Knowledge Process Outsourcing - The Generation Next

The evolution and maturity of the Indian BPO (Business Process Outsourcing sector has given birth to yet another wave in the global outsourcing scene: KPO or Knowledge Process Outsourcing. The success in outsourcing business process operations to India has encouraged many firms to start outsourcing their high-end knowledge work as well. Cost savings, operational efficiencies, access to a highly talented workforce and improved quality are all underlying expectations in outsourcing high-end processes to India.
India’s intellectual potential:
India has a large pool of knowledge workers in various sectors ranging from Pharmacy, Medicine, Law, Biotechnology, Education & Training, Engineering, Analytics, Design & Animation, Research & Development, Paralegal Content and even Intelligence services. This talent is soon being discovered and tapped by leading businesses across the globe resulting in the outsourcing of high-end processes to low-wage destinations. Hence Knowledge Process Outsourcing involves outsourcing of knowledge intensive business processes that require specialized domain expertise.
The future of KPO: The Global Knowledge Process Outsourcing industry (KPO) is expected to reach US$ 17 billion by 2010, of which US$ 12 billion would be outsourced to India . In addition, the Indian KPO sector is also expected to employ more than 250,000 KPO professionals by 2010, compared with the current figure of 25,000 employees. Many economists across the globe predict 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.
While evaluating the opportunities in BPO and KPO markets, low-end outsourcing services have an expected Cumulative Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 26% by 2010. In contrast, the global KPO market is poised for an expected CAGR of 46% by 2010.
Here are some KPO services that can be outsourced: Research & Development ,Business and Technical Analysis, Learning Solutions, Animation & Design, Business & Market Research, Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, Medical Services, Writing & Content Development, Legal Services, Intellectual Property (IP) Research, Data Analytics, Network Management, Training & Consultancy and others. Considering the above KPO services that can be outsourced in India, I suggest my fellow friends who are about to finish their graduation, to emphasize on subjects or courses or an area for higher studies which would fulfill various criteria’s for exploring employment opportunities in KPO. And being in a place like Bangalore (the Silicon City) we should exploit the opportunities to the fullest.
The Challenges in KPO: Some of the challenges involved in KPO will be maintaining higher quality standards, investment in KPO infrastructure, the lack of talent pool, requirement of higher level of control, confidentiality and enhanced risk management.
Is India well equipped to meet this emerging sector's challenges and all set to become the global KPO hub? Please drop in your cooments....
Published in The Journal of Economics, St.Joseph's College. March, 2007