BPO raises hope
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector plays an important role in boosting the economy through automation in back office management amid corona pandemic.
BPO is a method of subcontracting various business-related operations in back office management mostly executed via technology-based platform. Industry insiders mentioned that the corona situation created 60 percent downtrend in local market while the nosedive is 80 percent globally.
However, the firms have experienced new opportunities in emerging sector like distance learning, telemedicine as well as automotive back office support to any kind of business.
Bangladesh Association of Call Centre and Outsourcing (BACCO) is the trade body of the sector. According to official data, there are 120 firms that arranged employment for 50 thousand people in BPO sector occupying $400 million worth annual market. The global market size is $500 billion.
Talking to Daily Sun, BACCO president Wahid Sharif said the corona situation has created some opportunities for BPO and information and communication technology enabled services (ITeS) despite downtrend in all stakes of economy.
“People have learnt digitization of office as well as leveraging technology in daily life amid the pandemic. Ecommerce, telemedicine have shown new ways for companies. Many firms are waiting to integrate BPO in operations to manage the cost effective operations in a sustainable way,” Wahid Sharif, managing director at Digicon Technologies, said.
According to the trade body leader, Africa is the new market for Bangladeshi firms that have shown excellence in the United States and Europe.
Wahid also urged the firms to improve the English language skills of the professionals as the country missed many foreign deals in voice and non-voice sector due to lack of linguistic skills.
Recently, the trade body made an alliance with Prime Bank to facilitate financing for the entrepreneurs in the field of call centre and outsourcing. Eligible BACCO members would be entitled to avail collateral-free loan up to Tk5 million and other tailor-made financing solutions. Besides, IPDC Finance also announced an special package for entrepreneurs in BPO sector.
BACCO general secretary Towhid Hossain said the outsourcing at organisational level experienced a sudden decline of 30-40 percent during the April-May period.
“Future of business depends on outsourcing. However, the sector experienced a sudden stalemate in first two months of corona pandemic in the country,” Towhid Hossain, also managing director at FifoTech, explained the scenario to Daily Sun.
Back office support to different organisations continues. However, the call centre services can’t operate from home as clients are reluctant to provide access to internal documents, he said.
According to the seasoned entrepreneur, outsourcing sector will lead the business segment from the beginning of 2021 as most corporate offices are ready to maintain office without infrastructure turn to ‘new normal’ amid pandemic.
## The article is published in Daily Sun on July 31, 2020