10 trends that will change the face of outsourcing in 2013

While the challenge for organizations would be to identify the best mix of sourcing models and outsourcing strategies, the challenge for service providers will be to stay ahead in terms of technology innovations and project a partnership approach.

Here are 10 major trends expected to change the outsourcing world:

• As cloud and IT services gets bundled up, service providers will be retooling their service offerings to align with the changing demand. Vendor delivery and pricing models will shift in line with this change.
• Geographical diversification will become an essential part of outsourcing. Companies will look at having the right mix of onshore, nearshore and offshore.
• The emergence of new service offerings and delivery models will widen the responsibilities of the IT organization. Héctor Ortiz Gómez, CEO, Hildebrando USA, says, "Organizations will require initial hand holding during the transition and service providers will have to provide consulting services directly or through partnerships with consulting organizations."
• In the BPO space, growth of cloud-based contact center solutions and virtual agents will gain momentum. Growth of home-based agents is another trend. Organizations would invest in this area to optimize cost, better flexibility and manage fluctuations in call volumes.
• In contact centers, self service is becoming more important. There is a clear shift from voice to non voice transactions. "Currently the proportion is 80-20 but it is expected to go up significantly in the next five years," says, Partha DeSarkar, CEO, Hinduja Global Solutions.
• As new age technologies like Big data, mobility and social media are so much in demand, large Tier 1 service providers will be at the risk of losing out to smaller and specialized providers that are more ahead in these areas.

 

• Across verticals, compliance and regulatory changes in the Healthcare and Financial services sector will bring in new opportunities.
• Indian service providers will look at establishing centers in China and other APAC regions to reduce the dependency on the America region.
• Demand for new skills and competencies will soar in 2013 in areas like cloud-aware application development, data sciences etc. Service providers who can capture that demand will stay ahead of the competition.
• "BPaaS and other cloud-enabled HR services will allow HR executives to couple more robust data with decreased administrative responsibilities, empowering them to play a more strategic role in their organization," says, Michael Custers, VP global alliances and strategic marketing, Northgate Arinso.