Forms and Transaction Processing

Forms processing is the vital input mechanism for all types of enterprise data. This routine task is another key entry point to the corporate database, so it must be done correctly, reliably and efficiently. In the insurance industry, the forms can support enrollment, claims or credentialing. In banking and finance, the forms are most likely to be used with loan and credit applications, leasing documents, or signature cards. And in a brokerage house, the forms might apply to account setup, account management and tax reporting.

Knowledge Process Outsourcing industry (KPO) is expected to reach USD 17 billion by 2010

According to a published report of National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the chamber that serves as an interface to the Indian Software industry, Knowledge Process Outsourcing industry (KPO) is expected to reach USD 17 billion by 2010, of which USD 12 billion would be outsourced to India. Another report predicts that India will capture more than 70 percent of the KPO sector by 2010. Apart from India, countries such as Russia, China, the Czech Republic, Ireland, and Israel are also expected to join the KPO industry.In its annual publication Strategic Review 2005, Nasscom has said the high-end activity of the BPO industry—the KPO or knowledge process outsourcing could be worth $15.5 billion by 2010.According to earlier estimates, the BPO industry itself was expected to be about $20bn by 2008, hence a very significant portion of the sector—in excess of 50% is now projected to be knowledge based. This represents significant shift of call center sector business to different model.

Future success of the maturing BPO model

Future success of the maturing BPO model will be based on improving the client's business capability, not simply providing commodity transactional services
The market for offshore Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) may be developing rapidly, but nonetheless, the untapped market opportunity remains enormous for both buyers and sellers says Greg Baker, Xansa Business Development Director.
"India has all the right credentials to be the offshore location of choice. It has already established a solid foundation for delivering BPO services through a highly skilled but low cost resource base. To fully leverage further market opportunities however, the India model now needs to mature. The focus should shift to improving the business capability of clients, as well as providing the classic low cost, low-end transactional services upon which the current market has been founded" says Baker.
For clients and service providers alike, the delivery of low-end transactional services, such as call centres, from offshore will not optimise the very real business opportunities available through the offshore outsourcing of high-value, complex back-office processes.

BPO refers to companies farming out tasks...

BPO refers to companies farming out tasks that can range from employee benefits management to insurance claims processing to call center work to complex research projects. Companies have been "doing BPO" for many years when you consider activities such as hiring outside legal counsel or having paychecks cut by a provider such as Automatic Data Processing. But in the past several years, amid continued evolution of the Internet and growing corporate experience with technology outsourcing deals, expanded outsourcing options have emerged. These include shipping back-office work to lower-wage nations such as India, Singapore, the Philippines, and so on.

In principle, BPO arrangements allow companies to cut costs and focus on their core activities. But the deals can be less than ideal. A report last year from Forrester Research found that 20% of a group of North American executives currently using or investigating BPO said their lack of proper performance metrics was a major challenge in working with BPO firms. Some 9% cited overstated supplier expertise as a major challenge, and 19% indicated that savings from BPO was less than expected or had not materialized at all.

Indian BPO industry can process 30 pc of US bank work

The BPO industry in the country has the potential to process up to 30 per cent of the US bank transactions by 2010, Nasscom President Kiran Karnik has said.

"Currently, 8 per cent of the US banking transactions are processed by Indian BPOs and the figure has the potential to rise up to 30 per cent by 2010," he said.

According to a research conducted by Forrester in 2005, there were more security breaches in the UK and the US than in India, he said.

Karnik said there have been two cases in India of breaches in data security in the last 18 months and in both instances arrests were made by the police.

The watchdog of the UK banking industry, Banking Code Standards Board, had announced that they had scrutinised Indian call centres and standards have yet again proven to be amongst the best in the world, he added.

An independent Self Regulatory Organisation (SRO) to establish, monitor and enforce privacy and data protection standards for the ITES and BPO industry in the country would be formed, Karnik said.

The SRO has already completed its initial round of funding and the final roll out phase, including industry memberships, is underway, he said.

Karnik said it would commence operations in the next 3-6 has already received approval of the
Nasscom executive council.

'BPO staff want quick job change'

PUNE: Did you know that almost two out of five employees working with BPOs wouldn't like their spouses to work in the same industry? Or only about 10% look at the BPOs as a long-term career option, with majority 90% saying it is only a stop-gap arrangement?

A first-of-its kind survey commissioned by city-based Essentia Consultancy Services, has revealed certain important facets to the BPO industry in Pune, which approximately has around 30,000 employees.

Pradeep Phadke from Essentia told TOI that the survey was aimed at understanding the resource pool better from the standpoint of satisfaction and attitude. "We surveyed 500 employees, mostly front-line and some at intermediary supervisory levels, across companies," he said.

While Pune tops as the most-favoured destination with 100% rating, the average rating of other cities is just 70%. BPO employees said most other centres, including Hyderabad and Bangalore, were rated below at 86% and 72%, respectively. Chandigarh, Ahmedabad came closest to Pune.

On employee satisfaction, domestic BPOs seem to be placed better (82%) compared to the bigger international ones (73%).

Small BPOs need to do some introspection as the employee satisfaction index is just 53%, the survey revealed. Another interesting revelation is that almost nine out of 10 respondents were working with their present organisation for less than a year.

On an average, respondents had switched two jobs within the BPO space with an average tenure spanning 10 months. "92% of the respondents want to change again, out of which 52% want to do it as soon as possible," Essentia director (facility management and infrastructure) Iftekhar Pathan said.

While inconvenient timing, lack of good processes and unsatisfactory facilities were cited as main reasons for seeking a change, 17% said they were paid less than promised.

Source : Times of India