What is BPO? How Does Business Process Outsourcing Work? An Essential Guide

There are several challenges that an enterprise should consider when planning an effective BPO initiative. One of these challenges is being clear about the price that will be charged for the outsourcing project. Without this clarity, there is the risk that the price will be higher than anticipated. This can happen when the amount of the work being performed, or the full BPO contract costs, are not calculated accurately. Communication problems can also be a challenge between organizations and their service providers, which can diminish the benefits of BPO. A third challenge is that the hiring organization must effectively manage the BPO initiative together with its outsourcing partner. This means directing the relationship to ensure that mutually agreed-upon objectives and service level agreements are being met at the agreed-upon cost. Finally, the client organization must monitor for issues that could interrupt the BPO initiative. These issues could include, for example, financial or workplace problems being experienced by the services provider. Organizations need to consider these kinds of risks and implement processes and procedure for coping with them.

To effectively mitigate these and other risks, it is important to think beyond cost when looking for a BPO partner. Consider providers that offer the full span of expertise needed to address your current and future operational challenges and goals. These providers should have hands-on experience working in your industry and with companies of similar size. Leading companies, like Canon, have the ability to use established, written procedures for standard business processes and functions. This way they can tailor these best practices to individual applications. This approach means the BPO provider is not starting from the very beginning on processes, job descriptions, or other requirements. The firm has the HR, IT, and operational talent in place and ready to go.