Outsourcing enters legal sector

Outsourcing is nothing but contracting out a company's non-core, non-revenue producing activities to third party companies. And recently there has been a big shift to outsource intellectually-based service activities like research, product development, logistics, human relations, accounting, legal work, marketing, logistics, market research.

 Offshore outsourcing has entered to the legal profession as well. However it had not entered the complex agreements but more fundamental labor. BPO companies lifts the burden so that the firm can focus on the aspects that provide maximum value to its clients such as strategy, negotiations, fact development, drafting, depositions and court appearances. Outsourcing legal work, ranging from legal research to proofreading to organizing and indexing documents for trial has emerged as a hot issue in the legal community.

Any talks or discussions on the offshore outsourcing sector leads to Indian BPO companies. India is at the forefront of outsourcing. This is due to technical maturity, cost advantages and the productivity gains firms receive.Today, India is one of the most exciting emerging markets in the world. Skilled managerial and technical manpower that match the best available in the world and a middle class whose size exceeds the population of the USA or the European Union, provide India with a distinct cutting edge in global competition.

 Law firms, legal departments of major corporations and state and federal government are increasingly following the BPO route to reduce cost and increase efficiency. Outsourcing allows them to remain competitive and serve more clients. It has become an indispensable asset to legal community. Moreover Indian BPO companies are more productive because they work six days a week, not five, and they start work 5.5 hours before the UK.

Companies return to growth after the high tides

According to IT research firm the return of growth has been accompanied by a strong appetite to increase spending on BPO projects. A survey of 600 mid-to-large companies in 14 countries found 54% of the respondents looking to increase their BPO spending this year by 5% or more.Out of this, 20% (of the total surveyed companies) were planning to increase their BPO budgets by 10% or more this year, reflecting at the return of growth. Most companies had put big projects, whether in BPO or IT outsourcing, on hold during the recession."Many of these budget increases are driven by the fact that BPM is focused on improving business outcomes and explicitly meets the objectives of many organisations' return-to-growth strategies,” says the expert.

The results are good news for  BPO companies in India and Filipino -- the two strongest players in the international BPO market. offshore outsourcing services refers to the handing over of activities such as handing customer queries and even making sales calls to specialist companies.BPO companies in India is arguably one of the biggest sources of employment for India's millions of graduates.The "return to growth" trend was stronger in Asia Pacific, where 25 percent of respondents were planning to hike their BPO outlay by more than 10%, compared to the 20% for the World as a whole.The numbers are more aggressive than corresponding figures for the IT outsourcing market, partly because companies see outsourced service providers as more crucial to their business expansion than IT.

"BPM project funding comes not from an IT budget but from the line of business budget in 66 percent of cases, and because BPM is focused on business outcomes, many business units are funding it more readily than they are IT-specific projects," expert pointed out.

BPO favours Telecom industry

Most of the businesses have now started depending on the outsourcing phenomenon in order to succeed in their business. And hence back office outsourcing has become the new key in the present world to expand your business. This trend is reflecting in almost all sectors like banking, insurance, retail etc. Amongst all the businesses profiting from the services provided by outsourcing, telecom industry is one. According to estimates, almost 75% of the telecom business companies have already taken to outsourcing.

In the process of making any major financial or technological policy, outsourcing is a major player. This fact has been unanimously accepted by the telecom executives worldwide. Apart from the fact that outsourcing certain business processes is convenient to the company, it is also true that telecom companies save a lot of money by following this suit. This is very relevant on the network management where half of the finances within a telecom industry are spent. Other segments that require a lot of time and finances include customer care, billing, recruitments etc. With the advent of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) though, the telecom industries can easily outsource the above mentioned services and processes.

With the major processes outsourced, the telecom companies are then better able to utilize their time and management by focusing into expansion and other company policies aiming at expanding their customer base. This is particularly applicable to telecom industries based in the first world nations or developed nations, where work force is extremely costly. Hence outsourcing their business processes to BPO service providers ensure that all their customers get complete and proper attention, hence assuring a loyal customer base. Then again, outsourcing also ensures that these companies get the latest of technological aid, which would have come extremely costly if the company had decided to do it themselves.

BPO entering retail Industry

Shifting demographics, well-informed consumers, new channel formats have made the global retail industry to be more complex and changing at an ever increasing speed. Retailers are always under the gun to perform regardless of the economic cycle. Even when the retailing industry is changing with the changing world, it needs to adjust and modify existent models, approaches and processes for satisfying the needs of future customers. Retailing industry essentially needs to modify the offerings to select the customers, win over them and foster greater customer loyalty. 

Retailers are constantly facing in-store, customer, technological and environmental challenges. They are often hurdled by stock outs, shrinkages and lower productivity. As a result decentralized operations like non standard processes and lack of property control occur. Also the retail enterprises need to handle ever changing customer preferences and there has been continuous pressure to deliver the value through customization. Moreover environmental challenges like change in demographics, seasonality in business, customer localization and suppliers pressure on margins. 

Offshore BPO providers enable retailers to come more close to customer while focusing on emerging market cultures and trends. Be it merchandizing, store operations or customer relationship management, Indian BPO Service providers provide customized solutions covering every aspects. Through excellence in technology, process, industry insights and outsourcing modules, BPO Company in India support retail organizations globally.

BPO- Insurance

The life Insurance segment is facing various areas of concern like growing claims, increasing litigation, rising labor attrition and nontraditional competitions like brokerages and banks. In this situation, the Insurance companies particularly the ones dealing with Life Insurance need to implement remedial measures. Most of the life insurance companies rely upon Back Office service Provider for reducing administrative and labor costs through automation and outsourcing. The insurance outsourcing market is enormous with India being one of the most preferred destinations. There are nearly 3,000 insurance companies in the US alone and around 63 percent of India’s outsourcing revenue comes from United States, says Global Insurance Outsourcing report.

Also by outsourcing property and casualty insurance works, the insurers have focal determination of high severity claims management with accurate claim processing, faster business cycle, reimbursements and turnaround times. With the internet playing a major role in expanding insurance segment, majority of the population go for online insurance products than relying on the traditional methods. Consequently, the insurance companies particularly in the Property and Casualty insurance vertical are no longer relying only on Back Office Outsourcing but rectification and strengthening of crucial business processes. 

Shriram Value Services, an associate of the multi-billion dollar Shriram Group, headquartered in Chennai, India efficiently delivers insurance industry specific as well as cross industry BPO solutions for clients across the globe. We provide a list of comprehensive solutions to our trusted clientele reaching places far away from just being offshore BPO providers. With our deep domain expertise in insurance processing and diligence, Shriram Value strives to deliver maximum productivity, increased operational efficiency and profitably to our clients.

Insurance BPO sector in India

The Property and Casualty Insurance sector has been experiencing vibes of strong competition. This has been substantiated by the acquisitions and mergers happening in the segment due to the dominant position of large market leaders, ever growing technology and competitive pricing environment. However market conditions remain supportive for underwriting profitability and rates have increases in market segments particularly in Property and Casualty Insurance following catastrophes. All these have resulted in tight competition within the Insurance space. 

By outsourcing property and casualty insurance works, the insurers have focal determination of high severity claims management with accurate claim processing, faster business cycle, reimbursements and turnaround times. With the internet playing a major role in expanding insurance segment, majority of the population go for online insurance products than relying on the traditional methods. Consequently, the insurance companies particularly in the Property and Casualty insurance vertical are no longer outsourcing just back office support work but rectification and strengthening of crucial business processes.  

Shriram Value understands the segments of Property and Casualty insurance that requires enhancement and renders help in attaining proficiency.  We are equipped with knowledge as well as technological competence for delivering comprehensive off shoring solutions.

BPO sector ensues economic growth in India

When the demand for outsourcing work to India became significant among western companies, it led to the tremendous growth of BPO sector in the country. And this eventually led to the economic growth despite the global recession. The role played by BPOs in boosting India’s economy shows that the IT and ITES sector have been contributing largely to the economic growth of India. Studies prove that the growth in the contribution of BPOs to Gross Domestic Product has shown a steady rise from 1.2% to 5.4%. It is hence evident that the BPO industry is making an impact on the Indian economy.

BPOs in India are focused on the domestic segments and off-shoring. The benefit to the local economy is subject to well-judged utilization of resources existing in these areas. At the same time, BPOs are aiming at contributing towards bringing in more earnings to the country and IP creation. Emphasis on quality services, skilled sets and workers, cost effectiveness, quality product and English speaking manpower are some of the driving forces that account for the increase in foreign investments. However the role played by BPO in economic growth of the country is set towards making a significant impact in the time as well. The setting up of more BPOs is also bringing in more job opportunities for the Indian youth. BPO role in India's economic growth will even facilitate great manoeuvring in the country’s balance of payments.

Finishing schools for BPO training

A plethora of allied careers on the forefront has been brought out by the BPO boom in India. One of the latest in this ever-growing list of professions is voice and accent training. Log on to any job site and one is struck by the demand. With the Businees Process Outsourcing industry penetrating into smaller cities across India, the demand for the trainers are on the rise. Voice and accent training involves equipping professionals with communication skills required to survive in the globalised world.

Many voice trainers claim that voice and accent training is in fact more about speaking English clearly and neutralising native accents. This is to clarify the common misconception that voal training is all about putting on a British or an American accent. Basically no accent is right if it is not accent neutral. In a globalised world it is not possible to work without a neutral accent. Even Britain has 32 dialects which they do not recognise among themselves, opines the trainers. Some of the courses for the trainers cost as much as Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 for a 60-hour programme. Many organisations also employ in-house voice and accent trainers. 

 

The scope for trainers is definitely higher in cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai but with the number of BPOs on the raise and company’s planning to open in cities like Thiruvananthapuram, the prospects are looking good in the future. A beginner can make anywhere between Rs 250-300 per hour. This can go up to Rs 1000-2000 per hour or around Rs 60,000 a month.

Change is Inevitable and BPO industry is no Exception

The Outsourcing business in India still leads the global IT outsourcing market and its advantages over other regions are distinct. Rising from the periphery to emerge as a viable, high-potential opportunity for the country's IT-BPO services sector, the Indian domestic market has undergone a transformation over the past decade. 

According to the government statistics, India continues to dominate global outsourcing market with market size estimated to be worth about $52 billion. Banking and financial services contribute nearly 40 percent to India's outsourcing industry. Even though the offshore outsourcing industry has been facing bottlenecks like cut-throat competition, severe shortages of trained and skilled manpower, more investment needed in infrastructure, need of higher level of control, maintenance of higher quality standards, the BPO service sector has slowly gone past the hurricanes smoothly. 

However, experts suggest that India's outsourcing industry is on the cusp of a significant change, shifting to knowledge-intensive and value-added services that call for a new way of functioning. In the global outsourcing market labour or cost arbitrage has been the constant concerns. But when it comes to outsourcing business in India, need to scale rapidly, greater focus on core competencies, enhanced productivity, heightened competition and reduced time to market that is driving domestic demand.

There now seems to be shift in the services that are outsourced. Earlier the not-so-important and tedious back office works were outsourced while now the outsourced services are now the areas that require experts. What has triggered the companies to search for experts to offload functions beyond their know-how is essentially the growing competition and market needs. This is not only helping organizations save time and gain value for money but also helping them scale up by capitalizing on their proficiency, says reports. To be precise, the Offshore BPO industry is standing at an interesting focus-shift point. BPO service providers are now adding the knowledge component into the mix in an attempt to deliver greater value.