Island Outsourcers Restructures Operations and Expands into Bahamas

by
September 19th, 2013

By Narayan Ammachchi

Jamaican BPO firm Island Outsourcers has announced plans to split into two independent companies as part of a restructuring program aimed at accommodating new services in its portfolio. In addition, the outsourcer is setting up a call center in Freeport, Grand Bahama, where it will hire nearly 500 people over the next few years.

The new company, ITEL BPO Solutions, will offer customer support services to clients in telecom, retail and healthcare industries, while the Island Outsourcers will continue to focus on contact center and back-office services.

“Now the two brands can focus on their core competencies,” stated Yoni Epstein, CEO of Island Outsourcers. The restructuring was expected as the outsourcing firm has added several new services to its portfolio and gained nearly a dozen new clients over the past two years.

As part of the restructuring program, the company has hired industry veteran Troy Cotton, who will take charge of overseeing the ITEL BPO Solutions as its chief operating officer. Troy Cotton is a former executive of e-Services and the international outsourcing firm Xerox. “Troy comes with a background of working with e-Services from the early days through its acquisition, and was with Xerox up to November of last year. With the expanded growth that we are currently going through, his expertise and knowledge that he brings to the table is a true asset,” Epstein said.

The Freeport center, according to Epstein, will be up and running by November this year, and the company has already advertised on the local media inviting applications from potential candidates. The BPO firm will launch the operation with about 100 employees but will increase the headcount to 400-500 in the years ahead.

Though the labor cost is little higher in Freeport, business costs are lower, Epstein said, expressing optimism at the business prospects in the island nation. With a huge number of English-speaking population in the close proximity of the United States, Caribbean countries have long been seen as an ideal destination for international call center service providers.

Considering the continuous growth of BPO firms like Island Outsourcers, Caribbean outsourcing dream is not far off. When launched two years ago in Montego Bay Free Zone, all that Island Outsourcers had was one client and five employees. Today, the BPO provider has 10 clients and over 100 employees.