Frost & Sullivan Predicts an Uncertain Year Ahead For US$13.7 Billion Asia Pacific Contact Centre Outsourcing Market
Announcement posted by Frost & Sullivan 23 Feb 2009
Budgets will be tight but Australian centres to benefit from changing demand
SYDNEY, 23 February 2009-- The Asia Pacific contact centre outsourcing market can expect less new business and tightened budgets from existing customers in 2009, but there will also be opportunities for expansion into new sectors and new markets according to consulting company, Frost & Sullivan. Cost cutting is likely to lead to organisations outsourcing more of their processes, driving growth in the contact centre outsourcing industry in the mid- to long-term. Within the region Australia's skill set makes it well-placed to capitalise on some of these opportunities.
The findings are contained in the latest Market Insight from Frost & Sullivan, Contact Centre Outsourcing Trends In the Asia Pacific Market, 2008-2011. The report estimates that regional market value will grow from US$13.7 billion in 2008 to US$20.3 billion in 2011, with the majority of that revenue being generated in the growth markets of India, the Philippines, Malaysia and China.
In the short term, the impact of the global financial turmoil – especially amongst the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector - will make outsourcing budget cuts inevitable. While this is likely to lead to a slowdown in growth, continued pressure on financial institutions to curb capital costs will help to ensure existing outsourcing contracts are not scaled back.
The study predicts a short-term decline in offshoring activity, or the practice of relocating contact centre operations to outsourcing hubs as a means to control capital expense. In the medium-to-long term however, large vertical markets including BFSI, telecommunications, high technology and airlines are expected to lead the return to offshoring as a means of outsourcing processes and curbing costs. The US is the main source of offshore contracts carried out in Asia Pacific, while a number of Australian and New Zealand enterprises have also recently adopted the practice and this will help drive some regional growth in the next three years.
The report notes that an increasing number of large outsourcers are offering combined voice and data solutions for customers, providing business process outsourcing services ranging across financial, accounting and human resource functions. Local outsourcers such as Salmat, UCMS and Stellar have been offering similar services for nearly a decade but Australia's high labour and operational costs have resulted in limited domestic demand and Frost & Sullivan cautions that these players are unlikely to attract strong international market demand. Amongst the main growth markets, India is believed to be best poised to move up the value chain through its strategy of offering more data services to foreign clientele.
One sector predicted to grow is the small-to-medium business (SMB) market. In the face of a recession, smaller players are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with larger multinationals and are turning to contact centres and outsourcing of processes to limit expense and tighten budgets. This trend is already evident in Australia and is expected to continue to grow throughout the region.
During 2008 SMB demand rose for both outbound telemarketing and inbound services, and all major players including Salmat, UCMS, Stellar, EDS, Teletech, Sitel and Teleperformance are optimistic that the SMB market will remain a growing revenue stream.
Key technology trends within the industry in the past twelve months include growth in the deployment of self-service applications such as interactive voice response and speech technologies; IP and unified communications technologies; and analytics tools for agent performance optimisation. While many of the technologies offer the potential for greater efficiency and time management, much of the local impetus for change was driven by increasing labour costs and the ongoing skills shortage.
The major growth opportunities for the contact centre outsourcing market are expected to come from expansion of existing client relationships; the creation of higher value offerings such as specialised knowledge processes, business intelligence and analytics; new services for the SMB market; and via consolidations such as mergers and acquisitions between smaller players.
“When the last economic slowdown hit in 2001, offshore outsourcing was in its infancy, so this is the first recession that the industry has had to deal with,. We've no precedent to fall back on,” notes Frost & Sullivan industry manager Shivanu Shukla. “Without precedence, it is difficult to predict how the customers, vendors and outsourcers will react to the challenges ahead. In the short term however, there's a good chance that the outsourcers will outperform most, if not all of their customers' businesses.”
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 31 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.frost.com.
The findings are contained in the latest Market Insight from Frost & Sullivan, Contact Centre Outsourcing Trends In the Asia Pacific Market, 2008-2011. The report estimates that regional market value will grow from US$13.7 billion in 2008 to US$20.3 billion in 2011, with the majority of that revenue being generated in the growth markets of India, the Philippines, Malaysia and China.
In the short term, the impact of the global financial turmoil – especially amongst the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector - will make outsourcing budget cuts inevitable. While this is likely to lead to a slowdown in growth, continued pressure on financial institutions to curb capital costs will help to ensure existing outsourcing contracts are not scaled back.
The study predicts a short-term decline in offshoring activity, or the practice of relocating contact centre operations to outsourcing hubs as a means to control capital expense. In the medium-to-long term however, large vertical markets including BFSI, telecommunications, high technology and airlines are expected to lead the return to offshoring as a means of outsourcing processes and curbing costs. The US is the main source of offshore contracts carried out in Asia Pacific, while a number of Australian and New Zealand enterprises have also recently adopted the practice and this will help drive some regional growth in the next three years.
The report notes that an increasing number of large outsourcers are offering combined voice and data solutions for customers, providing business process outsourcing services ranging across financial, accounting and human resource functions. Local outsourcers such as Salmat, UCMS and Stellar have been offering similar services for nearly a decade but Australia's high labour and operational costs have resulted in limited domestic demand and Frost & Sullivan cautions that these players are unlikely to attract strong international market demand. Amongst the main growth markets, India is believed to be best poised to move up the value chain through its strategy of offering more data services to foreign clientele.
One sector predicted to grow is the small-to-medium business (SMB) market. In the face of a recession, smaller players are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with larger multinationals and are turning to contact centres and outsourcing of processes to limit expense and tighten budgets. This trend is already evident in Australia and is expected to continue to grow throughout the region.
During 2008 SMB demand rose for both outbound telemarketing and inbound services, and all major players including Salmat, UCMS, Stellar, EDS, Teletech, Sitel and Teleperformance are optimistic that the SMB market will remain a growing revenue stream.
Key technology trends within the industry in the past twelve months include growth in the deployment of self-service applications such as interactive voice response and speech technologies; IP and unified communications technologies; and analytics tools for agent performance optimisation. While many of the technologies offer the potential for greater efficiency and time management, much of the local impetus for change was driven by increasing labour costs and the ongoing skills shortage.
The major growth opportunities for the contact centre outsourcing market are expected to come from expansion of existing client relationships; the creation of higher value offerings such as specialised knowledge processes, business intelligence and analytics; new services for the SMB market; and via consolidations such as mergers and acquisitions between smaller players.
“When the last economic slowdown hit in 2001, offshore outsourcing was in its infancy, so this is the first recession that the industry has had to deal with,. We've no precedent to fall back on,” notes Frost & Sullivan industry manager Shivanu Shukla. “Without precedence, it is difficult to predict how the customers, vendors and outsourcers will react to the challenges ahead. In the short term however, there's a good chance that the outsourcers will outperform most, if not all of their customers' businesses.”
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 31 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.frost.com.