Business process outsourcing can be a very effective way of reducing costs and increasing efficiencies. It brings into play the skills and resources that a BPO company has but which can never be achieved ‘in-house’.
However, outsourcing has to be extremely well planned as the BPO provider must have a deep understanding of the processes and procedures that the customer’s company has.
It is also very important to pay close attention to the legal and personnel issues and appreciate that responsibility ultimately rests with the customer. One thing that you cannot do with a BPO is abdicate responsibility and outsource ‘problems’. The management team must retain control and BPO should not be used as an excuse for failure to meet business objectives. This is why the relationship must be close from a communication perspective and any potential problems must be highlighted well before they adversely affect the company. The key issue to remember is that you cannot outsource responsibility.