The Future of Business Process Outsourcing

With the world moving in a high paced technological advancement and with an open market in the world market scenario, it is but expected that the way business is being done is going through remarkable transformation. Globally services are being outsourced to companies specializing in particular areas. Outsourcing happens when certain areas of running a business establishment hinder the effective functioning of its core competencies. Hence Business Process Outsourcing or the simple BPO has grabbed a major share in the IT and IT related services.

The earlier form of BPO consisted of outsourcing only some areas of work like Payroll, Retail, Insurance, Mortgage, Banking and Finance, Healthcare, Telecommunications, Technology, Travel and Hospitality and Supply Chain in manufacturing industries. Not limited to these anymore, BPO caters to many areas of business and is expected to dominate almost all areas in business sector. Both the types of outsourcing, the back office functions like human resources payroll etc. and the front office services like customer and contact related services have a wide scope in future.

The world business market now looks at the Asian countries for its present and future BPO activities. Service being cheaper and delivery being quicker, this market is being praised by the developed countries as the modern Mecca for outsourcing business needs. Creating offshore centers provides a flexible and cost-effective structure for business establishments. The large influx of BPO into Asian countries promises a very stable future for both the parties involved.

Similar to BPO, Knowledge Process outsourcing (KPO), has evolved in the recent past and has a promising future. While BPO emphasizes on process expertise, KPO stresses business expertise. KPO requires advanced exceptional technical skills coupled with judgment to execute highly complex and customized processes.

There is a high potential for future of KPOs worldwide. The scope of KPOs is not limited to Information technology (IT) and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) but scale the other areas like Legal Processes, Intellectual Property and Patent Related Services etc. While an outsourcing company concentrates on its core specialization and competency activities, it can outsource other activities and gain a lot of momentum in the core areas. A cost minimization this way and a total optimization in the business can happen when this is put in practice.

The Future of Indian BPO

India has been a favorite market for BPO, with Australia being the biggest market in the Asia-Pacific region. In the Asia-Pacific region, Australia has major share in the revenue generated by BPOs. However India has been the fastest growing BPO provider in the last decade. According to Gartner estimates, India is expected to reach $1.4 billion at the end of 2011 which is 23.2% more than 2010. By 2020 India is expected to touch $285 billion, according to KPMG reports. China has an enviable position when it comes to call centers and has reported a revenue of $28 million in 2010. Philippines has a bright future in BPO with an approximated revenue of $12 billion in 2010.

While world over outsourcing has caused an open market, Africa too has ventured into grabbing its share in BPO meat with Kenya launching its first call center. Mauritius is also vying at all possibilities in this area.

The Indian BPO market has an extremely promising and encouraging picture in the future. The scope of business opportunities predict endless areas for businesses to explore and thereby creating millions of jobs for the large amount of talent pool available in India. A promise of highly qualified and skilled professionals making career in BPOs is also a possibility being seen for future in India.