Knowledge Process Outsourcing At India!

The future of outsourcing over the next decade, however, appears to be around what industry experts are labeling as ‘knowledge process outsourcing' or KPO which refers to tasks involving high-end knowledge exertion such as financial analysis, legal work, valuation, market research, investment researches, patent filing, legal and insurance research and claims etc. According to a report by 'Global sourcing now' the KPO business is supposed to reach up to 17 billion dollars by 2010.

For example, equity analysis and research is off shored by many Wall Street firms to Mumbai and then sent to American banks for review and analysis. Agents sitting in Mumbai read, analyze, and make reports that are used for further analysis. This is a highly skilled job, one that requires complete understanding of the subject, in-depth knowledge and sharp analytical skills.

Knowledge process outsourcing adds value to the processes chain and is highly dependent on the research skills, domain knowledge and experience of the people carrying out the activity.

Knowledge Process Outsourcing thrives wholly on the high level understanding of the subject by the outsourcing firm and their employees. It is not a regular business back processing activity but a very important chain in the organization's scheme of things. It is a very specialized and dedicated knowledge-based work.

KPO involves hiring experts in their fields' usually highly competent and educated individuals with amazing power of analysis and comprehension skills.

The KPO could be a -

• Research Process Outsourcing (RPO) or a
• Analysis Process Outsourcing (APO) depending on the client's requirements.

KPO provides domain-based processes with advanced analytical skills and business expertise, rather than just process expertise. They handle greater amount of highly skilled work when compared to the routine nature of work done by any BPO firm. Unlike a BPO that thrives on the size, volume and efficiency of the work done, KPO derive their strength from the quality of the work done and the high amount of expertise in that subject.

Like any other outsourcing firm, KPO firms provide great cost savings, operational efficiencies and access to a highly talented workforce with an improved quality as a bonus to the high-end off shoring processes.

Knowledge Process Outsourcing is exceedingly reliant on the skills, knowledge and experience of the people carrying them out and the level of their analytical and technical capabilities. Some of the commonly available KPO services are:-

• Ø Legal aid and research work,
• Ø Legal filing and reporting,
• Ø Patent documenting,
• Ø Global trademark search,
• Ø Trademark registration,
• Ø Legal work against copyrights and infringements,
• Ø Equity research and market analysis
• Ø Study of consumer behavior and reporting
• Ø Product analysis

KPO services are being used in the following industries:

• Pharmaceuticals,
• Biotechnology,
• Data search firms,
• Integration of different reports and statistical analysis companies
• Management Firms,
• Financial Institutions,
• Research and analytics companies,
• Technology based research companies,
• Computer-aided simulation industry
• Engineering designing process
• Business and consumer research
• Law Firms across UK and US

Several big outsourcing players like GE Capital, Marketrx, Accenture, Smartcube and Evalueserve are emerging as global players in the KPO segment providing A-grade research and analysis facilities from their call centers in INDIA; to organizations across the globe.