ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the operational issues surrounding the outsourcing of business processes, often known as business process outsourcing (BPO). BPO is a significant and growing business area. The UK market alone is anticipated to grow by nearly 10 per cent in 2007, representing a market worth in excess of £5 billion.1 Historically, BPO has proven particularly attractive to organisations that have high-volume, industrialised back-office processing operations. The pioneers in this area have tended to be the banks, insurance companies and other financial services organisations; though it is true to say that in recent years activity has increased rapidly in the public sector and in industries such as telecommunications, utilities and health. The outsourcing industry is now maturing and managers responsible for operations are beginning to understand the pitfalls inherent in moving noncore – but often business-critical – activities outside the organisation. Please see Chapter 1 (pp. 4-5: ‘Definitions of outsourcing’) for a full definition of what is meant by the terms ‘outsourcing’ and ‘offshoring’, as they are not interchangeable.
