What Are the Business Process Outsourcing Benefits

There are many (BPO) business process outsourcing benefits. One BPO benefit is obviously the savings in labour costs. You can access offshore staff at a fraction of the normal cost with only a small reduction in the standard of quality. Sometimes the offshore staff you can access through business process outsourcing are even more talented then the people we have access to in Australia.

One of the BPO benefits is the filling of positions where there are actually labour hire shortages. Currently in Australia there are significant labour shortages in the areas of trades and IT. The Australian government is encouraging skilled migrants to Australia. All these jobs can not be done using offshore staff but there are aspects of every business which can benefit from business process outsourcing. For example you can use virtual assistants to complete the everyday tasks which do not require a high skills set allowing senior staff to focus on the key competencies of their business.

Another business process outsourcing benefit is the potential to begin new revenue branches or income streams. Perhaps this is not initially possible because of the cash flow burden. By using offshore labour it makes these opportunities a very real possibility as you are able to access talented staff at reduced wage costs. Once the new branch is up and running you may be able to expand and begin employing local staff. By using BPO the benefits may enable more businesses to stay above ground.

Have you heard the statistics like 80% of small businesses fail in the first year and then 80% of the surviving ones fail in the next five years. Unfortunately, they are very real statistics in Australia. A major business process outsourcing benefit is the ability for small business owners to access skills and talents that ordinarily they are unable to afford. Building a successful business is about using your own skill strengths and employing the people who possess the skills you do not have. This formula is used by some of the most wealthy and successful business owners like Sir Richard Branson. By using the business process outsourcing benefits you have at your disposal, you are able to access the skills and talents your organisation does not have without the cash flow burden.

Another major business process outsourcing benefit is to the offshore staff and their country. By employing offshore staff you are providing incomes to people in countries that are less fortunate then us. They are not normally working (can't say always) in the stereotypical "sweat shop". The incomes they earn are very respectable in their country and enables the offshore staff to have job security. In addition the cost of living is significantly different to developed countries such as Australia and America. In fact, in places like the Philippines they prefer to work with business process outsourcing companies as they see it as prestigious and a very good career move.

The BPO benefits are very significant, real and accessible for the majority of businesses. Don't let globalisation become a threat but embrace it and turn it into your competitive advantage.

Business Process Automation

Process automation has been a staple of many industries for some time. Power plants, factories and IT departments have been using business process automation tenets for years. Their value and success is now making them a larger factor in other industries. People are beginning to realize that automation of distinct business practices can be a powerful and profitable strategy for businesses of all types.

Loosely defined, process automation refers to completely or partially automating regular business processes with technology. In other words, it's all about isolating the things your company does on a regular basis and applying organization an technological tools to automate as much of the process as you reasonably can.

For example, let's say that part of your business involves providing price quotations for the services you offer. Those quotations are based on a number of different factors.

Currently, you might utilize individual employees to perform this task. They might speak with prospective clients, solicit the information necessary to create a quotation and then "come up with a number" based on your guidelines and their own limited discretion.

That's not a horrible system, but it does pose a few risks. A poorly trained employee could make a meaningful mistake. A simple error in calculation could spell the difference between profit and loss. The process may take up a disproportionate amount of employee time, leaving them unable to handle other responsibilities effectively.

Process automation might resolve the problem by creating a program the employees could use to create quotations. The new software might help them to gather necessary information and could then provide the resulting price quotation. Some individual discretion might be retained, with the program giving the employee an idea of how much "play" existed in the number.

A more aggressive bit of process automation might involve adding a quotation system to the company website. Prospective clients could be directed to the site, where they would supply the necessary information and would then receive a quotation.

Why is process automation becoming more popular? Advances in technology and technological literacy are making it easier to implement, which allows employers to gain some significant advantages. Understanding your business processes and training your employees in your processes will contribute to efficiency, aid in increasing scalability, provide heightened levels of accountability and supply valuable data that can be used to further improve company systems.

Business Process Management

Hit two birds with one stone! Properly applying business process management to your company can conveniently aid both target clients and business firms alike. Having an end to end process that can actively point out what your customer wants and make it work for the benefit of the company is one of the simple formulas for success. Run your business with a sharp approach using this method.

This process offers a sense of balance and continuity to your business. Balance in a way that the cycle of expenses, costs and tasks are in perfect harmony. The procedure allows your business to be constantly balanced by adjusting factors that can get always get your company back on track. Continuity is expressed through having a steady and consistent flow of work that is produced through this process. Growth and development does not cease within the company, it just goes round like a wheel, constantly changing and improving.

It is a straight forward process that can effectively determine the necessary steps that your company has to take so that it can deliver what your client requires of you. It is the kill switch of all business battle plans as having a competent business process management can either make or break your company. This is a tool that can help your employees understand their specific duties so that they can accomplish their work more effectively.

It is a constantly evolving mechanism that allows your organization to constantly improve and develop so that you are able to meet your goals in an efficient manner. It also expresses qualities of adaptability, as steps and processes can vary over a period of time depending on the current needs of the company. Successfully track your company's standing and act upon weak spots and exploit strong points.

Dynamically identify and organize future actions plans for your company. The process allows you to forecast future challenges within your company so that you can take the necessary action to preempt these future problems form from happening. This is a most useful attribute that can definitely give your business the edge over the competition.

Pro actively incorporate business process management into your business and immediately feel the impact it brings to your company. You will no longer venture blindly into the business world. Use this process to be a step ahead of everybody else. Never worry about external and internal challenges ever again.

How Business Process Management Helps Your Business

Business technology has transformed the way businesses operate and execute their processes. In contrast to earlier approaches of process management, businesses nowadays are more intelligent and efficient in terms of productivity and customer satisfaction. As customers are becoming more informed and qualified at a professional level, it has now become a necessity for a business to align themselves with the customer's needs.

In order to optimize the performance of an organization and align it with forthcoming changes, Business Process Management (BPM) systems are incorporated. These systems allow executives of an organization to analyze, monitor and measure company resources to optimize the cost of operations. It also helps to enhance the efficiency and eventually the productivity, reducing the risks and errors to optimize these resources.

Some other key benefits and objectives associated for deploying a business process management system are:

• Analytical Innovation: A BPM solution provides a detailed analysis of any new process before stimulating the changes and projects the Return on Investment during the study. Process modeling is also included in a BPM methodology which structures the current process and proposed process and compares the benefits for an organization for such changes.
• Reliability: Proper and periodic recording and monitoring of the information improves the reliability of information for an organization. Important information availability to business decision makers for making time-sensitive and crucial decisions is practiced with BPM. This improves the success rate of every business decision and improves the productivity and hence, the profit of the organization.
• Compliance and control: Distributed geographical location of an organization sometimes creates differences in the policies, procedures and other business metrics within an organization. It can give rise to a few compatibility issues between enterprise processes, however deploying a BPM system standardizes all the processes, procedures and policies followed inside an organization. This delivers the improved control over the business operations and ensures compliance within the company.
• Avoid wastage: As resource optimization is one of the key aspects of BPM, it eventually reduces the redundant utilization of corporate resources. A BPM system helps in assigning and monitoring the utilization of resources for business processes which can dramatically reduce the wastage and enhance efficiency of resources. Periodic auditing further contributes in resource optimization by identifying the possible areas of potential inefficiency and wastage.

BPM also creates a transparency for providing end-to-end visibility of performance to the process owners and also incorporates performance measurement across the organization to highlight KPIs i.e. Key Performance Indicators and problem areas so as to rectify them for optimizing the resources utilization.

Business Process Management Resources

Business process management resources are valuable repositories of details regarding the management of any business. One such main resource is the Internet. There are a lot of websites offering guidance for managing business processes in order to run a very competitive and cost effective company. Even though several companies and agencies come forward with references to business process management resources through their websites, only a few among them are trustful.

Through the Internet, you get ample options to browse through a large collection of articles related to the management of business processes. You also get a chance to ask your questions on the forums. There are some websites providing links to sites devoted to business process management. These provide information about the latest software tools developed for business processes. These tools are the business process management systems. A software tool must be installed only after understanding the business processes well. If the processes are not clear then incorporating BPM technology will create more confusion. There are numerous websites offering a free evaluation copy of these software tools so that a concern can implement it to see whether that software is beneficial.

There are leaning centers which conduct effective seminars and presentations to show entrepreneurs and established businesses possible ways to increase performance and produce desired results. The faculty members of these institutions provide appropriate and effective training. Some institutions conduct the courses specifically for your organization. Most of the establishments arrange classes in both in-house and off-site formats. Students also get practical advice from experienced instructors and well designed course materials.

Other business process management resources include books and consultancies. Many books related to business process management can be purchased online itself. The books also include pocket guides that describe quality improvement tools.

What Business Processes Are Essential For Your New Business

There are two ways to interpret the phrase 'business processes'. We can assume it refers to equipment you use for specific tasks in running your business, such as the telephone, fax machine, computer etc. Or we can interpret it on a more 'global' level, in reference to a group of activities that culminate in the production of your product or service. Here, we will discuss the latter.

There are three kinds of business processes essential for any enterprise, venture or business, regardless of its age: Management Processes, Operational Processes and Supporting Processes. Organizing your business into types of processes, and through a clear schedule of steps, will make success that much easier to attain.

Management Processes

These are the processes which govern the operation of the system. The planning of the business and the control of its performance falls under this heading. How you choose to execute your activities (strategy), project management, and corporate governance all apply here. These are large sub-headings on their own, but their importance and manpower vary according to the size of your venture. In a corporate setting, senior management is responsible for management processes, however in a new business this task may be taken on by a partner or investor.

Operational Processes

This is the core of any business. It generates the most revenue, and has the highest costs. If something falls out of sync here, very often the whole house of cards will fall. Purchasing, manufacturing, advertising, marketing, sales and research are all part of the operations. Market sensing processes usually take place before business activities begin, and should continue at regular intervals from then on. Customer acquisition processes are important operations at every stage of business. Keeping your product or service current and maintaining superior customer services are part of customer acquisition and customer relationship management process.

Supporting Processes

This is usually the last process to fall into place, and the first to go when a business is failing. The supporting processes aid in the core operations and can include services such as accounting, human resources and technical support. In the beginning of a venture, small business owners often try to save capital by performing these duties themselves or have a family member assist them. This can be a great way to save, if the core skills are there. As the business grows, and especially in the case of accounting tasks, it is advisable to have a professional take over. In small business, it is very common to use outside entities for human resource services. In this manner there is a better chance for a good candidate being chosen and the cost is most always reasonable. Consider the cost of hiring, training, and then having to let them go because they were not the right fit will cost much more than just letting a professional help you.

Each of these heading can be broken down into sub-processes which can sometimes become more important than the original heading. As long as the purpose of each process is focused on aiding the consumer, it will be valuable. When you are beginning to design your processes, start with a mission statement such as 'I want my service to evolve with technical trends'. Then you can compose a strategic management plan which is closely linked to an operational management sub-process which will include research. Another example is 'I want my product to have 100% turnover each month'. Your process to accomplish this goal will involve the purchasing and inventory management sub processes under the operational process umbrella.

Starting a new business is exciting and scary all at once. If you have a good business plan, enough capital, and a marketable idea, then you have a good beginning. Those things do not guarantee success, you need to continue on and develop your essential business processes. Then you have a better chance for success.