Outsourcing Trends
The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is ever-evolving, adapting to the challenges that confront the times. Global shifts caused by several factors such as climate change and political and economic power continue to pose challenges that organisations worldwide must deal with.
Given how BPO has become one of the fastest-growing sectors, with more companies choosing to outsource tasks and services, businesses must learn to adapt and keep up to stay in the game.
As a business owner, it is essential to keep tabs on the latest outsourcing trends to help you manage your resources and optimise your organisational productivity and efficiency.
Here are some outsourcing developments this 2022 that you should know.
1. Increased preference for remote work
The way in which we work has changed dramatically. The pandemic has forced businesses to cut costs, restructure, and rapidly pivot to remote working. This setup is seen to be a continuing trend this 2022, as businesses realise the benefits of remote working.
Since 2009, the number of remote workers has risen by 159% according to Global Workplace Analytics. With technological advancement and cloud infrastructures in place, companies can readily execute their workflow anytime and anywhere, making outsourcing a smart choice for businesses wanting to achieve global expansion.
58.6% of the total U.S. workforce are remote workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (NorthOne)
2. Greater demand for building global teams
The COVID-19 crisis has led to a greater demand for global teams. As countries closed their borders during the height of the pandemic, companies faced challenges that required them to become agile. As a result, businesses worldwide had to outsource to accommodate all of their customers and sustain their operations.
This strategy is expected to play a bigger role this 2022, as a geographically dispersed workforce is known to offer greater support and functional expertise.
3. Enhanced focus on strategic partnerships
Smart operators are starting to recognise the benefits of outsourcing which offers a genuine solution to many business problems. With this, outsourcing partners now share in the decision-making process while giving support services for non-core business functions.
In addition to their usual services, outsourcing service providers now complement other areas of business operations such as risk assessment and strategic planning, among others.
4. Greater emphasis on cybersecurity
BPO companies working with sensitive data are expected to have strong data security. This holds especially in the current situation where the pandemic has brought an upsurge in cybercrime by up to 600%. Because of this, strong cybersecurity has become necessary to protect business data and applications from fraud such as identity theft and phishing scams.
Business and customer information needs to be secure end-to-end, from the log-in phase to storing data back-ups. Most outsourcing companies have adopted the use of multi-level security like multi-factor authentication to prevent cases of a security breach.
5. Rise of Progressive Web Apps
In running their operations, BPOs have now considered the use of progressive web apps (PWAs). You can think of PWAs as a combination of a website and a mobile application.
Based on projections, this trend is likely to get bigger this 2022, as interest in this technology continues to grow. In fact, research estimates the PWA market’s financial value will reach $10.77 billion by 2027.
Since some applications can take too much time to load, PWAs help solve the problem. You can save the home web page onto your home screen like a regular application without the need to download and install an app.
Most businesses prefer to use PWAs for the efficiency and convenience they bring to customers. This is because they can work on any device and perform well on poor network connections.
6. Demand for cloud-based technology
The outsourcing industry has shown an increased demand for cloud-based technology. Predictions show this trend will carry on this 2022, as the BPO sector continues to derive advantages from technology use.
Outsourcing companies that use cloud-based applications are at an advantage. As an authorised user, you can easily access files and data without waiting too long. Aside from that, there is no need for you to invest in traditional hardware for data storage, which means lower maintenance costs.
Cloud-based applications are also great for collaborative and real-time work. For instance, you can give revisions or instructions, and your outsourcing partner can go back to them anytime.
7. Renewed interest in industry specialisation
With the introduction of more applications and other forms of technology, it can be a challenge to master all of them or keep up with the continuing developments. In response to this, many organisations are showing renewed interest in industry specialisation, hiring experts in the various fields of IT and commerce.
Many businesses have realised the benefit of outsourcing their IT services. These outsourced IT professionals can offer 24/7 support, and provide deeper insights and valuable expert-level knowledge, not to mention they have the proper training and tools for the job.
Keeping Up with the Trends
The BPO industry continues to evolve as it adapts to the challenges brought by the present times. Because of this, numerous outsourcing developments continue to emerge, reflecting the global shifts.
By staying updated with these latest developments, you can get deeper insights into managing your resources and staying in the game this 2022.
If you are looking for an outsourcing partner, consider working with optiBPO! We help businesses recruit the best talents that suit your requirements, and will help your business grow.
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