Follow The Leaders - the BSS industry day in Warsaw
On April 20, 2023, Pro Progressio, an organization supporting the development of modern business services, organized the seventh edition of The BSS Forum at the Sheraton Grand hotel in Warsaw. The forum is an international event aimed at analyzing and discussing the most important business trends and challenges in sectors such as BPO, SSC, GBS, and IT.
The theme of this year's edition was "Follow the Leaders." According to the theme, leaders from multiple companies and public organizations were present at the four stages of The BSS Forum, as well as among the invited guests. The forum brought together nearly 400 participants from 15 different countries. There were 55 experts in such areas as law, management, communication, finance, HR, business process automation, and IT among the speakers.
The BSS Forum was also for the first time a platform for discussions for startup communities. In collaboration with Level2 Ventures Fund, Pro Progressio organized nine startup presentations and three Power Speech presentations aimed at showing areas worth exploring to representatives of startups during the evolution of their projects.
Pro Progressio placed two strong international accents during the opening and closing of the forum. The first was a speech by Barry Winkless - CSO at Cpl Group, who presented a vision of the future of work and leadership, and the second was an international panel discussion, led by Peter Ryan from Ryan Strategic Advisory, dedicated to global locations for BPO/SSC/GBS-type operational centers. Peter Ryan also presented the results of the latest research on offshore location preferences, in which Poland ranked fourth. Our country was surpassed by the Philippines, South Africa, and India.
After The BSS Forum, it was time for the Outsourcing Stars Gala
The Outsourcing Stars Gala every year is a celebration of the modern business services sector. During the official part of the Gala, the long-awaited finals of the Outsourcing Stars competition took place.
This year's Outsourcing Stars competition winners were: Infosys (in the BPO category), 3M GBS (in the SSC category), Foundever (in the Call Contact Centre category), Infopulse (in the IT Software Development category), ManpowerGroup (in the HR/ Permanent Recruitment category), LeasingTeam Group (in the HR /Employee Leasing category), ASTEK (in the IT Contracting category), SAIO (in the RPA category), ACS (in the Accounting, HR, Payroll category), Invest in Pomerania (in the City category), Torus (in the Developer category), CBRE (in the Real Estate Agency category), and RevDeBug (in the Innovative Business Solution category).
Łukasz Olechnowicz received the Manager of the Year title.
This year's special guest at the Gala was Konstantin Vasyuk - President of IT Ukraine Association, who emphasized the active role of the Ukrainian IT sector, continuing its development both in Ukraine and Europe.
The Before Night event
For several years now, it has been a tradition that on the eve of The BSS Forum, Pro Progressio organizes a so-called Before Night, a networking meeting during which both guests and speakers of the Forum can meet and establish relationships in an informal atmosphere and in an unusual place. This year's Before Night took place at the NINE's restaurant in Browary Warszawskie and brought together over 200 participants.
The City Tour
On the day preceding The BSS Forum, as every year, the City Tour was also organized. The partner of City Tour Warsaw was the company Cushman & Wakefield. This time, the participants visited five Warsaw office buildings as part of the guided trip:
- The Park
- Business Garden
- P 180
- LIXA
- Upper One
The Platinum Sponsor of The BSS Forum, The Outsourcing Stars Gala and accompanying events was Cpl Poland. The Gold Sponsors were the companies: KPMG, Nowy Styl, Loftmill, and ServiceNow. The City Partner was the Invest in Pomerania agency. The honorary patronage of the event was taken by the Polish Investment and Trade Agency.
The next edition of the Forum and Gala with accompanying events will be held in a year.
The photo gallery of The BSS Forum, Outsourcing Stars Gala, and The Before Night is available on the event's website: https://bssforum.com/en/
