MID-TERM BPO BLUES

摘要

Business process outsourcing (BPO) is booming: it grew by 18% year on year in 2003, according to analyst firm Gartner. But look at the more mature partnerships, three or four years into the outsourcing of large, complex, multi-million-pound back-office functions including human resources, procurement and accounting, and the strain is beginning to show. The problem lies with the contracts that govern such deals and the flexibility (or lack of it) built in to them. It seems they may not be ageing well - so will a mid-life problem for BPO turn into a mid-life crisis?