When businesses out source non-core business processes to service providers they essentially aim at greater accountability and efficiency with lesser over head expenditures. More and more companies are moving their non-core business processes to out-source providers. BPO is the fastest growing strategic solution for maximizing opportunities, reducing costs and minimising risks ; to getting the odd jobs done at the cheapest rates by the best. The philosophy behind BPO is specific, do what you do best and leave everything else to business process outsourcers.
The sector was envisaged to grow to a $17 billion industry offering one million jobs by 2008. More than 40% of the Fortune 500 companies outsource business processes from India.
Much of the business process outsourced areas are IT centric. The outsourced or cross border ITES is big business today. Experts feel that once clients feel comfortable and a relationship of trust is established, more value can be derived or generated in outsourcing further aspects of their standard business operations and practices to ITES companies.
Nature of Work
Call centres apart, functions outsourced span purchasing and disbursement, order entry, billing and collection, human resources' administration, cash and investment management, accounts revenue analysis, data management, insurance, tax compliance, internal audit and pay roll, manufacturing, retail, government, card services, inbound and outbound call handling, directory assistance etc.
The areas where BPO is growing is in large customer based outfits such as aviation, banking, health, e-commerce for legal cover and in research. Designing needs both for the web and for commercial applications too are largely outsourced.
The work in high end BPOs is high end research. Analysts today provide data analysis of market conditions, competition, regulations, and patent law. etc.They can even advise on appropriate marketing budgets, size of sales teams or any such detail requested by the client. There are MBAs, lawyers, doctors and other specialists working with high end BPOs and a only a small number of graduates for supporting the operations.
Personal Characteristics
Very good command over English language is an essential skill required. Computer skills, knowledge of consumer behaviour, marketing skills, information, ability to analyse problems are skills needed. Besides this the BPO professional needs good communication skills, patience, good temperament, intelligence to comprehend the requirements of the job,and good problem solving skills. Skills to persuade are required by contact centre personnel. Tenacity to work at odd hours is almost a prerequisite.
Employment Avenues
India, with a low-cost manpower, a large pool of skilled English-speaking workforce, a virtual 12-hour time zone difference with the US and other major ITES markets, is emerging as a preferred destination for outsourced services. 'Hot' jobs in the ITES domain are e-commerce, call centres, medical transcription, billing and coding, back office operations, revenue claims processing, legal databases, content development, payroll, logistics management, GIS, HR services, CRM, supply chain management, web services etc.
The top ten upcoming recruitment segments are in telesales and telemarketing, web sales and marketing, database marketing, customer analysis, benefits administration, payroll, engineering and design, inbound call centres, claims processing, billing, and credit and debit card services.
Disciplines such as billing and coding, medical transcription need training while trained people such as software analysts, domain specialists, information security, integration specialists, database administrators, network specialists and communication engineers, data ware house and senior conductor designers are prime employees in the ITES sector. Graduates, MBA's, M. Techs, CA's, CWA's and Technical graduates/MCA s and diploma holders find jobs in this sector.
Training
There is in reality no fixed training and it may extend from a few weeks to a few months depending on the nature of job. The training normally begins with an initiation programme, which includes getting familiar with the requirements of the job and the work culture of the company. This is followed by theoretical and practical training.
