After BPO it is KPO. But can India repeat the performance in KPO. Knowledge Process Outsourcing is the new buzzword. That is where the action will be in the next ten years, say experts. In BPO or Business Process Outsourcing, slients provide the business process requirements and the outsourcing service provider in India follow the needs of the client. But in Knowledge Process Outsourcing Indian companies will asked to provide vertical business segment driven specialized knowledgebase. It needs vertical business alignment and strong networking with specialized consulting firms.
According to media reports in India, Mohit Srivastava, Associate Vice-President, E-Valueserve, said from current billion dollar industry with a growth rate of 50 per cent per annum, KPO is set to grow to usd 17 billion in the US.
"India can garner 71 per cent share in this by 2010," Mohit said.
However, the change-over is not to be an easy deal, observed Mudit Kulshreshta, Associate Director, Knowledge Services.
"The transition would be a tough one as there are vital differences between BPO and KPO. The domain expertise need for KPO is widely varied," he said.
The biggest challenge for Indian firms is the fact that KPO really represents high end consulting and not just cheap labor outsourcing. A client in KPO will not look at dollar figures but will be mainly concerned with quality of services. That is where Indian companies may fail.
Indian industry needs to tone up itself by moving up in the value chain besides augmenting human resources and domain knowledge, according to speakers at a NASSCOM meet on `From BPO to KPO and Beyond'' held in Hyderabad