Outsource Magazine

The emergence of the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) World's best Outsourcing Advisers list, at its inaugural event in New York on 1 March 2010, suggests that the sector is taking a major step forward. Once perhaps viewed as simply a way of getting business processes done  (maybe still seen in that light by too many business leaders) Outsourcing is now maturing into a fully fledged business discipline in its own right. Rather like IT during the 1980s and early 1990s, outsourcing is now increasingly being regarded as 'mainstream' as operations realise that, far from being simply a way to offload the routine work, outsourcing is actually a business portal to levels of expertise whose cost and resources would be difficult to justify in what may be a relatively minor part of the operation and process.

For a growing group of businesses and public sector bodies, the ability to apply the best expertise at every stage and level is becoming a clear opportunity to differeniate the brand and the service from the competition. Such organisations are well past the stone age view of outsourcing and now see it as an integral part of the quality of their service.

If this trend continues (and one must hope that it does) price will start to rank further down the list of factors to support an outsourcing decision. That may sound like good news for outsource service suppliers but, as always, this is a two sided coin. While price will not be so important, quality, ability to understand the process, qualification to work within whatever regulatory environment the outsourcing buyer is subject to and creative ability to add real value to the process rather than simply repeating what has gone before will all move up the rankings.

It is not inconceivable that BPO will eventually become the most important part of any business plan but, if that does happen, it will also, by default, become the most scrutinised business sector. Coming out into the bright lights is good because everybody can see you, but they can see you 'warts and all'. So BPO providers must look to their own operations and it is in that respect that good outsourcing advisers can set the standards that will make the sector.