BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) is a growing market. According to HfS Research, the global BPO market is set to grow 5.1% in 2013. With a tough economy and fierce competition, organisations are increasingly turning to outsourcing in order to keep costs down. However, it's not all about cost reduction; HfS suggests that the primary motivations for outsourcing are to reduce operating costs, gain greater flexibility and scale, and to standardise processes (Source: Outsourcing to surge in 2013: study).
A strong IT infrastructure is important to any business, and technology is fast becoming the back-bone of BPO offerings. It is critical to remember the relationship between IT and BPO, not just for reducing costs but also to add value and allow a business to become more effective. A recent report from Accenture has shown that high-performance BPO uses technology as a source of innovation. By allowing itself to integrate and develop, the IT industry is, in itself, growing. According to Adzuna, the IT industry had the highest employment growth in the six months from November 2012 to May 2013.
Other developing technologies, such as cloud computing, will help to drive future BPO improvement and innovation. Customers are beginning to expect BPO suppliers to integrate with cloud-based management systems. As BPO and IT continue to gain momentum together, customers are becoming more knowledgeable and more selective about outsourcing. BPO providers need to target their prospects more narrowly in order to maximise the chances of success.
BPO is driving IT in a new direction; allowing businesses to expand whilst reducing spend. It offers a range of growth and development opportunities for salespeople who have a strategic selling approach. BPO sales are won by thought-leaders with great problem-solving skills, who can go into an organisation and really understand their business processes.
Flexibility is becoming a higher priority and by moulding IT, cloud and BPO into flexible, combined packages, salespeople can deliver more strategic and useful solutions to customers in order to drive their businesses forward. Comparable to Solution Sales, BPO salespeople need to be able to understand the customer pain points and use their expertise to advise accordingly, offering joined-up solutions that include elements of IT, BPO and cloud.
Outsourcing is an interesting business, with a vast array of industries to sell into. If you're looking for an opportunity within BPO please visit our website.
