OUTSOURCING TRENDS IN 2018

For the past few years technology has been the driving force of our economy. Efficiency is the key that drives the success of a business. Isn’t it? There are many strategies and service providers in the market that help us to strengthen our efficiency. One such strategy is Outsourcing. Before we start with the article let us first understand what Outsourcing means. Read on.

The business owners have a lot of responsibilities and departments to handle. Outsourcing helps the business owners to pass on some of their responsibilities like customer service, technical support etc. to a third-party service provider. This makes their job easier as they have someone to take care of a part of their business. Development is amazing, am I right?

Outsourcing strategy is changing business dynamics and has become a trend over the past few years. It has come leaps and bounds from the time it first started in the 1990s. Many companies have entrusted the service providers like BPO Outsourcing, Call Centre Outsourcing, for making their business run smooth. This not only helps in smooth functioning of the business, but it also helps in cost reduction, quality of the service gets better, productivity improves and so on.

We have seen a surge in the outsourcing solution industries for the past few years. The business sector in India is expanding and developing. With the growth of the business sector, there has been the development of many outsourcing companies in India. This, in turn, has increased jobs in the market. Outsourcing has revolutionized the job market not only in India but in other countries like the Philippines and so on.

Every year there are developments to the already existing technology in the industry that enhances their performance. In the year 2017, we saw so many new trends in the outsourcing industry. A new year brings new expectations. This article concentrates on the trends we can expect in 2018. Let us discuss them pointwise.

#1. Top priority will be given to Data Security:

Information Security is an issue of concern for everyone. No business can run properly if there is a threat to their data. Due to increased prevalence of IoT (Internet of things) and telematics, the risks have also risen. In 2018 data security will be a top priority. It is obvious that better solutions will be expected from the outsourcing companies. To avoid any information breach, more secure and encrypted servers, advanced security automation etc. are going to be the dominant factor.

#2. The rise of Cloud Computing:

Cloud Computing means storing the data on online servers through a virtual medium. We are moving towards development at the pace of light and digital system storage is the result of that development. When we talk about business sector, we are talking about small-scale companies too. With limited resources at hand, a small business cannot afford state of the art infrastructure and space. Therefore, there is going to be an expected rise in demand of Virtual Storage Systems.

Flexibility and scalability are the two advantages of cloud storage systems which makes them the trendsetters of 2018. More and more business groups are adopting the digital cloud computing, which is very safe and secure. The outsourcing industries prioritize security which makes it impossible to penetrate these servers. Moreover, as the data is saved at one place, chances of losing the data decrease. There is going to be a considerable rise of cloud computing in 2018.

#3. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) will get more popular:

Robotic Process Automation is the new technology that is gaining popularity. RPA replaces the jobs that would be done by a human being by a bot (a robotic software agent). BPO outsourcing companies are going to face a severe competition due to the rise of RPA (Robotic Process Automation). It costs the business owners much less than it would have cost them if they hire a human to do that work. Automated Systems help the business owners to make huge savings and are hence gaining popularity.

Take India for example, it is one of the leading outsourcing destinations. There is a long history of outsourcing to India. With the rise in RPA, the call centers in India are going to face some problems as the automated systems provide better performance. A New kind of call centers, that will use RPA, are going to be formed as a result. 2018 will see the exceptional rise in the use of RPA systems in the outsourcing industry. This will affect Outsourcing in India, as well as other countries.

#4. Improve in the quality of Outsourcing services and Rise of new outsourcing centers:

As there has been a rise in the Automated Systems, this, in turn, would greatly affect the quality of the outsourcing services. How? Let me explain. The demand of outsourcing centers like call centers will decrease, as explained in the last point. New kind of outsourcing centers with automated systems will rise. Those centers will provide round the clock services. As the bots can deal with many customers at once, it would increase the customer satisfaction. Hence the quality will improve in 2018.

#5. A wave of change in methods of marketing:

More and more business companies are choosing social media marketing, SEO services etc. to increase their popularity. They are outsourcing their requirements to different modes of marketing than traditional communication. 2018 will see a considerable increase in this wave of change.

#6. Startups becoming new BPO customers:

Over the past few years, there has been a considerable rise in the startup industry. But the startups have limited resources which increase the requirement of cost-effective labor. Here BPOs are going to come to the rescue. In 2018, the relation between startups and BPOs are expected to become more pronounced as they are going to provide quality service at a rate that suits the owners of the startup.

The trends that New Year brings to the outsourcing industry is going to bring some considerable changes. There is going to be a considerable increase in the fields that require the benefits that outsourcing industry offers. I think we can all agree that this makes the future of outsourcing very bright. It is expected to grow and flourish in the year 2018.