10 Guidelines for Investing in BPO (Business Process Outsourcing)

For those looking to reap the benefits of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), the ISO 9000 series of quality management is internationally renowned for setting the bar. They verify the quality of an international business investment in areas like; training, servicing, and purchasing, and that quality is backed by certification received only after an external audit. There are potential difficulties for those looking to outsource ISO certified organizations though. These include change orders on long-term locked in contracts, a lack in available resources, and the most harmful for a joint venture, the lack of visibility known as the execution gap. The following is a list of tips useful for avoiding these pitfalls:

• Research the ISO certifications standards by visiting www.iso.org, American Society for Quality www.asq.org, or the American National Standards Institute www.ansi.org, to fully understand what these quality management standards will mean for your company.
• Design a layout of your service structure, so all operations can be documented for review and you can structurally assign outsourced responsibilities to specific domains.
• Conduct your own audit prior to partnering with a BPO vendor. This could include visiting the offshore premises, and asking for references.
• Create a contract that specifically outlines the service need, expansion guidelines, and quality requirements.
• Avoid long terms contracts, in case the company does not meet investment requirements.
• Monitor industry trends to prevent service impediments in the future.
• Verify that the corporation will have all resources available to you at all times.
• Make certain they are flexible to your needs, and have a point of contact on shore.
• Reduce the execution gap by maintaining lines of communication with video & audio conferencing. Cost efficient communication tools like Skype, make it easy for businesses to communicate with their offshore vendor.
• Conduct your quality assessment in-house using a detailed matrix, and hold BPO vendor accountable for quality standards.

By Kevin Haggerty