KPO's...the buzz word...

Ahh...a subject dear to my heart!

Dooms-dayers and naysayers continue to question India's future as the backoffice processing hub of the world. With other cost effective emerging markets biting on the back of India's heels, India needs to watch its back and continue its investment in this industry if it is to reach the anticipated highs forecast. For the past few years this industry has maintained a growth pattern of nearly 50% annually.

The BPO and KPO sectors are indeed close cousins; with the KPO's bouncing off the success of the BPO's. BPO's (Backoffice Processing Organisation's) require relatively unskilled labour - whereas the KPO (Knowledge-based Processing Organisation) requires educated people with specialised skills, adept at problem solving and analysis.

KPO's appear to be where the action is as they continue to gain momentum here. India manages to outclass the competition globally in the production of these services due to its offer of substantial cost saving, operational efficiencies due to a mature market already well versed in the BPO experience, and mostly for the highly talented professional labour pool which is readily available and willing to take up positions within the industry.

Knowledge-based processes that have already found a significant foothold here are research and development; business and technical analysis; animation and design; business and market research; medical services; writing and content development; legal services; intellectual property research; data analytics; network management; and of course, software development.

On the ground, there is certainly no shortage of proven, capable and well run organisations vying against each other to find their place in the market. Competition is alive and well!

Some of the global giants who are readily using and exploring India to process its functions include General Electric, IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, Cisco, Nokia; along with various banking institutions such as National Australia Bank (NAB) and Australia New Zealand bank (ANZ).

Speculation does however, continue to abound in this important sector, with some forecasters predicting a future global model where India acts as and provides the "centralised hub" for processing, with various other back-office function being processed across other parts of Asia.

As long as India continues its reforms and maintains its vital governmental support for the sector (such as the existing tax incentives), support of foreign direct investment (FDI) and support in education, then there is no foreseeable reason why it will not continue to grow at its existing phenomenal rate as a preferred safe and reliable location for these services.