Kpo and Bpo

KPO Vs BPO

SOURCE: Financial Express: Dated Tuesday, July 19, 2005 (EST) Demand Side Perspective of KPO: Well beyond cost arbitrage! The global KPO industry is still in a nascent stage. However, it is growing at a rapid pace. The sectors that are expected to 'shine' within the KPO industry include data search, integration and management services, financial services, research and analytics, technology research, computer-aided simulation and engineering design and professional services, such as business research and legal services. Unlike the conventional BPO, where the focus is on process expertise, in KPO, the focus is on knowledge expertise and requires service providers to possess advanced technical and analytical skills. Some of the other factors fuelling growth in KPO are: * Developed economies, such as the US, the UK, and countries in Western Europe are increasingly facing a shortage of highly trained and specialized professionals in various knowledge-intensive high-skill sectors, such as R&D in VLSI, engineering design, IT, financial risk management, etc. * Buyers of off shoring services save more at the high end of the value chain, as compared to the low end on a per-job basis. * High-quality specialized vendors and successful captives have emerged as role models and created awareness for KPO, both in the West as well as in India. KPO is not just about 'Cost Arbitrage' In fact, players solely based on cost differentials will hardly be sustainable in the long run. The central theme of KPO is to create value for the client by providing the highest-quality business expertise and superior productivity/effectiveness rather than cost savings based only on geographic cost arbitrage. KPO services help improve the time-to-market, access to special skills, absorb peak load and enhance organizational effectiveness. Moreover, it simplifies the process and makes it more flexible. Consistent quality is the key word and primarily drives the buying decisions. For example,...