12/28/2006

Business Process Outsourcing is becoming a part of every business

Business process outsourcing is all about hiring the other businesses to deliver the work to you, so that you can concentrate on the core activities of your business. The core activities have been more important for establishing a particular business in the field. After all, you are spending so much to set up your business and missing out the core activities can cast a bad spell on the growth of your business. It is for this reason that big business house keep on outsourcing their non-core work, so that proper time should be given to the profit generating aspects of the business.

The concept of Business process outsourcing has been spreading its wings everywhere. Business process outsourcing is the outsourcing of back office and front office functions typically performed by white collar and clerical workers. It is like a contract that enables the business person to hire the services of an outsourcing firm that will manage and complete the tasks for them. As far as the contract policies are concerned, it becomes the entire responsibility of the service provider to complete the task well in time. Business process outsourcing is becoming more and more demandable and promising.

Business process outsourcing saves precious management time and resources and allows focus while building upon core competencies. There are various companies in foreign countries that keep on outsourcing their work such as call centre work, accounting work and many others. Outsourcing these forms of tasks also proves to be cost friendly for the big business houses. The company will not only save on the house rent allowances, bonuses, cash advances and various other ad ons, but will also be able to cut down on the huge salaries that a trained staff would demand.

When it comes to small business houses, it becomes difficult for them to outsource. Since the owner of these business houses keep on managing the task on their own; they hardly outsource their work to any other company. Whatever the case may be, business process outsourcing helps to a great extent in saving the money that can be invested in enhancing the progress of other departments. The main aim of this service is to save you from problems that may crop up at any point of time. In fact, business process outsourcing has become an important part of every type of business.

There are various things that have to be tackled in a particular business. If you are running a business house and are getting worried about the increasing load of the work, then outsourcing is the best option for you. Usually, the concept of business process outsourcing has earned a wide acclaim. This service providing division is slowly and slowly entering every business house and is creating a special place for itself. The professionals with outsourcing companies are skilled enough to manage the tasks properly and complete the work on time.

Business Process Outsourcing is becoming a part of every business

Business process outsourcing is all about hiring the other businesses to deliver the work to you, so that you can concentrate on the core activities of your business. The core activities have been more important for establishing a particular business in the field. After all, you are spending so much to set up your business and missing out the core activities can cast a bad spell on the growth of your business. It is for this reason that big business house keep on outsourcing their non-core work, so that proper time should be given to the profit generating aspects of the business.

The concept of Business process outsourcing has been spreading its wings everywhere. Business process outsourcing is the outsourcing of back office and front office functions typically performed by white collar and clerical workers. It is like a contract that enables the business person to hire the services of an outsourcing firm that will manage and complete the tasks for them. As far as the contract policies are concerned, it becomes the entire responsibility of the service provider to complete the task well in time. Business process outsourcing is becoming more and more demandable and promising.

Business process outsourcing saves precious management time and resources and allows focus while building upon core competencies. There are various companies in foreign countries that keep on outsourcing their work such as call centre work, accounting work and many others. Outsourcing these forms of tasks also proves to be cost friendly for the big business houses. The company will not only save on the house rent allowances, bonuses, cash advances and various other ad ons, but will also be able to cut down on the huge salaries that a trained staff would demand.

When it comes to small business houses, it becomes difficult for them to outsource. Since the owner of these business houses keep on managing the task on their own; they hardly outsource their work to any other company. Whatever the case may be, business process outsourcing helps to a great extent in saving the money that can be invested in enhancing the progress of other departments. The main aim of this service is to save you from problems that may crop up at any point of time. In fact, business process outsourcing has become an important part of every type of business.

There are various things that have to be tackled in a particular business. If you are running a business house and are getting worried about the increasing load of the work, then outsourcing is the best option for you. Usually, the concept of business process outsourcing has earned a wide acclaim. This service providing division is slowly and slowly entering every business house and is creating a special place for itself. The professionals with outsourcing companies are skilled enough to manage the tasks properly and complete the work on time.

IBM: China & India Are Mission Critical

India and China will be "pivotal" markets for IBM going forward, say Big Blue executives.

Michael Cannon-Brookes, IBM's vice president for business development in China and India, said at a media briefing here Tuesday that the ability to innovate business models and having access to a ready talent pool are key for a global enterprise to be successful.

The two most populous countries in the world meet both conditions, said Cannon-Brookes, adding that there are "dramatic changes in business models coming out from China and India".

Pointing to research from McKinsey & Co., Cannon-Brookes added that China and India had the most cost-effective developer pools in 2005, compared to other geographies such as Latin America, Russia and Western Europe. By 2010, the number of Chinese and Indian developers is expected to triple, while remaining the most cost-effective.

India is a particularly significant market as it also has a young workforce, said Cannon-Brookes. Quoting data from the United Nations, he pointed out that India is expected to have a median age advantage of 10 to 20 years over competing economies by 2025. By that time, the median age of India's workforce will be 30 years, compared to China and the United States at 39 years, Western Europe at 45 years and Japan at 50 years. Currently, the Indian workforce's median age is estimated at 24.

IBM has made substantial investment in both China and India, as part of its global integrated enterprise strategy which develops business capabilities in various locations to serve the global market.

In June, the company announced a US$6 billion investment in India covering hardware and software, services and research. Big Blue currently employs over 43,000 personnel and operates over 25 facilities in India.

In October, the company relocated its procurement headquarters in New York to Shenzhen.

China and India are also important hubs for business transformation outsourcing and business process outsourcing services, said Randy Walker, general manager for managed business process services in the Asia-Pacific region, in an interview with ZDNet Asia.

The regional growth potential for BTO and BPO is high, with many businesses wanting to have access to skills and best practices. Typical BPO deals start on a small scale and gradually build into larger, more complex ones, he noted.

According to Walker, IBM will be opening a new BPO center in Vietnam, another emerging market for the delivery of services. However, Vietnam will not be as key a market as India, China and even the Philippines which specializes in human resource services, he said. The company has identified Vietnam as a site with the potential to service the French and Japanese markets.

There will always be new and cheaper locations to provide labor, but China and India will maintain the skills edge, Walker pointed out.

He added: "If you're looking at 'cheap', there'll always be a Christmas Island (new low-cost locations). If you're looking at 'skills', the 'what next' will always be India...the 'what next' will always be China."

Securing the BPO network

Safety first, the rest can wait. Research reports have consistently favoured India as the outsourcing hub of the future, provided data security gets more-than required attention from India's BPO industry.

IDC estimates that the Indian IT industry is all set to grow to $55 billion by the end of 2008, fuelled by the rise in technology and business process outsourcing. While there is not shortage of enabling factors, certain issues like information security could debilitate growth. In the outsourcing domain, security means trust. Organisations hold and exchange massive amounts of sensitive data relating to their customers, products, suppliers, and clients. Corrupted, lost or leaked data could jeopardise an organisation’s survival. The availability of information systems may also be critical for the achievement of an organisation's business objectives.

Networks are critical to business performance especially in the IT and BPO sector with organisations depending on these networks for communication, transactions and data sharing. The overriding concern of CIOs today is to ensure their networks are constantly safeguarded against various attacks. As a result, information security is increasingly playing a strategic role in today's outsourcing environment.

Organisations outsourcing to India look for service providers with strong security practices and robust, secure yet open networks. Enterprises face daunting challenges when it comes to security. In addition, IT and BPO service providers have to address the following issues:

Compliance to Regulations
A majority of Indian companies primarily comply with BS 7799. Companies have also signed service level agreements (SLA), which have very strict confidentiality and security clauses built into them at the network and data level. Laws such as the IT Act 2000, Indian Copyright Act, Indian Penal Code Act and the Indian Contract Act, 1972 provide adequate safeguards to companies offshoring work to the US and the UK. Most of the BPO companies providing services to UK clients ensure compliance with UK Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) through contractual agreements.

But in some cases, organisations are eyeing compliance certificates as ticket to more business. Some firms scramble for certification just before a client visit. Despite various security certifications, many organisations have had a rude awakening to severe breaches that have impacted their businesses. Therefore, establishing a culture of security in an enterprise and creating relevant user awareness in terms of empowerment, confidentiality and code of conduct are of great importance and supplements the process of becoming standard compliant. An organisation should be clear from the beginning that becoming compliant to a standard is not a mere IT exercise but a serious business initiative with an end goal of improving enterprise performance.

Privacy and Trust
Enterprises are constantly handling data and information of their clients' customers. Care should be that the information is used only for purposes authorised by the owner or supplier and is not shared with unauthorised personnel.
Businesses need to effectively and securely manage who and what can access the network, as well as when, where, and how that access can occur. Deploying a complete identity management solution lets enterprises secure network access and admission at any point in the network, while isolating and controlling infected or unpatched devices that attempt to access the network.

Data Protection
While the concern for data protection always existed, the India outsourcing phenomenon has only increased the concern for protection of sensitive information . While stringent data protection laws exist in EU and USA, most clients are keen that their Indian service providers have stringent policies to prevent the misuse of data. While addressing security concerns, organisations need to consider various factors like:

Integrity
Gathering and maintaining accurate information and avoiding malicious modification

Availability
Providing access to the information when and where desired

Confidentiality
Avoiding disclosure to unauthorised or unwanted persons

Secure Connectivity
A vast majority of companies use the flexibility and cost effectiveness of the Internet to extend their networks to branch offices, telecommuters, customers and partners. Ensuring the privacy and integrity of all information is paramount. Not only must organisations protect external communications, they must also help ensure that internal information remains confidential.