BPO - Asia's still hot

Asia's still hot Despite the cautious growth projections for the Asia-Pacific BPO market, outsourcing service providers TCS and HP remain optimistic. Both vendors noted that, although small compared to other regions, the Asia-Pacific is buzzing with interest and activity. The two service providers said they are gearing up their service delivery capabilities.

According to outsourcing advisory company TPI, 92 BPO contracts were signed in the first half of 2006, up 56 percent year-on-year and a "record number" for a first half-year growth. The Americas continue to account for the lion's share of global contracts with 56 percent, followed by EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) with 40 percent and Asia-Pacific with 4 percent.

After growing its share of the global BPO market over the last three years, the Asia-Pacific region is forecast to slide. The region's share of the worldwide BPO market grew from 2 percent in 2003, to 6 percent in 2004 and 8 percent in 2005. However, 2006 will not exceed, let alone meet, last year's numbers, TPI has predicted.