By FARA AISYAH

Malaysia’s business process outsourcing (BPO) market is predicted to reach RM6 billion and grow at a compound annual rate of 7.9% by 2021, according to the International Data Corp (IDC).

The growth will be driven by the increase in demand for the customer care segment and high-end analytics solution by Malaysian enterprises, the IDC noted in its “Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Market in Malaysia 2017” research findings last Friday.

IDC Asean head of services Sreenath Kandarpah said enterprises in Malaysia will increase their efficiency by improving the overall customer experience, integrating better applications and upgrading their flexibility and innovation in business processes.

“Majority of Malaysian enterprises will eventually rely on BPO providers for assistance as they have the experiences and resources required.” Enterprises that implement digital transformation initiatives in their business will be fraught with challenges due to the lack of expertise to assist in the transition process.

Therefore, to stay competitive in the market, enterprises will eventually seek out BPO providers for assistance as they have the experiences and resources required.

“As the market demand increases, we expect BPO providers to leverage on the third platform technology such as the cloud, social, big data and analytics and mobility technologies to transform their traditional business processes to automated processes,” Kandarpah said.

Local BPO players need to develop or acquire intellectual property for automation, advanced analytics solutions and standardised business pro- cess as a service that enables better business outcome deliveries to their customers.

Investing in skilled resources aligned to the big data and analytics initiatives is the key market differentiator.

IDC’s Asia Pacific senior market analyst of business and IT services group Sherrel Roche said the BPO industry is continuing to transform from being a tactical cost-saving centre to achieving operational efficiencies.

“BPO service providers are now focused on strengthening their platform-based and automation services including using advanced analytics to transform the business processes,” she added.

The total BPO market in 2016 is mainly made up of human resources and finance and accounting sectors, followed by customer care sector at 14% and procurement sector being the smallest segment at 9%.