Introduction to Knowledge Process Outsourcing or KPO
The success with Business Process Outsourcing has given India a head start in yet another highly lucrative opportunity in the global outsourcing scene called Knowledge Process Outsourcing or KPO.
A few companies have predicted this opportunity as a natural progression years ago and have already seen growth figures on an upward swing. For example; the BPO business moved from simple data entry work to Transaction Processing almost naturally.
Some of the strengths India has attained which would make it a leader in the KPO Outsourcing wave include:
- Brand India
- English Language Proficiency
- Great History in Software Development
- Government Support and Policies
- Cost Advantage
- Process and Quality Focus
- Large pool of Knowledge Workers
- Expansion of Existing Relationships
- Indian Market Growth
- Strong Tertiary Education
- Reverse Brain Drain - helped in bringing world class processes to India
What is KPO?
KPO is high end work attracting knowledge and skill sets to involve processes that demand advanced information search, analytical, interpretation and technical skills as well as some sense of judgment and decision making.
In simpler terms, it is the transformation of large chunks of data into useful information that may be used in decision making. Since, knowledge is the most important factor and the end result is based on judgment there may not be a pre-defined process to reach a conclusion.
Examples of KPO Functions Include:
Intellectual Property or patent research, R& D in Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, data mining, database creation, and a range of analytical services such as equity research, competitive intelligence, industry reports and financial modeling to name a few.
Skills Required:
In order to provide high end knowledge services, KPO service providers would require to staff professionally qualified and experienced employees like engineers, Chartered Accountants, Doctors, Advocates, Statisticians (Phd's and Masters) and Management Graduates. The focus will be on aptitude, analytics, and super specialization and out of the box thinking rather than a mere degree.
