After all the downturns and turmoil of 2008, I sat back to look at the BPO market, with two questions in mind: “Will BPO save the crisis-affected companies?” and “How should these companies use BPO services in the best possible way to minimize the effects of the crisis?”

One thing is clear: if the answer to the first question is “yes”, which I believe to be the case - since, in the medium-to-long term, the crisis will determine companies to adopt global outsourcing to cut costs - , than there logically follows an answer to the second issue: these companies should realize that they need to have strategic thinking, and they should look more closely at their core-business components.

I have learned along the way, working with large or small companies, that, if they consider what they know how to do best – be it shoes, or medical research – and they develop their core-competencies, while leaving non-crucial activities to BPO experts, the risks they are taking with outsourcers will be smaller. I think this is the best way for companies to be more focused on what can really bring gains to their business.  For example, during crisis, companies can successfully outsource HR or Customer Support operations to professional BPO providers, and gain both from the reduction in costs, and from the competitive advantages these providers bring. Even in the middle of a financial crisis, those companies using outsourcing can still help the total spending go down. However, I must stress that, by focusing only on cost reduction, companies might be missing out on added value that can be created from global outsourcing partnerships.

As a reassuring thought for 2009, I keep in mind that, crisis or no crisis, there will always be plenty of companies in need of good quality BPO services that would help them get a competitive edge over the rest of the market they operate on. The latest predictions I have read about the BPO industry show that, in the future, we will see a slowdown in the general growth of the market, but without any real signs of a consistent failure. In their efforts to reduce costs and cope with the crisis, my advice for companies is to have the courage to understand that they can turn the crisis to their advantage, and benefit from the decreased costs of BPO services. As to the BPO providers, I believe their chance to survive is to diversify their service portfolio as much as they can, to be able to offer assistance in other fields other than their traditional ones; what’s your opinion?