Knowledge Intensive Outsourcing Consultants by David Faulkner

BPO and KPO. They may mean nothing to millions of people, but to thousands of businesses, they mean saving big money by outsourcing. BPO stands fro Business Process Outsourcing, and KPO for Knowledge Process Outsorucing. The difference between then is in the type of work being outsourced.

Business Process Outsourcing is the outsourcing of jobs related to customer service, like call center voice communications, and telemarketing. Knowledge Process Outsourcing is the outsourcing of IT processes which require outsourcing consultants with specific technological backgrounds. These outsourcing consultants must be able to handle complex informational transactions like legal research, insurance claims, and patent searches.

Many companies turn to outsourcing consultants to provide them with the intellectual and informational resources they lack, and for a fraction of the cost it would take to hire staff with comparable abilities. The cost of labor in developed nations continues to climb, and many companies are doing whatever they can to maintain their profit margins.

So outsourcing consultants for important work is becoming more and more common, and there are companies which give most or all of their intellectual work to outsource consultant providers in India, the Philippines, Malaysia, and other developing nations. The Internet, of course, has made outsourcing consultants on such a massive level possible.

The Growing Outsourcing Market

Estimates are that the demand for outsourcing will, by 2010, grow to fifty billion dollars a year in the US alone; the global market is already increasing at a greater than forty percent rate annually. Of the fifty billion which the US will be spending by 2010, over sixty percent, or thirty billion, will go to India, with its well-educated, technology literate, English-fluent, and inexpensive workforce.

And technology companies aren't the only ones taking advantage of outsourcing consultants; the finance, engineering, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries are all benefiting from the trend.

Risks Of Outsourcing

But any company considering outsourcing its consultants may be in for a big disappointment unless it first designs a clear outsourcing plan. Outsourcing consultants will only produce quality results if the company's management and the team responsible for the work being outsourced oversee the project in such a way that it does nothing to negatively affect the company's reputation, customer base, and future operations.

Companies using outsourcing consultants should invite to give their input into the outsourcing plans early in the process, to make sure everyone understands what is expected and reduce the risks, which can include the company's local workforce resenting having to cooperate with an offshore consulting operation.

About the Author

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