Is India slowly and gradually moving towards the KPO regime? Well this is the buzz which is slowly
making wave this New Year.

After achieving success in BPO, India has taken a step forward to widen its success towards the KPO
regime. KPO industry unlike BPO provides domain based processes and business expertise. KPO is more
like a challenge as it demands advanced and expertise skills on part of its employees. BPO on the other
hand is more or less like a commodity business which stretches more on information technology and its various sectors.


BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) significance

No matter KPO is a step ahead of BPO but this does not mean the end of BPO. The BPO Industry will continue to be successful in India . BPO has its own way to solve a particular problem. The BPO market is long term in nature as compared to the KPO market. With every passing day the BPO market base is expanding and so is the various processes outsourced through it.

BPO undertakes :

  • Data processing
  • Basic data entry
  • Setting up of a bank account
  • Department Outsourcing
  • Provides technical support
  • Provides email support to its customers

KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) Significance

There is no doubt that KPO will be the next big thing after BPO. KPO unlike BPO is not just restricted to information technology. It specializes in various other challenging sectors namely business research,
Clinical research, Intellectual property research etc.

The KPO exports are estimated to be around $12 billion at the end of 2010. The future of KPO appears
to be bright and is expected to achieve a high end of BPO at the end of 2010. The KPO regime looks all
set and poised to accept the new challenges of high training cost and a much higher attrition rates. The shorter term contracts will demand high quality work and skills on part of its workers. KPO industry has accepted all these challenges and is all set to leave a mark just like the BPO brigade.


Reference: http://www.kpoasia.com/

BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) v's KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) :

BPO (def): BPO is commonly defined as the leveraging of technology or specialist process vendors to
provide and manage an organization's critical and/or non-critical enterprise processes and applications. Some of the common tasks in BPO include payroll, call centers and accounting. The main goal of BPO was
to let firms concentrate on their "core business" meaning that with these so-called mundane tasks out of their hair, they can focus more on the things that they do best.

KPO(def): KPO involves "high-end" tasks being outsourced. These tasks are defined as high-end ones because it requires in-depth analysis and perspective. Some of these tasks include legal work, research
and development, web content, design, and many others.


Points worth to note :

1.) KPO industry unlike BPO provides domain based processes and business expertise.


2.) KPO is more like a challenge as it demands advanced and expertise skills on part of its employees.


3.) BPO on the other hand is more or less like a commodity business which stretches more on information technology and its various sectors.


4. )The BPO market is long term in nature as compared to the KPO market. With every passing day the
BPO market base is expanding and so is the various processes outsourced through it.

5.) BPO undertakes:

  • Data processing
  • Basic data entry
  • Setting up of a bank account
  • Department Outsourcing
  • Provides technical support
  • Provides email support to its customers

6.) KPO undertakes:

  • More granular market and customer segmentation (e.g., the ability to do make retention
    or acquisition campaigns work at a micro-market level)
  • More predictive response modeling and propensity/cross-sell/up sell modeling
  • Precision marketing, churn prediction and management, customized products and services in finance, insurance, telecom services
  • For retailers, store and shelf space management at neighborhood market level and store level
  • Promotional efficiency tracking at micro-market level
  • Category/brand performance measurement, tracking and control at micro-market level
  • Market mix modeling at lower granularity levels of product, geography and time dimensions
  • More predictive response modeling and propensity/cross-sell/up sell modeling
  • Precision and dynamic pricing, promotion and product portfolio design and optimization
  • Primary, secondary and web-based market research
  • Monetization, predictive analysis and portfolio management of intellectual property and patents
  • Analytics and optimization algorithm R&D for ISVs in enterprise application areas such as, SCM, SRM, ERP, CRM, MR, BI, BPM

7.) BPO will continue to derive higher revenues as compared to the KPO industry. The BPO exports will
be as higher as $20 billion by the end of 2010. By a recent study done by experts the BPO industry is
expected to grow globally at a CAGR of over 26 percent by 2010.

8.) KPO unlike BPO is not just restricted to information technology. It specializes in various other
challenging sectors namely business research, Clinical research, Intellectual property research etc.

9.) The KPO exports are estimated to be around $12 billion at the end of 2010. The future of KPO
appears to be bright and is expected to achieve a high end of BPO at the end of 2010. The KPO regime
looks all set and poised to accept the new challenges of high training cost and a much higher attrition
rates.

10.) The shorter term contracts will demand high quality work and skills on part of its workers.

11.) KPO industry has accepted all these challenges and is all set to leave a mark just like the BPO brigade.

Note: Firms that are considering outsourcing should therefore be clear on what kind of outsourcing they really want. If they want to focus on their core business tasks, they should opt for BPO. If they want to
have added help on their business then they should consider KPO.

By satish vemaraju