Outsourcing continued to grow in 2017, and is expected to do the same in 2018. And while nearly any type of business within any industry can benefit from offloading some of their services to a qualified BPO partner, there are a handful of industries that have proven to use outsourcing the most to expedite business growth. Here’s an overview of the top markets that relied on outsourcing in 2017, and where they’ll likely go from here.
Healthcare
The healthcare industry is one of the most vital fields in any country, and healthcare companies have struggled to achieve their collective goal of putting patient care first while still operating well from a business perspective. This might be why, then, healthcare companies outsourced many of their business processes at a rate of 36% in 2017.
When they transfer the burden of systems like billing, IT and customer service to a separate entity that excels in these areas, they free up their own staff to dive more deeply into direct patient care. In the current year, the healthcare industry is projected to put an even greater emphasis on outsourcing their data security needs, since regulations (like HIPAA) are legally mandated by the government. As regulations in healthcare continue to change over and over again, healthcare companies continue to see even more value in outsourcing many of their process to the capable, secure hands of a qualified BPO partner.
Human Resources
Having a dedicated Human Resources team in any company is important, helping to handle indispensable functions like employee onboarding, policy creation (and enforcement), payroll and even protecting employees and the company by documenting and investigating any claims of impropriety. HR companies in and of themselves also serve a very crucial role in the business world, often being tapped to provide these services to companies who don’t have their own internal team.
Even so, those in the HR field relied heavily on outsourcing themselves, to the tune of 32%, in 2017. By trusting an external team with more of the fundamental business operations, HR specialists can hone in on their core offerings and expand their operations. And in 2018, we project that these companies will continue to explore outsourcing through AI and automation technology, in order to streamline the services they offer to their clients.
 IT
Last year, 31% of IT services were outsourced – even within IT companies themselves. The rapidly progressing pace of technology is likely one of the main reasons, as even technologically proficient companies often don’t have the time, resources or personnel to stay on top of new advancements.
Furthermore, companies are scared about the possibility of having a data breach, and need a savvy BPO partner to handle their IT and make sure data isn’t compromised. It just makes business sense for these IT processes and data security to be outsourced to a company that is especially strong in these areas.
This trend is expected to continue, with even more businesses relying on tech-savvy BPO partners for IT needs, data security, AI and process automation, cloud technology and more.
Outsourcing can be an incredibly beneficial strategy for business growth for any company within any industry, and these fields in particular are leading the way.
