Knowledge process outsourcing

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Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) is a form of outsourcing. It can be said that KPO is one step ahead of Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO). KPO firms provide domain-based processes and business expertise, rather than just process expertise.

Due to a large knowledge pool and a significant cost arbitrage, few countries like India, Philippines and China are front runners in providing these services. The nature of work demands advanced analytical and specialized skills.

In the future, it is envisaged that KPO has a high potential as it is not restricted only to Information Technology (IT) or Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) sectors, and includes other sectors like Intellectual Property related services, Business Research and Analytics, Legal Research, Clinical Research, and Publishing.

1 Challenges
2 Market research
3 See Also
4 External Links
5 News

[edit] Challenges

Though the future appears quite bright, there are also a few challenges which KPO companies face. These include:

High attrition rates
High cost of training
Ensuring information security and confidentiality

[edit] Market research

Leaders in the market research industry are slowly seeing the benefits offered by KPO and have begun outsourcing areas where technology can significantly improve the research process. Comprehensive IT solutions are offered in the market by vendors who provide solutions covering the entire life cycle of a market research project. Smaller firms can also benefit from these solutions as they are cost effective and remain within the budget constraints faced by smaller organizations.

Knowledge Process Outsourcing has proven to be a blessing in disguise to efficiently increase productivity and increase cost savings in the area of market research. Organizations are adopting outsourcing to meet their market research needs and the trend is all set to take the global market research industry by storm.

The evolution and maturity of the Indian BPO sector has given birth to yet another wave in the global outsourcing scene: KPO or Knowledge Process Outsourcing. KPO is essentially an offshoot of BPO. It is the high-end activity of the BPO industry and is estimated to have a magnificent growth in the next few years.

Fields of work that the KPO industry focuses on include intellectual property or patent research, content development, R&D in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, market research, equity research, data research, database creation, analytical services, financial modeling, design and development in automotive and aerospace industries, animation and simulation, medical content and services, remote education, publishing and legal support. MBAs, PhDs, engineers, doctors, lawyers and other specialists are expected to be much in demand.