The pandemic has caused a stir and affected a lot of industries including IT outsourcing. As most of the businesses have gone digital with the new normal of work today. Our world is getting more and more digitised. The last two years of pandemics have proved and modified certain aspects of our life including how outsourcing operates. With the rapid growth in technology, the demand for custom software development outsourcing from organizations has increased. Today there is a lot of competitiveness in the business process outsourcing sector. So hopefully new outsourcing trends will move their focus from budget-friendly aspects to other significant practises.
The outsourcing trends have given benefits such as high flexibility with no geographical borders and access to a vast pool of specialists, and short-term collaboration within one project. Outsourcing trends have brought fundamental changes in businesses worldwide. Following the majority of the innovation, the businesses have embraced the new normal of digital transformation. Thus here are some of the top outsourcing trends for 2021. That will be the flag bearer of the BPO sector in 2021. To find out these trends in this article given below.
Outsourcing in the new normal:
As global outsourcing continues to progress in demand, it has several advantages. Such as adoption of robotic process automation solutions, growth in cloud services adoption, increased frequency of remote work, getting more focused on core competencies to name a few. These advantages of outsourcing have helped most of the US research projects with good profits. Moreover, we can witness new outsourcing trends and practises that are set to take over in the next decade as well. As a result, relationships between business and software vendors are changing into secure collaboration with strong partnerships.
What Are the Strongest Outsourcing Trends in 2021?
1. Increased remote working efforts:
 The onset of the pandemic has brought an increased surge in remote working. But it is safe to say that the majority of businesses in outsourcing remain in this favour of employment. With the consequences of the COVID-19, many organizations have adapted to this new normal of doing business. This has led to a remote working environment being their permanent work option. Though outsourcing companies must follow strict compliances at work.
2. Robotic automation and Artificial Intelligence:
The outsourcing industry sector has recognized the effectiveness of cutting-edge technology like Robotic automation and Artificial Intelligence to assist businesses. From chatbot-based live chat support services to voice automation has helped outsourcing companies to handle tedious tasks effectively and elevate their services. For example, RPA and AI can upgrade help desk software, enhance data confidentiality and offer more improved services. In the coming years, the organizations expect RPA and AI solutions to increase their delivery service model.
3. Utilising cloud computing services even more:
4. Demand For Social Media Services:
One of the rising trends in outsourcing is the demand for social media services. In 2020 over 3.6 billion people worldwide were using social media. The global penetration rate of social media has reached an average of 49% making businesses connect with customers with a seamless experience. On average, an Internet user spends 144 minutes of their time on social media. Thus more companies started to utilize social media services to interact with their customers to leverage their business. Links were the most commonly used content type for organizations and brands on social media to increase their marketing activity.
5. Powerful communication tools & omnichannel solutions:
A unified communication tool and the omnichannel solution is one of the top outsourcing trends for 2021. Since outsourcing companies are adept with technology, they will be able to facilitate and develop the tools and resources to establish a seamless omnichannel experience. This solution will help both outsourcing companies and customers as it improves CX.
6. A surge in outsourcing among small business clients:
Transparency is the key to success in business. In the past outsourcing was only an opportunity for big companies and enterprises. But now outsourcing companies are looking forward to hiring the best employees and small business clients from across the globe. Around 33% of small businesses outsource to access flexible resources. Thus they believe outsourcing their business can lead them to gain advantages. As a result most of the big outsourcing companies now look for quality and customization for results. Rather than quantity and lower prices and have a specific approach to each client’s business challenges.
7. Upskill Of Workforce:
As most businesses race to digitize their business process, companies are choosing to invest in upskilling their workforce. As automation takes menial and repetitive tasks companies do not need to upgrade their system with new talents. Thus upskilling to newer services like customer experience with chatbots and effective use of social media will help outsourcing companies to deliver excellent services. They will be able to provide a better customer experience to their desired client.
8. Increased focus on cybersecurity:
We all know data has become the most valuable resource in this technical world. And so are the cybersecurity issues which are still the top concerns of a company. As with remote working, we are prone to more malicious and vulnerable activities online. The demand to secure the data is one of the top priorities. So we need to increase and tighten the security and guard the business data of clients and their service providers. By eliminating any security concerns which is followed by strict compliances standards of GDPR.
Summing Up:
Outsourcing and partnership are all about a secure relationship. That depends upon how well they both work together. Identifying the right service provider for outsourcing is the best thing for a client to gain profits and advantages in their business. This will help set expectations for both parties by defining their service render and aligning with objectives. So for any business when working with an outsourcing partner remain rooted in the values of credibility, pricing, communication, and location matter. To adapt their services and accommodate the changes in technology and provide the reliability of their services through customer feedback and reviews online.