In the post-pandemic world, digital transformation has become more relevant than ever. Shifting global attitudes and a widespread transition to remote working have meant companies need to leverage new technology to adapt to the fluidity of the modern business world and the modern workforce.
For many companies undergoing a digital transformation, business process outsourcing (BPO) providers can help drive additional success. By offloading some of the burden that comes with a ramped-up approach to acquiring technology, businesses can streamline their operations and optimize their growth while spreading the costs of new technology investments.
This article will explore the benefits of partnering with a BPO during the digital transformation process. But before we delve into that, let’s examine what exactly we mean by the term “digital transformation”.
What is digital transformation?
Digital transformation, also termed digital dexterity, is the practice of implementing the latest digital technologies to improve overall business processes. These include cloud-based systems, AI, machine learning, automation, and other technologies that can leverage the three main foundations of a digital business, which are digital communication channels, huge cloud-stored hordes of collected data, and the interoperability of enterprise systems.
An organization that has undergone digital transformation is more internally connected, with fewer data siloes, and has a holistic view of its whole business. At the same time, it has more and better tools available to resolve issues, streamline everyday operations, and improve efficiency. Companies may also use these technologies to leverage data and drive growth by identifying areas to focus on and improve.
The concept of digital transformation goes beyond simply acquiring new tech. Businesses need to be constantly updating their overall outlook to adapt to ever-changing global attitudes. As a result, many industry leaders personally take this on board, ensuring that they learn and use the latest digital tools to better prepare themselves for the modern world.
By utilizing new technologies in the most effective way, businesses can aim to disrupt the global status quo and reinvent markets to suit them. Netflix and Amazon are two major examples of digital transformation done right, since they employed automation and cloud-based tech to offer a pioneering service like no other.
Why use a BPO for digital transformation?
To facilitate a digital transformation strategy, companies may turn to a BPO provider to outsource all or part of their operations. This can bring a variety of benefits, such as simplified vendor management, increased competitiveness, and access to better call center technology. It’s not always pertinent for companies to turn to outsourcing, but it can be a massive help when undergoing digital transformation.
As it stands today, most companies would probably not even think to use a BPO as part of their digital transformation strategy. While it’s not strictly a requirement, outsourcing can drastically simplify the whole process as well as improve the quality of results. Below, you’ll find a number of reasons as to why utilizing BPOs in your digital transformation can drive success.
Access better, more advanced technology
BPOs often use technologies that other companies don’t. A large part of being an outsourcing provider involves handling a wide variety of operations from all across the globe, so it’s vital that they employ the latest software to aid this. As a client of a BPO, your firm can then access this technology, such as productivity monitoring tools, to contribute to its digital transformation.
What’s more, BPOs will usually demonstrate their tools and technologies to your company before you decide on a partnership. When advertising themselves, BPOs will typically list their technological capabilities on their portfolio. This gives you a strong indication of whether they can provide your company with an adequate solution to suit your digital transformation needs.
BPOs can manage your tech vendor administration
Acquiring new technology as part of your digital transformation can become somewhat hectic after a while. Software providers compete relentlessly by releasing upgrades and enhancements that – while beneficial – can be confusing and expensive. In fact, overburdening yourself by juggling too many technologies and vendor relationships will only hinder your digital transformation.
Partnering with a BPO can alleviate the stress of managing a load of vendor relationships on top of your day-to-day duties. Fully or partially outsourcing your customer relationship management operations can reduce the burden on your internal staff and improve company morale. Having a third party involved in the process can help keep your digital transformation on track, on time, and focused.
Create a competitive business model
Ultimately, digital transformation is all about making yourself as competitive as possible. Leveraging new technologies is a way of improving your service and acquiring more customers and clients. By using a BPO to manage a select portion of your operations, you can become even bigger and solidify yourself as a recognized top-performer in your sector.
A relationship with a BPO can also be life-saver if your company is in a growth phase. You want to have enough capacity in your contact centre to handle all customer queries, but you don’t want an excess of people sitting around waiting for customers to contact you either. A BPO can partner with you to implement self-service automation technologies that divert many calls away from your contact center. They can also provide an overflow solution that only kicks in when call volumes rise above what you can handle internally.
Align your back-office processes with your front-office operations
Digital transformations are vital in driving success, but they can be easy to get wrong. Time and time again, companies are too focused on their front-office operations and forget about the fundamentals and basics. Outsourcing your back-office processes to a BPO provider can nurture your digital transformation and ensure a solid foundation for growth.
Basic company functions – such as finance, HR, and procurement – can be outsourced to enable a more thorough optimization process. Firms who neglect their back-office operations will quickly reach a point of deceleration, where growth grinds to a halt due to insufficiently adapted basic functions. By having a BPO take care of them for you, you’ll ensure a much more sustainable and successful digital transformation that is capable of scaling with your growth.
Time Doctor: Making BPOs accountable
Time Doctor provides non-invasive time-tracking solutions for BPOs. With accurate and real-time analytics into how their employees work, BPOs can make the necessary adjustments to improve everything from productivity to staff engagement to customer satisfaction.
What’s more, this software gives BPOs proper accountability, so you can rest assured knowing that your outsourced jobs are being successfully completed to a high standard. Try Time Doctor today to discover a world of benefits for BPOs.
Andy is a technology & marketing leader who has delivered award-winning and world-first experiences.