Lititia Myers-Gray, president & CEO, Beryllium, told the Jamaica Observer that business process outsourcing (BPO) has “the potential to be positively transformative for developing economies”, Jamaica not exempted.

Beryllium Limited, formerly Guardsman Armoured, entered the BPO sector in 2021. Myers-Gray said the company is focusing on an “unprecedented automation of outsourced service and aims to create a ‘metaverse’ that will support digital transformation.”

The company is offering core cash management services, human resource outsourcing, finance and accounting outsourcing, vault services, and management reporting and business intelligence to its clients.

Myers-Gray told Sunday Finance, “While there is a significant focus on the call centre segment in Jamaica; we also have the talent and capabilities to tap into the wider range of BPO services.”

As a cash handler, the company said it was an outsourcing partner for thousands of Jamaican companies over the last five decades. According to the CEO, Beryllium offers other high-value, high-risk, technology-driven BPO services such as traditional currency management, HR outsourcing, finance and accounting outsourcing, vault services, customer service outsourcing and business intelligence management and reporting in addition to information technology outsourcing.

Market growth

Overall, the BPO market is expected to expand by impressive 8.5 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach an estimated market value of US$620 billion by 2032.

Increasing costs, technological advances and huge pressure on businesses to reduce the cost to serve while maximising efficiency, place pressure on businesses to become as agile as possible and to be able to operate.

Myers-Gray notes that the global BPO market size is projected to grow in a changing and unpredictable environment.

It is expected that a strong BPO sector in Jamaica will provide organisations across the globe with access to best fit skills and technologies that will deliver best in class service and financial returns, the CEO opined.

Said Myers-Gray: “The right BPO partner can help local and international businesses navigate this challenging environment, working together to deliver what’s important — positive, customer experiences while delivering strong financial returns.”

Payroll and tech outsourcing

One area of growth within the industry is human resources management and payroll outsourcing. EMAPTA, the organisation representing outsourcing and offshoring in the Philippines, notes that companies are finding it cost-efficient to outsource payroll which is now a rapidly growing market projected to reach US$22.8 billion by 2027.

Forbes, the business news source, meanwhile, notes that the tech industry “is facing a massive talent drought,” as stated in a May 2022 publication, said that outsourcing is skyrocketing.

It quotes research which projects that software development outsourcing will increase 70 per cent between 2022 and 2023.

Overall, Forbes states, tech job openings have grown 81 per cent over the past two years, yet the applicant pool has shrunk by 39 per cent. Outsourcing offers several benefits to alleviate this issue.

Cost-effective

Mathias Swartenbroekx, a business development manager, who publishes on LinkedIn says that there are several reasons why the most successful companies turn to outsourcing their customer service departments.

According to Swartenbroekx, outsourcing is a source of savings. He said, “Customer care has traditionally been considered as a cost centre because of the amount of time, finances, and manpower required to maintain it.

“To do it properly, agents need to be trained on a regular basis, and advances in technology demand that systems are updated and are fully compliant. With outsourcing, these in-house costs are greatly reduced, especially if customer service is not your core competency.”

Outsourcing companies, meanwhile, he notes, find ways to maximise overall customer value and can even help generate revenue instead of draining valuable company finances.

Swartenbroekx also credits the third party service providers with being a better source of enhanced customer experience. “Service providers have invested in the latest technology and have the best talent for the job,” he asserts

He said as well that back-office support is often simply superior to that provided by the stand alone business operation which is focused on growing market share in product categories, and revenue generation, and which is less focused on customer retention.