Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) allows you to outsource a number of operations or responsibilities of a process to a third-party service provider.

Business process outsourcing is typically categorized into back office outsourcing and front office outsourcing. Back office outsourcing includes internal business functions such as human resources, finance and accounting. It provides organizations with the services to help manage tasks like data entry,data management, surveys, payment processing, quality assurance and accounting support.

Front office outsourcing however, deals with customer related interactions such as telemarketing, customer service centres, help desks and inbound or outbound sales.

In addition, other outsourcing segments within the global industry can include business services, energy, technology, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, retail, travel and transport, and telecom and media.

What is the difference between outsourcing and offshoring?

As mentioned above outsourcing is the contracting of non-primary business activities and functions to a third-party provider. The outsourcing is provided by a company in the same country that your own company is based.

Offshore outsourcing is the practice of hiring an external organization to perform business functions in a country other than the one where the products or services are actually developed or manufactured.

What Business Process Outsourcing can offer:

An increase in speed and efficiency of the outsourced business process.

Facilitates a shift in focus of specific competencies and not primary business functions.

Employees can invest more time in core business strategies and enhance value.

Can assist with organizational growth and reaching key milestones.

Why companies choose to outsource:

Lower operational and labor costs

This is the primary reason why companies choose to use business process outsourcing. When executed properly it leaves a defining impact on the company’s revenue recognition.

Reduces time consuming processes

Companies choose to outsource or offshore so that they can concentrate on their core business processes while delegating time consuming and non revenue generating processes to external agencies.

Increases global knowledge

Outsourcing and offshoring enables companies to leverage a global knowledge base, having access to world class capabilities.

Frees up internal resources

This is another of the primary benefits when companies offshore or outsource since, freeing internal resources enable them to be put into effective use elsewhere in the business.

Gaining unavailable resources

Many entrepreneurs outsource to gain access to resources not available internally or after facing issues with internal resources.

Reduces risk

Outsourcing and specifically offshoring help companies mitigate risks; as external companies handle the functions that are difficult to control and manage while still realizing their benefits.

Gaining access to new market areas

Some companies also outsource to help them expand and gain access to new market areas, by taking the point of production or service delivery closer to their end users.

Business Process Outsourcing responsibilities

BPO job responsibilities can include:

Performing tasks or projects as per the given scope of works and set regulations by the parent organization. Determining the number of employees required for the outsourced project and hiring the right staff and employees for the project. And ensuring staff nationalities, job titles and attested degrees meet the government rules Maintaining the quality of service as required by the client and working on continuous performance improvement to offer best quality services to the client who has outsourced the project. Maintaining the important logs and documentation regarding the details of the tasks performed during the outsourced project. BPO process where customer care department is outsourced, the job responsibilities also include providing effective and efficient customer service by resolving all the complaints, issues and queries of the customers. Performing the monthly milestone reports and project progress report for the discussion with the client. Goal and target setting, so that the project is completed within the stipulated deadlines as given by the client along with excellent quality work. Ensuring expectations are met and delivered on.

What to expect when sourcing a Business Process Outsourcing company

What BPO providers should provide:

Focus on skills – Hire, train and develop the skills of your workforce so you can offer existing and potential customers a better service, knowledge and expertise. Go deep – Work on acquiring extensive knowledge of the industry that you operate in Demonstrate confidence – BPO providers must be confident that they can accommodate all the requirements that you have, if they are not confident in the initial meetings this should raise warnings that they are unlikely to be confident once you trust them with your business. Lead the way – BPO providers should not need micromanaging once they are integrated into your company, BPO providers are there to save you time, not add to your workload.

If you need support with business process outsourcing in Saudi Arabia, then contact our expert team on +966 11 411 1127 or info@proven-sa.com.