KPO Vs BPO Services

KPO is relatively a new phenomenon picking up pace in India. Unlike conventional BPO where the focus is on process expertise, KPO highlights knowledge expertise as its strength. The services involve valuation and investment research, patent filing, legal and insurance claim processing, research and analysis, financial modeling and so on and so forth.Per Nasscom estimates, KPO industry has grown by 45 per cent by 2010.

The ideal KPO employee should possess domain specialization, computer skills & English proficiency. With the Indian way of education which lays great emphasis on higher education & specialization, a talent pool with specialized knowledge in any field is readily available.

The cost advantage of Indian BPO is constantly being challenged by ever increasing might of China and Philippines. As it is mandatory for any living organism to mutate to stay alive in the ever changing environment, so is the case with business processes. Therefore change from BPO to KPO is inevitable and mandatory. Low-end outsourcing services have an expected Cumulative Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 26% by 2010. In contrast, the global KPO market is poised for an expected CAGR of 46% by 2010. The following figure demonstrates the expected growth in the BPO and KPO markets over the next seven years. But the way to becoming a strong KPO services power is not very smooth as KPO delivers high value to organizations by providing domain-based processes and business expertise rather than just process expertise.These processes demand advanced analytical and specialized skill of knowledge workers that have domain experience to their credit. Therefore outsourcing of knowledge processes face more challenges than BPO services (Business Process Outsourcing).

Some of the challenges involved in KPO will be maintaining higher quality standards, investment in KPO infrastructure, the lack of talent pool, requirement of higher level of control, confidentiality and enhanced risk management.Comparing these challenges with the Indian IT and ITES service providers, it is not surprising that India has been ranked the most preferred KPO destination owing to the country's large talent pool, quality IT training, friendly government policies and low labor costs. The advantages of implementing knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) very according to the aspiration of the organization. If a company already drives its decisions with knowledge, KPO can help more efficiently and cost effectively retain competitive advantage.

If the organization wants to move up the knowledge competition scale, KPO can help more rapidly achieve the end-state. KPO has a role to play in every company – knowledge-novice or knowledge-savvy, regardless of the industry. But how an organization engages KPO depends on where it falls in the five levels of knowledge competition, as illustrated in the following exhibit. Eminenture is one such name offering services in KPO domain. Services include Market Analysis, Industry Research, Comprehensive Company Profiling, Business Report Writing, Country Analysis, Brand Marketing Research Services, Financial Data Collection, etc.