The business process outsourcing industry is all about finding ways to streamline business operations. New BPO industry trends are constantly emerging that organizations leverage to accelerate growth and improve performance. Exploring the BPO trends of 2024 and beyond is the key to ensuring your business uses outsourcing tools, services, and solutions effectively.
Exploring the Business Process Outsourcing Landscape
As technology advances, competition increases, and consumer preferences change, trends in the business process outsourcing field evolve to keep up. These current trends have dominated the BPO world in recent years and are expected to continue rising throughout 2024 and 2025.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms make it possible for you to develop smart systems based on your company’s own data. Outsourcing providers are beginning to use AI tools to develop conversational chatbots for customer service, make projections based on your financial data, and find opportunities for automation in your company. In the next few years, you can expect these systems to become even more advanced and commonplace.
Self-Service Offerings
Modern outsourcing companies look for ways to eliminate manual tasks and make your company more efficient. One way they achieve this is by improving self-service systems, enabling your customers to resolve problems on their own whenever possible instead of relying on a human customer service agent. As a result, smart chatbots, search systems, and other self-service tools are becoming a powerful trend.
Remote Work
As remote work becomes more popular worldwide, companies are looking for ways to support their remote systems. Innovative BPO providers are starting to focus on building global digital systems so you can integrate remote systems and teams from throughout the world. This is also leading to a rise in onshore, nearshore, and offshore BPO as companies explore international partners to access specialized support on a budget.
BPO Trends in Financial Services
Financial services is one of the largest areas of focus for the BPO industry, with the market expected to undergo a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.3% from 2024 to 2030. It’s easy to see why — businesses rely on accurate, efficient financial services to maintain consistent cash flow and keep the company running. As businesses look for better ways to manage their finances, outsourcing providers are striving to keep up by adopting cutting-edge technologies for managing financial data and making more accurate projections. This includes leveraging AI for predictive analysis and using cloud-computing systems and cloud-based call center solutions to keep track of critical financial data at scale.
One of the main concerns about hiring a third party to handle financial operations is data security. Going into 2025, providers can expect to place a greater emphasis on data privacy and cybersecurity measures. By investing in cybersecurity, outsourcing teams can build trust with clients in financial industries, allowing them to tap into performance-boosting third-party services without increasing the risk of a breach.
Healthcare BPO Trends
The healthcare outsourcing industry is growing at an even faster rate than financial services, with an expected CAGR of 11.75% through 2031. The rise of telemedicine has caused demand for third-party support to skyrocket as providers strive to balance online and in-person treatment systems. Along with traditional administrative tasks, the healthcare BPO market is expanding into areas such as therapeutic advertising, website management, and patient communications. Payers, providers, and pharmaceutical partners are tapping into outsourced solutions to assist with everything from research and development to claims management.
Meanwhile, the increased demand for medical billing, coding, and transcription has pushed both payers and providers toward outsourced solutions. Healthcare BPO organizations are striving to automate and integrate the healthcare process to provide a better patient experience and speed up the revenue cycle.
BPO Trends on the Horizon
Along with trends like AI, which are already in full force, there are a few rising outsourcing trends that are just starting to take hold. Here are some of the top predictions for the future of business process outsourcing:
Knowledge Process Outsourcing
Outsourcing has traditionally focused on administrative and back-office tasks, such as customer service or data entry. However, companies are exploring the possibility of subcontracting more advanced functions, such as legal services and business strategy consulting. This shift to knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) alongside traditional administrative tasks has the potential to expand the scope of these organizations greatly.
Wider Adoption of BPO Solutions
As outsourcing solutions become more affordable and accessible, more small and mid-sized businesses will likely start hiring third-party providers for various tasks. Businesses of different sizes and industries will likely start viewing subcontracting as a way to boost their growth and reduce costs.
Breaking Down the Future of BPO
Innovations in technology and a focus on automation are continually pushing the BPO industry to become more efficient and effective without sacrificing the customer experience for their clients. Providers of the future are likely to pair intelligent tech solutions with high-level strategic support, cultivating a growth-driven industry with far-reaching applications.
Staying Relevant With BPO Services
Upcoming BPO trends in 2025 emphasize adopting new technologies, improving processes, and discovering creative ways to enhance automation. When you partner with a third party, you’re ultimately investing in a long-term strategy to ensure your business is on the cutting edge of your field.
As your partner upgrades their systems and evolves to keep up with the BPO industry, you’ll experience those same benefits in your organization. If you’re currently working with an outsourced team or are interested in exploring third-party solutions, it’s important to prepare for change and transformation.
Embracing the Future With a Forward-Looking BPO Team
Technological developments like AI and machine learning have rapidly advanced in 2024, leading to a tech revolution in the BPO industry. These advancements are driving trends across all sectors, including healthcare and finance, enabling companies to find new ways to outsource their secondary processes. Outsourcing partners are investing in automation to streamline manual tasks while also exploring how subcontracting can support high-level strategy and business development needs.
At Confie BPO, we’re invested in keeping you connected with the latest developments in outsourcing technology. We’ll collaborate with your team to implement innovative new tools and constantly improve your workflows, helping you focus on scaling your business.
Keep up with BPO market trends by calling 800-684-2276 or reaching out online.