3 Trend Shifts that have Re-shaped the BPO Industry
Do you know what is the buzz word of the third millennium?
It's most definitely outsourcing. Business process outsourcing became very attractive for many companies. This is mainly because moving jobs offshore cuts down expenses while the quality of the work done doesn't suffer. But BPO, like any other industry paradigm, was not a constant through time.
It has evolved into a sophisticated and a lot more risk-free trend practiced by many businesses. From the current state of the market, BPO is only going to get bigger. It is estimated that BPO is going to become a multibillion market by the year 2020.
Here are some of the changing trends in the BPO industry that have helped by shaping it into what it is today.
BPO was Reserved for Big Enterprises
Just a decade ago, outsourcing was reserved for big enterprises only. Small and midsize businesses were able to outsource their business processes, but the price and the quality of their services were disproportional. In order to get to the best service, small and mid-sized businesses had to risk getting their budgets depleted.
Fortunately, a new trend emerged in the form of business process outsourcing partners who offer their BPO services as intermediaries. With their connections and access to talent, infrastructure, and assets, they can provide the best services that remain affordable even for wallets of small start-ups. This, of course, lead to the popularization of outsourcing in the small and mid-sized business niche.
IT Plays an Even More Important Role Now
It is a fact that BPO companies to utilize the power of IT in their operations. This is done not only to reduce the costs and make the processes more efficient but also to establish a better digital presence. While, in the past, IT was merely a tool used by BPO companies, today it is a vital part of the industry.
IT has enabled BPO companies to further increase their value to businesses, by using the latest technologies. Instead of investing in infrastructure, technology, and hiring top talent, businesses can now get access to BPO services including process automation, cloud computing, social media platforms and numerous types of business analytics software.
Communication Became Collaboration
In the past, one of the crucial aspects of outsourcing tied to the success of the entire process was communication. Without efficient communication, it was impossible to expect a good outcome of any outsourcing effort. Today, communication has evolved, and it is now a part of the collaboration.
As BPO services became pretty common goods in the market, BPO companies have noticed a spot where they can improve their operations by offering their partnership instead of a plain service providing agreement. This is why the emphasis no longer on good communication but collaboration. And, collaboration comes from a relationship. This is why we can see many BPO companies offering reports and feedback along with professional consultations and custom process designs.
This adds a certain value to BPO services, ensuring that there is trust between partners. BPO companies have suddenly become so much more than BPO service providers. Today, they are reliable partners to any business that has a goal to grow.
As you can see, the BPO industry is susceptible to many factors. We are glad to see that IT is not the only factor that changes it. From what we can see, in the current state of the BPO market, the human factor backed up with skills, knowledge, and expertise still remains the one with the greatest shaping potential of them all.
