English speaking
Caribbean are all rich in talent and opportunities,
Zagada has focused its initial attention on the
English speaking Caribbean which is known in North
America and the global trading community as the
CARICOM Market. The English speaking Caribbean has
a population of approximately 6 million, and graduates
in excess of 100,000 high school grads each year.
Over 20 percent of those graduates go on to post
secondary and university education. Our regional
University of the West Indies invests over US$100
million yearly into our young and vibrant minds.
This market has an average per capita of approximately
US$6,000 and a GDP of US$125 billion. Sphaero’s
focus on accelerating IT job creation is expected
to help average per capita to exceed the US$10,000
mark, while helping to expand regional well-being
and life style options. While we have not yet formally
launched our Sphaero Espanol offering to deliver
bi-lingual and Spanish services, several members
have call center and Business Process centers in
Mexico, Colombia and Argentina and are managing
leading programs for Fortune 1000 companies. In
the first quarter of 2005 our Sphaero Espanol offering
will be formally launched. Should you need a Spanish
or bi-lingual campaign, our capacity in Mexico and
Colombia is immediately available to support you.
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The
Caribbean region is growing into an appealing
contact center nearshore outsourcing market, what’s
the best source of information on the region’s
contact center and BPO business?
The Caribbean islands have grown from 12,000 agents
in November 2002 to a present estimated count
of over 21,000 agents, creating a US$2 billion
regional economic impact.
The Nortel sponsored, Zagada
Institute Caribbean Call Center Report 2002 released
in October 2002 is perhaps the best comprehensive
report on the region’s emerging call center
industry to date. The report is valued at US$1200
but is available free of cost from this site.
The report highlights that there are approximately
50 call centers across the islands employing in
excess of 12,000 agents. While Sphaero is initially
focusing on the English speaking islands, the
report covers the entire Caribbean islands and
not the basin countries in Latin and Central America.
Other research firms have published reports with
Latin America & Caribbean headings, but Caribbean
island call centers get minimal focus. The Zagada
Caribbean Call Center Report 2002 is considered
the best resource. Valued at US$2500 you can download
a complimentary copy of the report from our Information
Center (LINK to Information Center). We also invite
you to register to receive information on the
Zagada Institute Caribbean Call Center Report
2005. (Link to Registration area) Information
on the region and on specific markets can also
be obtained from the InterAmerican Development
Bank (IDB) of The World Bank Group, the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Caribbean
Development Bank (CDB) and the economic development
agencies of each market.
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The Caribbean
is primarily known as a leisure brand, does it really
have the human and technical resources for mission
critical outsourcing?
Each year over 30 million travelers from across
the globe travel to the Caribbean, responding to
what we call the “Caribbean Pull”. Sixty
percent or 18 million of these travelers come from
the U.S. Concurrently, millions of Caribbean immigrants
have made North America their second home over the
last two decades, responding to what we define as
the “American Pull”. A simple, yet profound
way to answer the question about the English speaking
Caribbean's human capacity and technical expertise
is by looking within your own organizations. Invariable
English Caribbean immigrants are substantial contributors
at all levels of corporate America and civic society.
Over the last generation the region has produced
four Nobel laureates. This legacy of contribution
in not a recent phenomenon, but has been going for
quite some time. From the Founding Fathers to current
times major minds from the English islands have
been making their mark on the North American continent.
Alexander Hamilton was Caribbean born and Colin
Powel is of Jamaican parents. The region has a deep
and pervasive democratic tradition with historical
and cultural ties with North America. This leisure
brand, which we call Caribbean WOW 1.0, is accentuated
with a regional tradition of service. Caribbean
WOW 2.0 (read books on subject), or our “thought”
brand extends our service capability as a people
with know how and intellectual competence.
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Why
have you expanded the Sphaero Alliance from call
center only partners to include business process
firms, site selection and expansion advisory,
law and other professional services members?
Zagada’s strategic vision from the start
has always been to develop a portfolio of regional
partners of the highest professional quality that
can meet your primary offshore outsourcing needs.
The central purpose in doing so is to ensure that
these services we deliver to you, play a signature
value in your performance. Our goal is always
to maintain a premium brand position with our
customers. Consequently, we formed a partnership
with Avbase to create Sphaero Concierge to fly
you to any of our member location free of commercial
and U.S companies who are operating in the region
Sphaero Alliance has always to build out the English
speaking Caribbean's human capacity and technical
expertise is by looking within.
How
successful are the Sphaero Alliance members in
generating sales and how operationally sound are
they?
Sphaero Alliance members and their parents generate
in excess of US$1.3 billion in revenues. The membership
is made up of regional firms as well as U.S firms
operating in the region. Members are leaders in
their respective industries and garner a high
level of professional respect. Invitation in the
alliance is by invitation only. The selection
process is thorough and Zagada Markets has the
authority to release a member if they fail to
maintain the highest professional principles.
The Sphaero Alliance Chairman was a past analyst
for Dun & Bradstreet Credit Services for the
Caribbean Basin and he was headed up Dow Jones’
Caribbean Business Development initiatives in
the Caribbean and the Atlantic markets. The management
and due diligence expertise he developed with
these companies and the region, informed his selection
of Sphaero Alliance partners.
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top
How
did the idea for birthing the Sphaero Alliance
come about, and why a focus on the technology
and innovation space?
Sphaero was conceived within the Zagada Institute
as a Caribbean IT job acceleration project. Zagada
is a boutique technology, innovation and creative
consultancy focused on the Caribbean market. The
company’s Zagada Institute engages in project
research, while Zagada Labs constructs, formulates
and positions ideas extracted from its research
project for market commercialization. The company
thus defines its research as “applied”
research. Zagada’s “Markets”
arm acts as the strategy, marketing and implementation
engine of the company. Our process is illustrated
by this very call center engagement. The Caribbean
Call Center Report 2002, funded by Nortel Networks,
was written and produced by the Zagada Institute.
Zagada Labs formulated the Sphaero Alliance idea,
and Zagada Market is now engaged in the implementation
phase. Zagada’s mission is to play a leadership
role in innovation and work-life transformation
in the Caribbean market. The company, formally
The Peters Group, advised international clients
such as Dow Jones, Dun & Bradstreet, Mitsui,
and Overdrive with their Caribbean strategies.
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top
Who
are the other Alliance members and what are their
roles?
Our Infrastructure
Partner:
Nortel Networks (CALA) is the infrastructure partner.
Nortel has demonstrated the vision and leadership
in funding the Caribbean Call Center report 2002.
This report, which is available as a free download
from this site, gives a comprehensive read on
the Caribbean call center market. Nortel’s
solutions, capabilities and expertise in the global
call center market, as well as its long standing
Caribbean intelligence plays a key role for existing
and new call center operators.
Our Professional
Integration Partner:
Telectronic is the Professional Integration partner.
Headquartered in Chile, with a U.S. North American
presence in Miami, Telectronic is a leading integrator
in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company
has been at the forefront in supporting the boom
in the Chilean market and holds a commanding position
in that market. Working as a Nortel partner the
company has successfully executed call center
projects for Cable & Wireless as well as financial
entities in the Puerto Rican market. While the
company is a Nortel Channel Partner, it defines
itself as technologically agnostic, having the
engineering and service capabilities to service
all types of vendor integration without preference,
making them an ideal fit for wide ranging Caribbean
projects.
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Who
are our vendor partners, why and how were they
selected?
The Sphaero Alliance recognizes that call center
outsourcing plays an integral part of the outsourcing
process. We truly understand that the vendor selection
process is really a question about the quality
and capability of call center agents as well as
the consistency and reliability of the management
team in executing contracted projects. We see
four phases in the call center process: identification,
selection, procurement and management. In our
Nortel sponsored Caribbean Call Center Report
2002 we identified the key regional players. We
then selected and invited the top ten operators
based on financial health, years of experience
in business, parent company and partnership affiliation,
high level of customer satisfaction and determined
areas of specialized focus such as debt collection
for example. The launch of the Sphaero Alliance’s
eRFP procurement marketplace offers our buying
partners a secure and transparent platform for
viewing our vendor partners’ capabilities.
This platform also facilitates and accelerates
the procurement and contracting process with our
vendor partners. Most of our vendor partners are
U.S. call center companies with well-established
businesses who have expanded their operation to
the Caribbean. The number of agents per center
range between 150 to 400 agents.
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top
We
see that you have a Request for Proposal (RFP)
platform, as a tool for assisting Corporate Buyers
how secure and easy is it to use?
Performance and
Reliability
Proposal Technology Network manages the platform
for the Sphaero Alliance. The service is available
via the Internet 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
The system is supported with regular database
backup service (full and incremental) and redundant
hard drives in a RAID array. Regular maintenance
of the system occurs in the evening or in off
peak weekend hours so as not to impact our users.
All maintenance will be scheduled for off peak
hours to enable users to plan for any downtime
and schedule appropriate work hours.
Security
Digital Security
Proposal Tech utilizes the industry standard 128
bit SSL encryption to provide you with the authentication
and encryption power needed. The servers are protected
by a firewall that limits traffic to the server
to filter out any unwanted and unauthorized intrusions
into the system and DdoS attacks.
Physical Security
Proposal Tech servers are maintained in an offsite
server facility to ensure that the best possible
security measures exist to protect your data.
The data center is physically isolated from everyone
but level three technicians. Public access to
servers is strictly forbidden. Access to the floor
the data center resides on is restricted to those
holding facility specific military-grade pass
cards. Furthermore, Biometric hand scanners restrict
access to the data center itself.
Service and Support
Each client will have a dedicated service team
assigned to handle specific questions or issues
regarding use of the system. Any calls not immediately
handled by a technician will be referred to the
dedicated service team. A team member will always
return calls in a prompt and courteous manner.
As a part of the service, Proposal Tech provides
consulting and advice regarding the setup of RFPs,
scoring, evaluation, and reporting. To aid in
the transition from paper based RFPs to electronic
RFPs, a service consultant will work with your
team to educate them and walk them through their
first RFPs. After a few “hands-on”
RFPs, most users are proficient in the use of
the system and require very little additional
training or support.
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How is Sphaero funded
and what makes its business model competitive?
The advantage of the Sphaero Alliance is the fact
that its alliance members are established companies
that have been around for quite sometime. Partners
have contributed varying amounts of investments
as well as their technology and expertise to make
sphaero a reality. Vendor partners pay an annual
fee as well as a percentage of deals signed through
Sphaero. Buyer partner participation is by invitation
but there are no fees required for initially using
the RFP/Q marketplace to post. Furthermore, Sphaero
uses an ASP type of hosted arrangement with its
marketplace partner. Sphaero’s alliances and
partnerships will drive its success. Zagada, which
is leading the marketing, branding and strategic
growth outreach, has deep competencies with alliance
formation and strategic growth.
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Where is the North American
headquarters for the Sphaero Alliance and Zagada
Markets?
We are located at the Caribbean Commercial Building,
145 Grand Avenue, Coral Gables Florida, 33133, straddles
the village of Coconut Grove(Miami) and the Southern
tip of Coral Gables, East of US 1. Most of Zagada’s
executives reside in Coconut Grove. The village
of Coconut Grove is symbolically important because
it was founded by Caribbean immigrants. A senior
Zagada associate currently serves as partner in
a local Coconut Grove real estate development firm
engaged in the revitalization and re-development
of the Bahamian portion of the Grove being rebranded
as the "Island District". Zagada is currently helping
with re-branding the area. This Grove project won
the Harvard University 2000 AASU Business Plan competition.
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