Business process outsourcing, or BPO, continues to become a lucrative industry. In 2021, its market value was USD 245.9 billion, and it is expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.1% from 2022 to 2030.
Much of the drivers of the business process outsourcing industry’s economic success has to do with organisations putting a primer on improving efficiency, lowering operational costs, and becoming more scalable and agile.
Business process outsourcing trends have significantly evolved in the last few years in response to such demands from companies.
Different trends, such as cloud computing, automation, data security, strategic partnerships, and other technological advancements, have become norms.
As more and more companies hire third-party service providers, the BPO industry is poised to deliver positive and wide-ranging impacts.
Below are some BPO trends to keep an eye out for in the next coming years.
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1. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is accelerating rapidly worldwide, but its impacts on the BPO industry cannot be underscored enough.
AI systems have contributed towards this dream towards a digital transformation, improving various computational tasks and simplifying customer engagement.
Machine learning, for instance, has drastically redefined customer service outcomes and approaches. They enable BPO companies to detect customer service issues much faster than traditional human interaction.
Artificial intelligence in documentation has also improved the speed of data capture. The risk of committing errors is decreased, allowing a BPO provider to accurately keep track of claims, invoices, customer records, applications, etc.
Finally, AI can influence customer purchasing decisions. BPO companies can utilise AI to gather information on behaviour, preferences, and retention rates to improve the quality of customer services.
2. Focus On Omnichannel Customer Services
Twenty-first-century consumers have a more pronounced digital footprint. They have more options and preferences regarding how they’d like to be engaged by BPO companies.
Omnichannel solutions enable BPO providers to meet such preferences. This is possible through various communication channels, such as live chat, social media, voice messages, phone calls, text messages, etc.
Many BPO companies with call centre infrastructures are also giving way to contact centres, reflecting the shift towards multichannel engagement.
The BPO sector is now emphasising developing communications channels. This allows customer services to be performed on different platforms for customer care, addressing customer complaints, or simply engaging with clients.
3. Remote Work Arrangements
The height of the COVID-19 pandemic forced many BPO companies to shift towards a work-from-home arrangement. This allowed them to remain operational during peak seasons amidst lockdowns, curfews, and other pandemic restrictions.
This shift would have initially been challenging because outsourcing services were traditionally done on-site. However, many BPO organisations reported increased staff productivity, morale, performance and lower operating costs overall.
Even as COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, outsourced service providers opted to retain work-from-home or remote work arrangements. Some have also tested hybrid work setups.
In the grander scheme of things, remote work is being echoed to some degree beyond business process outsourcing.
Businesses realise having staff on-site doesn’t necessarily translate to better productivity. Additionally, these same businesses enjoy more significant savings by not pouring resources into a brick-and-mortar office space.
Employee sentiments across the board continue to tout the advantages of remote work. Employees have better flexibility and control, and business process outsourcing companies offering such benefits will no doubt observe higher employment and retention rates.
4. Cloud-Based Services
A BPO company which adopts a cloud-based model has a competitive advantage over companies that don’t. This creates demand for cloud-enabled BPO solutions where users can easily access data without waiting several hours.
Cloud-enabled services and applications have also been impactful in maintaining collaboration among BPO employees during real-time work.
The same applies to client-BPO company engagements, where cloud-based apps allow 24/7 communication without downtime.
5. Higher Demand For Automation
To sustain the reality towards digital transformation, the business process outsourcing industry has started employing automation techniques.
Automation offers the fastest results, especially when dealing with huge chunks of data. This technology is frequently applied in voice search-enabled platforms, interactive chatbots, and more.
For a BPO solutions provider, automation can also address activities like error checks, data extraction, and the like.
Automation significantly increases BPO services. It reduces administrative work and other repetitive tasks, allowing customer service staff to focus on their core competencies purely.
6. More Strategic Partnerships
More and more businesses realise the advances of outsourcing business processes. After all, it provides solutions to some pressing issues, primarily cost-related.
BPO companies aren’t treated as just third-party service providers – their solutions have evolved towards offering a range of other services such as strategic planning, risk analysis, IT consulting, etc.
7. Higher Cost Savings
One of the primary reasons companies choose to outsource work is cost-savings. BPO services are known to be cost-effective.
Organisations are seeking to generate huge cost savings wherever possible. This allows them to focus on value-adding activities, like core functions, continually.
The BPO industry has also begun tapping into the financial services market by providing expert accounting and finance teams to handle organisations’ accounts.
Business process outsourcing is still the most cost-effective way for organisations to scale, expand, improve, and develop.
Conclusion About Business Process Outsourcing Trends
The business process outsourcing market continues to be lucrative. BPO services are no longer limited to typical call centres. In response to a growing need to meet digital demands, providers are now focusing on offering more relevant and technology-enabled solutions.
External service providers have jumped on several BPO trends, such as machine learning, automation, cloud services, etc. These have allowed them to make outsourcing services attractive consistently, whether a Fortune 500 business or small-to-medium enterprise.
Gear ‘s outsourced services can help you meet your company’s needs. We offer various BPO services, such as live chat, data entry, customer service outsourcing, email support, content moderation, and many more.
Partner with us and see how much more value your business can get with outsourcing. Inquire now for more information on how our BPO services can be personalised to meet your company’s needs.
Frequently Asked Questions About Business Process Outsourcing Trends
It’s expected that the demand for digital services and emerging technologies such as software-as-a-service (SaaS) will rise to support tech-focused companies and increase data usage and access globally.
If you want to reduce company costs, outsourcing your IT (information technology) department is one way to go about it. Outsourcing IT eliminates the need to hire and train additional employees, invest in IT infrastructure, and keep up with the latest industry trends.
BPO has become a fast-growing industry thanks to an increasing need for companies to outsource services such as payroll, IT, human resources, etc. BPO involves hiring third-party providers to handle these vital but non-essential tasks.
Yes. BPO is advantageous for long-term business outcomes with the correct planning and strategizing. Companies must vet numerous BPO providers as closely as possible to find the right partners and get customised services that address their needs.
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