Improved Philippine BPO Industry through Quality and Technology

BPO started with non-core processes and is now moving towards more critical applications. It has boomed with call centers in the Philippines and customer service processes, and now is happening with software development, Human Resources (HR), Finance and Accounting (F&A), training, payroll, and procurement.

The trend is moving beyond the outsourcing of typical back-office functions into middle-office functions. BPO is catching up with industries like medical transcription, animation production, and even disaster recovery management systems. Moreover, it is not just India or the Philippines that are booming with BPO. Central & Eastern Europe’s markets are aggressively chasing near shore outsourcing from Europe.

Although outsourcing has been seen as a way to reduce overhead expenses, this point of view has changed with time, and the industry is now being seen as part of a larger strategic effort. Now, customers want most- enhanced productivity level and greater value for money. And while IT-BPO clients are interested in all the buzzwords–Web 2.0 communications channels like social media and blogs as well as emerging technologies like cloud computing, SaaS, virtual assistants, and the like–clients expect their services providers to lead and manage fundamental, meaningful, impactful service innovation for them that produces more than savings.

To both BPO service providers and customers, quality and technology are two equally important elements which need to be concerned carefully. In order to deliver a quality and stable service, the provider has a service methodology, the needed infrastructure, people, and skills, technology, and metrics capabilities.

Among those requisites, the technological and communication advances is the fundamental factor leading to the wide spread adoption of Philippine business process outsourcing. The right technology enables the balance of personalization and standardization of the outsourced activities, creating the capacity to design processes that suit the needs of each client, while maintaining a standardization level that enables sustainable long term advantages for both the provider and clients.