India to continue dominating KPO sector

The potential KPO delivery locations,including China,the Philippines and Sri Lanka,are unlikely to challenge India8217;s dominant position in the market,but they have enabled many vendors to pursue a multi-shore strategy,it said.

Ed Thomas,Ovum analyst and author of the report,said: 8220;Being able to deliver services from multiple locations means providers can offer existing clients greater flexibility and minimise the risks associated with having all their operations in one facility,while at the same time tapping into fresh labour pools8221;.

The KPO industry is maturing and the range of services being provided has expanded as the market has developed. From its initial beginnings in research and analytics,he

definition of KPO currently includes a variety of services,such as legal process outsourcing and clinical trial management,among others.

On the latter topic,Ed Thomas said: 8220;A major challenge facing life sciences companies is the growing cost of Ramp;D and,as a result,a growing number of pharma companies are turning to outsourcing and off-shoring as ways of reducing these costs.

China is an attractive location for companies that run and manage all phases of the clinical trial process,as it offers a significant pool of potential patients in an important emerging market8221;.

Along with China,the Philippines is also becoming an increasingly important player in the KPO market. It has started to carve out a niche for itself in a number of key areas,including healthcare outsourcing providing industry-specific services to hospitals and healthcare providers.

This market is expected to grow significantly during the next few years,with a notable increase in demand coming from the US as a result of the recent reforms in healthcare regulations.

Sri Lanka has also focused on developing skills around specific service lines. For example,the country has a significant number of qualified accountants,capable of providing the kind of high-end complex tasks associated with service areas such as equity and credit research.

The recent emergence of countries such as China,the Philippines and Sri Lanka as viable locations for KPO delivery has been a positive development for vendors,as it has enabled them to begin offering a blend of offshore and nearshore delivery while also giving them access to sizeable and previously untapped talent pools.