New trends in business dynamism:

IT-BPO-KPO revolution

Dr. K. Kuhathasan

CEO: Cenlead

IT-BPO skills could be Sri Lanka's largest exports earner by 2012, said President of the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service (SLASSCOM) Ranjith Fernando.

Therefore, signing of a tripartite MoU aimed at promoting BPO Industries among the Institute of Chartered Accountants, SLASSCOM and the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology is commendable.

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) revolution is taking place in Sri Lanka. It will emerge as the largest economic player, overtaking the present telecommunication revolution that is sweeping across the country. From year 2000, as a result of the Internet technology, communication costs reduced outsourcing began to strike at the very heart of business.

As a result, outsourcing possibilities multiplied and today outsourcing has become imperative as a long-term growth and survival strategy.

At the core of the strategic growth is the realization that a specialist can provide the same service at a lower cost and with better technology. For this, international institutions are breaking down departments and functions into processes and are looking at the best vendors to manage these residual processes in developing countries.

Abundant opportunities

Though there are abundant opportunities, it is imperative that our graduates equip themselves with the right skills to become employable in this sector. Unlike voice based processes where communication skills are of importance, KPO requires a higher degree of analytical and problem solving skills and excellence in domain knowledge.

The essential skills for a successful career in KPO would be a good mix of communication skills, analytical abilities and domain knowledge.

Whereas communication skills are an essential prerequisite for any job today, the depth of subject knowledge ensure one's ability to perform well. At the same time, one needs to be adaptable and open to continuous learning.

The post-war years were marked by relocation of manufacturing from developed to developing countries in areas such as light engineering, shoes and apparel.

Manufacturing was segmented globally and labour-intensive parts were located in low wage destinations.

The model described held good even around the time electronics revolution which took over in the post war era. Electronics had its own special features and allowed itself ideally to segmentation.

KPO revolution

In this present era of Information revolution and knowledge revolution, business processing activities are being similarly relocated in low wage destinations. Countries which have a pool of professionals will be able to exploit this opportunity.

Initially, the services were restricted to back-office functions such as call-centres, help desks, and customer support, coming under the category of BPO. From BPO to other IT-enabled services such as engineering design, architecture and radiography. The most exciting developments are in research programs where companies such as GM and Siemens locate global centres.

KPO, as the name suggests refers to outsourcing, of knowledge-driven processes such as equity research, financial research, legal processes, marketing analytics and clinical research.

KPOs provide gainful employment opportunities to graduates in engineering, management, law, statistics, economics, accounting and biological sciences.

Taking the example of financial and equity research roles - a job description for such a role would include the following:

* Analytical, conceptual and interdisciplinary thinking.

* Fundamentals of Finance, Accounting and Financial Analysis.

* Experience in interpreting research reports.

* Good Knowledge of Microsoft Office and the Internet.

* Command over the English language some of the critical personality traits would be:

* Emotionally robust and used to working under pressure

* Strong team player