Fujitsu Selects Cebu for Philippines Expansion

Fujitsu is expanding its Global Delivery Center (GDC) network with a new office in Cebu, which opens officially today. The satellite office is an extension of Fujitsu’s GDC in Manila. From the Manila office, which opened in 1993, Fujitsu delivers extensive services in Remote Infrastructure Management, Service Desk, Application Services and Business Process Outsourcing, primarily to customers in the Asia Pacific region, North America, Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa and Oceania. The teams working in Cebu will initially focus on providing Fujitsu customers with support in business application development.

With the highly skilled Philippines workforce supporting current and future software application, Fujitsu aims to help customers quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively develop, upgrade and maintain their business applications. The high proportion of Japanese speakers in the region was another key factor in Fujitsu’s decision to choose Cebu, and to create 400 new positions there over the next two years.

The new GDC satellite office is based in Cebu Business Park which aims to provide green space as well as business, lifestyle and leisure activities to create an inspiring environment. The city’s high population of well-educated, technically skilled people, who often boast multiple language skills, was a key factor for Fujitsu's decision.

The new center is officially opened today with a ceremony attended by the Undersecretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology of the Philippines (DICT), Monchito Ibrahim; the Head of the Consular Office of Japan in Cebu, Chiharu Tsuruoka; and a Philippine Economic Zone Authority Representative, Raymond Hava. On behalf of Fujitsu, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Delivery, Hidenori Furuta, as well as the Head of Fujitsu’s GDC in the Philippines, Arlene Gregorio, attended.

Arlene Gregorio, Head of Fujitsu’s GDC in the Philippines, said: "Our Global Delivery Centers are strategically located to offer customers access to a consistently high quality service and pool of dynamic and talented employees with high technical and multilingual skills. When expanding our GDC in the Philippines beyond Manila, Cebu was an obvious choice. We are fortunate that many Cebuanos speak Japanese, as well as being great software developers."

The worldwide network of Fujitsu Global Delivery Centers offer 24/7 coverage, 365 days a year, supporting more than 1.2 million end users, on over a million devices, in 40 languages. Fujitsu continues to grow its GDCs and aims to meet demand for skilled, high quality work from customers, across a wide range of industries.

Photo caption: From L-R: Arlene Gregorio, Head of Fujitsu’s Global Delivery Center in the Philippines, Hidenori Furuta, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Delivery, Monchito Ibrahim: Undersecretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology of the Philippines (DICT)

Sprout Solutions Underlines the Benefits of HR and Payroll Automation

Innovation, changing the way HR works
Sprout Solutions underlines the benefits of HR and payroll automation for businesses of all sizes

The recent ‘State of HR in the Philippines’ report published by Sprout Solutions ranked the major pain points Filipino HR (human resource) practitioners face. Garnering the most votes from a thousand participants are recruitment (56.90%), timekeeping (40.30%), and payroll (38.90%). These identified pain points, which can be really tedious and time-consuming, are actual problems for companies operating in the Philippines regardless of its size.

Good news is technology is continuously changing the business landscape. Today, these HR administrative tasks can be automated through cloud-based software solutions that positively impact productivity and efficiency -- generally improving a company’s bottom line.

According to Patrick Gentry, CEO and Co-founder of tech startup Sprout Solutions, companies are now recognizing the value of investing in software tools that streamline HR and payroll processes which ultimately, enhance productivity, develop employee-employer relations and meet the changing demands of today’s workplace.

“HR automation is now a huge deal for organizations as it can bring fundamental changes in the roles HR play for business growth. HR professionals can now spend more time establishing insights that provide added value for their workforce as technology gradually eliminates the administrative aspect of their job,” added Gentry.

With the Philippines having a total of thirty-two pay rates including night shift differential, overtime pay, holiday pay, among others, HR and payroll processing can get really complicated. Unfortunately, many business organizations are still doing these tasks manually making them prone to discrepancies, errors and even delays. Such inaccuracies are known to cause mistakes in the salary being paid, often resulting in an unhappy staff and strained relations between employees and employers. Meanwhile, from an operational cost standpoint, these incongruities can also lead to higher expenses.

Aside from that, a number of reports are also required from HR practitioners and/or payroll masters to comply with government mandatories. Filing of forms and getting updated reports from the agencies that monitor and collect employee income taxes and contributions can also get complicated especially for growing businesses.

Sprout Solutions, a provider of locally developed and global-quality HR and payroll software, addresses these major pain points through paradigm-changing solutions tailor-fitted for local enterprises.

The company offers customized solutions for its clients through its two modules: Sprout HR and Sprout Payroll. These programs are world-class software solutions that enable HR professionals to perform crucial tasks, both in payroll and HR, within a single dashboard.

Having all HR data reside on one integrated platform, Sprout makes it easier to track work in progress, daily attendance, leave requests, among others. Their comprehensive payroll system is also able to cut processing time by ninety percent.

Sprout’s cloud-based software tools enable organizations to efficiently comply with government requirements by making mandatory government forms accessible and downloadable (with encoded information) through the payroll module.

The tech startup is known to be the only solutions provider to truly automate complex payroll and timekeeping processes that exist for BPO companies and other time-sensitive industries in the Philippines. It has already earned the trust of more than 200 clients, composed of small businesses and some well-established industry players with thousands of employees and is the first Filipino company to be accepted by Acceleprise, a Silicon Valley enterprise SaaS accelerator. It has since expanded its operations to help businesses grow through its software solutions that address HR and payroll needs.

To know more about Sprout Solutions and its services, visit their website at https://sprout.ph/.

Jeremy Miado is Not Giving Up on His Title Dreams as He Gears Up for Cage Return

Jeremy “The Jaguar” Miado is part of a deep talent pool of Filipino mixed martial artists with huge potential, and his objective in the constantly-growing sport is to etch his name among the all-time greats.

Miado will take a big step towards fulfilling his dream to become the sport’s household name as he locks horns with undefeated Thai prospect Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsatit on the undercard of ONE: HERO’S DREAM, which takes place at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar on 3 November.

The three-round meeting with Mitsatit is a critical match for Miado as he is looking to get his career back on track after suffering a razor-thin split decision setback to compatriot Robin Catalan in his promotional debut this past April.

“I am happy that ONE Championship has given me the opportunity to showcase my talent on a global scale. My goal is to be a world champion. This is the first step in my road back to the winner’s circle. Soon, people will know who I am,” Miado stated.

“This is my big opportunity to show people my capabilities as a martial artist. I am very proud and blessed that they are giving me this chance again. For now, I will do my best and train hard,” he added.

Although he is still a relative newcomer to the game, Miado is armed with a strong boxing background as he made a name for himself as a boxer in the Bicol Region and garnered an incredible 32-2 amateur record.

Relocating to Manila two years ago, it was no surprise that success has followed him as Miado amassed an impressive mixed martial arts record of 6-0 since making his professional debut in January 2016.

Miado’s success rate has already seen him claim regional titles such as the Blaze FC strawweight championship belt in December 2016.

The 24-year-old Filipino standout currently hones his craft at Underground Battle MMA Gym in Marikina City, where he is mostly training in anticipation of his second promotional bout under the ONE Championship banner.

As Miado seeks to earn his first win in ONE Championship, a tough task is in front of him as Mitsatit will look to build the momentum to produce on what promises to be a sensational mixed martial arts career against the Filipino.

Mitsatit took the world by storm in 2016 after winning his highly-anticipated first ONE Championship appearance when he defeated Myanmar's Ye Thway Ne in dominating fashion.

The 21-year-old native of Chiang Mai, Thailand followed up his impressive first ONE Championship appearance with a first-round stoppage victory over Filipino Wushu champion Rabin “The Rock” Catalan at ONE: WARRIOR KINGDOM last March.

“My opponent is an outstanding striker, but I am focusing on my ground [skills]. I am a striker, but I know what his skills are,” Miado said of his opponent. “I think his game plan will be to use his striking to overwhelm me. I am practicing my defense in the stand-up. But he needs to watch out for my takedown attempts.”

Miado has a burning desire to become a world champion someday and knows that he must pass his test against Mitsatit as another loss could set him back considerably.

“My goal is to become a world champion. I want to be at the top here. Eduard Folayang was my idol when I started in this sport, and now he is the ONE Lightweight World Champion, so it shows I can do it. I will be going for the belt,” he declared.

Miado is confident that he will be able to translate his winning roll in the local Philippine mixed martial arts scene into the ONE Championship cage.

“I want to compete because this is my passion. Manny Pacquiao is a superstar in boxing. Everybody knows him. My plan is to do my best to have a name like his in ONE Championship,” he ended.

​​For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.