It’s fair to say that 20 years ago, not everyone was talking about the same things.
Businesses didn’t operate in the ways that they do today. At Indigo 21, we took
advantage of the benefits of being different and launched into the fast-paced and
exciting world of business process outsourcing (BPO).

Back then, BPO was one of the best-kept secrets when it came to accelerating your
business without having to expand your physical operations, hire more staff or spend
more money. A third-party service provider could take care of all manner of operations
on behalf of your business, freeing you and your workforce to get on with the things that
matter.

We were advocating BPO before it became a mainstream solution. But why did we
choose BPO to help our clients? And how can this worldwide phenomenon help you?

A brief history of business process outsourcing

Business process outsourcing, or BPO, is the method of outsourcing key functions to
another location, and often another country. Business functions can include anything
from contact centres to IT departments, customer service departments, HR, and more.
BPO means businesses can make the most of flourishing labour markets, a stable
workforce, affordable business rates, and even time differences that work to your
advantage.

Back in 2003, the BPO market was worth $122 billion, according to Gartner Inc. and the
Aberdeen Group. Last year, the BPO market was valued at $261.9 billion — a 20-year
increase of 114.6%. And that’s not all, because the market is projected to keep on
growing.

BPO is nothing new, and companies have outsourced functions for decades, including
administration and practical functions like HR. But high-speed internet, a globalised
market and an interconnected world have helped the industry to grow and thrive —
allowing your business to do the same. It’s this kind of digitisation that’s made aspects
of business more achievable than ever before. When you can benefit from a
switchboard or contact centre taking calls, staffing chat and email functions and
providing excellent customer service when teams in the UK would be asleep, it
becomes a no-brainer to choose BPO.

Business process outsourcing in the Philippines

There are many reasons that Indigo 21 chose the Philippines as our BPO base of
operations. Here are just a few:

• 70% of the BPO sector is in the Philippines
• BPO in the Philippines is growing by 8–10% every year
• The country holds 10–15% of the global BPO market
• More than 60% of the labour force in the Philippines have an advanced education, and more than 14 million Filipinos speak English — in fact, it’s the primary language of business in the country.

Working in this incredible country has so many benefits it would take too long to list
them all. But the interconnected nature of technology, the power of the internet, and a
globalised workforce are just some of the reasons we keep coming back to Manila for our outsourcing requirements. A report by the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), published in the Financial Times said that the number of people working in the outsourcing industry in the country rose 8.4% to 1.57 million people in 2022. That kind of hard work and commitment isn’t easy to come by and it goes to show what a remarkable market there is in the Philippines that you could be benefitting from.

Save time and money with BPO

If you’re thinking of expanding your business, you might be considering larger premises,
or more staff, meaning a labour-intensive recruitment cycle and huge overhead costs for
new offices. The time and cost-saving benefits of investing in BPO could be
revolutionary for your business.

Sources

Business Process Outsourcing in the Philippines
Nexford.org, britishcouncil.ph and tradingeconomics.com.