How Technology is changing BPO Industry

Technology is continuously changing and transforming many industries around

us. Big Data, Cloud Computing, Social Media and Mobile Technology are the
key trends in making any industry optimize its business process. Business
Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector is no different. All other industries around the
world rely on BPO to keep their enterprise running smoothly. But, as we all know
BPO industry is highly tech-savvy, the transformation rate is significantly high.
In order to ensure that you are matching the standards and expectations on
time, you need to scale up your business process under the current technology
trends.

Previously, BPO sector was limited to provide solutions towards cost reduction
and profit optimization. But later technology has a very significant role in
changing the evolution of the BPO sector in recent years. Now BPO sector has
emerged as a value addition to any other industry. A perfect stage is set as
businesses want to cut down additional back office cost and looking out for
innovative ways to add revenue. In today’s business landscape, businesses
which have a competitive advantage are the ones that leverage the power of
technology.

Current Scenario
Global BPO companies are slowly expanding their service line and developing
new business models in response to technological trends. Especially BPO
industry is evolving around mega technological trends like big data, mobility
and cloud computing. There has been an analytical revolution in this sector
since last few years. Big data has powered BPO sector in a big way. Industry
leader like Genpact has a 5000 plus analytical team accounts for it 15%
revenues. Many other emerging analytics firms are focusing more on big data
and moving beyond MIS reports. BPO analytical firms are responding to Commented [MI1]: MIS Management Information
Systems
analytical reforms and allow real time data tracking and robust business
decision making.

Global BPO companies have started using cloud platform to expand their
services to the other side of the geographical location. Many businesses are
moving their data storage and business applications to the cloud.
BPO companies have started using social media analytics for brand building,
customer engagement, and customer support. Most of the outsourcing
companies in the USA are following these collaborative models to enhance
their user satisfaction and productivity.

There are many ways technology is changing the landscape of BPO industry,
but largely we can classify them into four important trends. Let’s check them;

Big Data & Analytics

Data analytics is one of the most adapted technological tool in the past decade
for many industries. Real time business intelligence is a very critical tool
which can enable organizations to achieve a competitive advantage. Business
process outsourcing companies use data analytics tools to manage a huge
amount of data to deliver superior quality of business solutions. There are
various BPO service providers who realised the value of being able to manage
useful information from the huge volumes of business data they handle on an
everyday basis. Predictive analysis can differentiate the quality of services
provided by BPO companies in a long run. Many companies are now depending
on predictive analysis to make their business solutions more productive and
offer better customer service. With the opportunities that data analytics
technologies have created, businesses are finding it strategically more useful
to take a proactive approach in resolving challenges and opening doors for
opportunities.

Data analytics is very much relevant for BPO companies because of the volume
of data they gather. By analyzing the data, they can generate strategic insights
for their clients and can also engage more customers by retaining them. The
rise of disruptive technologies has completely transformed BPO- customer
relationship now. Businesses now need to focus more on providing best
customer service by mapping individual preferences while delivering
personalized services. Data can play a very crucial role in achieving this

Besides building a healthy BPO- customer relationship, the predictive analysis

also help in enhancing customer satisfaction. BPO service providers can design
programs by identifying customers who are going to add more revenue, can
build a one-to-one relationship with them, and later can create a community of
their most loyal customers. BPO companies to help their employees achieve
key metrics by analyzing what are the key service demands and provide
deliverables accordingly can use big data. So, businesses can optimize their
work force and increase employee productivity at the same time.

42% of high performing BPOs, which are the ones that get full value from their BPO relationships
said that analytics is a major component in their service delivery package.

Based from Accenture Report Commented [MI2]: One of the leading BPO company

It is very clear that big data is the most important source of value creation in
any industry and it is high time for BPO service providers to gear up for
implementing predictive analysis, which can be a game changer for their
business and client relationship.

Cloud Platform
Cloud computing took data storage and data sharing in BPO industry to another
level. Data retrieval and sharing have become really fast and easy. Businesses
stay competitive and advanced by moving their data to the cloud platform. They
can eliminate unused space and storage and at the same time reduce huge
consumption of energy. Cloud platforms are cost effective. Cloud storage
eliminates the need for IT department and servers which require large space
and maintenance cost. Cloud computing can be the biggest influencer for BPO
service providers in building industry specific solutions.

The outsourced services are better delivered with the use of the cloud. The
cloud platform promotes easy collaboration and communication between the
outsourcing party and the virtual/remote team. Also, this allows new or updated
instructions to be relayed quicker.

Cloud computing can provide fresh air to the BPO sector by better usage of
data and reduction in the overall costs. Cost is a significant factor for BPO
industry, but technological innovation is the prime concern. To develop as a
high-performing BPO, you have to deliver value added services with zero
compromises to your clients. SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS suffice the organization’s
IT needs that are ever growing today, the use of SaaS (Software-as-a-
service) can help the BPO to keep pace with the constant change of technology
at an economical cost.
The use of cloud computing in BPO due to improved platform concurrency
increases service deliverability. Cloud hosting provides more options, the BPO
organisation does not have to worry about the management of
hardware/software. Cloud hosting providers are now considered as strategic
partners of high-performing BPO.

Automated Systems
Every business in today’s world expects to be technologically advanced and
efficient. Customers are no longer willing to wait to get what they want. If you’re
unable to resolve their problem or address them, they will choose your
competition. So, the growing dislike for slow service and support providers has
triggered the evolution of automated systems. Automated systems are being
used to answer customer queries as soon as possible. It saves a lot of time as
well as cost. BPO service providers can dedicate their entire time in enhancing
their service quality while automated systems will take care rest of the
operations.

Automated answering machines became popular in no time whatsoever. But

still many BPO service providers are not sure whether they should go for this or
not. But, when it comes to automated systems, most of them are holding this
cost saving tool in both hands.

Business process automation is the use of software, systems, and processes

that require less human intervention than traditional processes. Automation is
most prominently used where processes need to be standardized. Human
intervention can be eliminated so that there is less risk of error, or inefficiency
due to an absence or other conditions. In today’s business environment,
processes and systems are automated for the benefits of cost and time
efficiency, error reduction, and resource and energy conservation.
To improve the bottom line, BPOs are using automated systems in order to
perform cost cutting, time saving and optimizing resources.

Diverse platforms to reach customers

Those days are gone, where emails and phone calls were the only medium
between the service provider, business and customers. Today, many effective
communication channels are being used for instant support. Mobile
applications are playing a major role here. They changed the way customers
approach service providers to resolve any issue. Social media platforms are
also one of the most preferred media of communication. All these latest
mediums in communication technology are rapidly embraced to facilitate easy
and quick queries resolutions.

BPO companies are using all possible platforms to reach out to their customers
as well as potential customers to connect, educate, engage and provide
support. Technology is playing a very crucial role in optimizing all these
mediums and providing a hassle free communication.

We learned, which are the technologies transforming BPO industry. Now let’s
see how they are doing it;

Value Addition
All these trends are powering the role of technology in BPO sector which is
being driven by businesses and their customers. BPO service providers are
moving forward by offering innovative solutions through technology. Through
technology backed services, customers will get excellent service and more
return on their investment, while BPO service provider can maximize its profit.

Many of the large BPO service providers are now working on providing end-to-
end business solutions to other industries. IT is an enabler for them, and
sometimes it is a differentiator. The growing opportunity of the BPO market
requires greater levels of automation through technology. BPO industry is
considering IT as a way of achieving incredible growth.

After adding data analytics, cloud platforms, mobility solutions to their business
model BPO providers are putting their steps into top technology enable industry
list. Business outsourcing services are collaborating human processes and
automation via technology. In short, they are adding a lot of value to the existing
business model as well as future growth.

Transforming Processes
Decade back businesses were outsourcing processes mainly for cost reduction
and time saving purpose. But with the introduction of new mega trends in
technology, businesses are viewing business problems and addressing them in
a much more optimized approach. This changed the landscape of BPO service
providers, as they started to offer solutions which can modernize activities. The
introduction of these new solutions are truly transforming how enterprise work
to be conducted in coming years.

The sudden rise of importance of data and the related technology also enabled
businesses to use the data they have. BPO industry started helping companies
explore big data. We are witnessing a period where BPO sector is coming out
from the shadow of a cost cutting and process optimizing to adding real
business value.

BPO service providers are able to focus on services that improve the business
due to the increasing use of process automation robots, which carry out the
grunt-work. Businesses are using software that automates processes as an
alternative to offshore BPO services. When workloads spike, the business does
not have to pay its outsourcing service providers for more human resources.

Securing Data
With the ever-growing technological advancements and the increasing use of
Internet worldwide, the data security and privacy have always been a primary
concern for the business process outsourcing companies, as they are
responsible for the stakeholders including the vendors, suppliers and the client-
companies. Since most of the transactions take place over the internet and in
most cases the data processing is done by offshore BPO service providers,
they demand secure environment. In fact, the recent studies reveal that, at
times, vendors even considered amending the contract agreements to make
these companies liable for breach of security.

But technology is helping them to overcome this fear also. Control over
technology, control over data, control over employees, control over the cloud
infrastructure, disaster recovery and management system are securing the data
and making BPO one of the most secure industry when it comes to manage
and control data.

Our Take
Technology is advancing at a stunning pace and continuously changing the
world around business significantly. The growing technology could open up an
opportunity for the BPO companies to adapt and lead. The global BPO industry
has had a dream run well over past decade and it witnessed innovative
business solutions. The future of BPO industry is dependent upon flexibility
and the willingness to adapt new growth and technological drivers.

Source: https://www.apogaeis.com/blog/how-technology-is-changing-bpo-industry/

How Technology and Analytics is Changing

the BPO Landscape
This b article was written by Pankaj Kohli

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry has dramatically changed over the
past 20 years. If you look back at the companies offering outsourced services at the turn of
the millennium, the focus was almost entirely on cost. Offshore outsourcing was further
promoted as a way to deliver services, at a much lower price than hiring people locally.
From Pioneers to Offshore Service Providers
Service companies have always promoted themselves as partners. The reality, however,
was that clients were only looking for a way to deliver basic, non-core services at a lower
cost. As service providers developed greater expertise, they progressed up the corporate
value chain. Business commentators started talking about Knowledge Process Outsourcing
(KPO) because instead of simple, low-value services, companies were now offering services
that required highly skilled people making decisions on the client’s behalf.

Customer service outsourcing is a good example. There was a time when most brands did
not want to outsource their customer service function to a customer experience specialist
since the connection to the customer was seen as critical to their business. Why would you
outsource customer engagement? Eventually, though, most brands found that BPO
companies could service their customers better than they could internally since it’s their
core expertise. As a result, outsourcing to customer experience experts became more
common.

The Age of Operational Expertise

Over time, industries that sought BPO services & variety grew in number, and vendors
graduated from being low-cost suppliers to strategic partners. With this level of business
maturity, outsourcing companies took the initiative and carved out a unique business
niche, offering specialized, high value services. With any growth and knowledge-oriented
sector, these services expanded for better value and efficiency.

Innovation for Better Processes

The first decade of this millennium saw BPOs become knowledge centers, paving the way
for data-driven insights that drive and propagate innovation. Transaction-based pricing,
vertical-specific services, and extensive global capabilities all became core offerings and
value differentiators. The introduction of analytics ensured delivery with better
intelligence, insights and results.

Beyond Insight and into Future Collaboration

The current wave of change and innovation started approximately 5 years ago and it is
focus on delivering value to the customer. This transformation requires a Technology,
Analytics, and Process Excellence (T.A.P.™) approach.

Modern technology is helping service providers to automate not only rules-based activities,
but also use artificial intelligence to mimic human problem-solving for more complex
issues. Advanced analytics, on the other hand, allows us to use and mine more data than
ever before. Such advancements combined with Lean Six Sigma and Design Thinking are
the perfect ingredients to help businesses advance in this highly dynamic operating
environment. The best part is that such transformation is not only possible in traditional
brick-and-mortar settings, but also in a work-at-home (WAH) environment.

Source : https://www.teleperformance.com/en-us/insights/blog/how-technology-and-
analytics-is-changing-the-bpo-landscape