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What Is Business Process Outsourcing?
Business process outsourcing, OR BPO, refers to the process of outsourcing business functions to third-party vendors.
Benefits of Business Process Outsourcing
Business Process Outsourcing has many advantages, from cost savings to increased efficiency and even providing a more strategic edge. The loss of control over the outsourced function, on the other hand, is commonly a potential commercial risk.
Take note that before contracting out any activities or business operations, one should thoroughly analyze the business process outsourcing benefits and disadvantages.
Outsourcing BPO services comes with its benefits and disadvantages. Therefore one should be knowledgeable about them.
Listed below are some advantages why you should consider outsourcing BPO Services.
- Saving Money
- Faster Turnaround
- Quality of work
1. Saving Money
Hiring and training people is costly, especially for short-term tasks. Moreover, temporary workers seldom deliver the high-quality results that the job requires. In outsourcing BPO Services, one converts fixed labor costs into variable expenses. This stipulation means that one only needs to pay for the services used. Additionally, this grants personnel flexibility that in-house employees do not have.
Outsourcing enables a business to customize its service consumption to meet specific requirements. One only needs to pay for what they use. Moreover, companies may freely adjust usage or consumption as the business grows or declines. A full-time or fixed cost can be converted into a variable cost when outsourcing as a pay-what-you-need service. This outsourcing relieves and enables cash flow to get invested in other areas of the company.
The saved resources can now be used to upgrade the products or in launching marketing campaigns. This feature is especially important when starting a new project, such as introducing a new product or entering a new business segment.
2. Faster Turnaround
When an organization has a backlog of unfinished work, it is recommendable to outsource and have all of the data entered and available to consume within a fast turnaround time. Moreover, the same option should be employed when a business has a backlog of incomplete data entries to complete in a quick turnaround time.
3. Quality of Work
One of the most likely causes for a company to outsource BPO work is when it requires specialized knowledge and expertise. Assigning the task to people who are better at it enables the business to focus on offering a high-quality product and service to the customers.
Outsourcing’s fundamental benefit is that it allows one’s business to obtain a competitive advantage in the market. With this, the company offers excellent products and services to its consumers and enhances its productivity while effectively managing the in-house resources by strategically outsourcing to an outsourcing partner. Additionally, outsourcing can help a business get an advantage over competitors who have yet to discover the benefits of outsourcing.
Types of BPO – Location of the vendor
It is very reasonable when a business decides that they do not want to waste far more money or effort on the hiring process.
Fortunately, one of three categories in Business Process outsourcing is based on vendor location, namely nearshoring, offshoring, or onshoring. Therefore, it is relatively significant to know their variations.
- Offshoring is one of the most cost-effective methods of outsourcing. Companies outsource their processes to outsourcing suppliers in far-flung locations, such as India, China, or the Philippines, where skill resources are vast and costs are low. The time zone difference here is very crucial to ensure that the business runs without any interruption.
- Nearshoring refers to when a business outsources to a country close by, particularly bordering or at the very least on the same continent. Nearshoring allows for more frequent travel and physical meetings to happen at a reduced cost. One can also have additional influence and control over the business by frequently visiting and inviting the development staff to the headquarters.
- Lastly, outsourcing to another city in the country is known as Onshoring. The companies that use this method often avoid the disadvantages of offshoring, such as cultural differences and foreign tax rules. Moreover, they also invest in their own country’s economy.
Comparing The Variables Across Nearshoring
One must look more closely at each aspect of nearshore, offshore, and onshore before coming up with a decision. Remember that, in the end, the quality of the outsourcing partner and their suitability with one’s business will likely be the key determinant.
Most businesses look at it from IT outsourcing, but several of the same aspects and concerns apply to other types of outsourcing. However, one can be able to understand the fundamental ideas regardless of one’s location quickly.
Variable factors between Nearshore, Offshore and Onshore Outsourcing
In most situations, pricing plays the most crucial element in outsourcing decisions as it is the very reason businesses outsource in the first place. If money is not an issue, a company could simply keep a large staff of IT experts on hand to accomplish any task and when it is needed.
However, this would be ludicrous even for the most extensive and wealthiest corporations. It only makes more sense to commit to full-time pay for a position that will be required shortly, and it makes more sense for businesses to outsource roles and skillsets guaranteed for a certain time or project. The expense is removed from the balance sheet once the job gets completed.
Price is a significantly important issue when a business is deciding between nearshoring, offshore, and onshoring for an outsourcing partner, in addition to considering whether roles should be in-house or outsourced.
5 Most Commonly Back Office Outsourcing Support Services
The following is a list of the five most common back office outsourcing support services that regularly get outsourced.
- Customer Support
- Accounting and Bookkeeping
- Web Design
- Data Entry
- Research and Development
Take a look at these most frequently outsourced back office support tasks in brief and see why outsourcing them makes sense.
1. Customer Support
Customer service, also known as phone assistance, is the most outsourced company operation. Compared to outsourcing to India, companies in the United States find that employing, training, providing office space, and paying taxes for American call center agents are incredibly expensive. Furthermore, Indian call center firms offer effective 24/7 customer service at a lower cost.
2. Accounting & Bookkeeping
Accounting is ranked second because it is necessary for any business, yet it consumes too much time. Because Indian accountants are knowledgeable about the newest American accounting procedures, American companies can readily and conveniently outsource bookkeeping or financial statement production to India. Additionally, due to the delicate nature of accounting work, it is critical for the business to select a competent and skilled outsourcing company.
3. Web Design
The most frequently outsourced corporate task to India is web designing, which ranks third. Indian design teams are very competent in the use of web design software. Moreover, Indian design firms also provide fully prepared web design templates that companies may adjust to suit the needs of international clients. Outsourcing web design is the most distinctive approach to get a nice, presentable, and efficient website when a company finds itself limited on time, money, or professional designers.
4. Data Entry
Indexing, scanning, cataloging, and order processing are some of the most common data entry operations outsourced to India. Data entry is one of the most manageable tasks to outsource because you just need to engage a team, provide clear instructions, and set a deadline. Rest assured that they will finish the job on time, on budget, and with a high level of accuracy. Indian data input services use secure web servers to ensure the complete protection and security of sensitive data.
5. Research and Development
Almost every form of research and development activity, including financial research, market research, customer demographics, and even medicinal research, is now being outsourced to India. Indian researchers are highly qualified, well-experienced, and are well-versed in the most updated research tools and procedures. Companies often choose to outsource research services in India for an accurate and fast result, as conducting research in-house can take a lot of time, effort, and money.
What iTech Data Services Do As A BPO Partner
Machine Learning or ML combined with OCR and Robotic Process Automation or RPA technologies get used by iTech to meet customer data entry outsourcing demands. When used together, they provide adequate answers to problems that can be difficult and monotonous.
More than just alphanumeric character translation is possible with OCR and Machine Learning. Instead, it begins by translating and quickly learns where to look for data points, what to do with them, and how to use them to produce high-quality results. Unlike the OCR, Machine Learning can provide high-quality output outside of organized forms, which OCR outsourcing alone cannot equal.
iTech is a data services company based on acquiring and analyzing data from several domains, whether it’s a simple project or various complications. Moreover, iTech teams are experts in all data collection elements and can apply manual, OCR, RPA, or Machine Learning services to any project, depending on the development’s specific requirements.
For basic or one-time indexing jobs, there are simple manual techniques. These projects have fewer deadlines but still demand a high level of quality, which iTech can provide. To achieve a minimum quality level of 99.95 percent, they use a double-key and compare methodology along with a 100% quality control process.
In contrast, OCR collaborates with Machine Learning Services and Robotic Process Automation for more complicated and ongoing projects. Depending on the input and output processes, they are utilized alone, jointly, or in combination with some manual operations. Unrivaled quality, quick turnaround times, and lower operational and labor expenses are always the end outcomes.
Furthermore, iTech’s iClarify feature allows businesses that use iTech for Data Entry Outsourcing complete control and insight over the data capture and audit processes. On-demand quality and turnaround measurements and analytics replace the black box approach commonly associated with outsourcing to provide complete transparency.
Conclusion
Business Process Outsourcing is essential for every business establishment. It enables one to monitor, identify the weak points, and adjust the costs and needs depending on the problem getting resolved. Moreover, Business Process Outsourcing also gives an edge in the industry as it allows a business to advance from its competitors. Considering Outsourcing is a must as it can be cost-efficient, provide faster turnaround times, and ensure quality. Knowing what type to adapt to is also essential to gain the maximum benefits that outsourcing offers.