Alsbridge Executive to Discuss Outlook, Effects at OutsourceWorld Show
Dallas, Oct. 14, 2008 -- As the U.S .economy sputters, the financial sector has faced the brunt of the downturn.
A panel of experts from the financial sector will discuss “Financial Services Turmoil - Impact on Global Sourcing” at 3:50 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15 at OutsourceWorld New York (Jacob K. Javits Center).
“Traditionally, financial services has been the most aggressive adopter of outsourced services and offshoring," said Ben Trowbridge, CEO and president of Dallas based Alsbridge. “With continued unpredictability and turmoil in the financial sector, the impact on global sourcing will to be massive and widespread, far beyond just the financial services realm.”
Trowbridge added that today’s turmoil often pushes major decisions and larger transactions to the back burner or finds them abandoned altogether. “The response of leading financial services firms in the current climate is as varied as the companies themselves. The panel will look at how outsourcing vendors are handling uncertainties and how it has impacted their performance,” he said.
He added that consolidation in the financial industry will lower overall demand for global sourcing; however, new opportunities in other sectors will increase. Desperate for cash, companies such as Lehman Brothers and Citigroup are selling off their captive offshore service centers to raise money. “Projects will go away, along with redundant contracts. Some growth projects will either be canceled or scaled back,” Trowbridge said.
Eric Smith, a managing director of Dallas-based Alsbridge will be one of the panelists. Joining Mr. Smith on the panel are: - Ashish Malhotra, senior vice president, global resource strategy, Citigroup
- Irfan Burney, vice president-outsourcing, Credit Suisse
- Ed Nair, chief editor, Global Services
Eric Smith, a managing director at Dallas-based Alsbridge, heads the firm’s private equity practice. His executive roles have spanned start-ups and billion-dollar listed companies in both Europe and the U.S. He consults extensively in outsourcing and operations with private equity firms and companies. Prior to joining Alsbridge, he was based in London as COO of Liberata, plc, a $500-million, private equity-backed ITO and BPO provider. Prior to that, he was the founding CEO of BillingZone, LLC; an e-payments company sold to First Data Corp. At Perot Systems, he was a member of the European Management Board and led the Financial Services unit in Europe. Mr. Smith holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Harvard University.
Alsbridge is a Dallas-based independent advisory firm that helps companies conduct thorough evaluations of outsourcing options for operating their information technology, finance and accounting, and human resources organizations. ###
Note to editors: to schedule an interview, contact Jo Trizila at 214-232-0078. |
