India has been a pioneer in providing outsourcing solutions and has been providing a range of outsourcing services to countries across the globe. Combined revenue of the IT and IT Enabled Services (ITES) that includes Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) was USD 52 billion in the year 2007-08.

Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a broad term referring to outsourcing in all fields. A BPO differentiates itself by either putting in new technology or applying existing technology in a new way to improve a process. BPO is one of the fastest growing segments of the Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) industry. Indian BPO industry includes basic data and market research, equity research, management, engineering design, animation and simulation, medical content & services and education and publishing.

It is the evolution and maturity of the Indian BPO sector that has given rise to yet another wave in the global outsourcing scenario of Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO). In other words, success achieved by many overseas companies in outsourcing business process operations to India has encouraged them to start outsourcing their high-end knowledge work as well. India as a major KPO player in the world has inherent advantages because of its intellectual and internet resource.

Outsourcing to India give organizations a competitive edge in the form of:

• Cost-effective services without compromising on quality due to a large pool of educated, trained and highly-skilled professionals;
• High-quality services due to use of the latest in software, technology and infrastructure;
• Time Zone advantage between India and countries in the U.S and U.K, helps companies provide 24x7x365 days customer support or helpdesk services;
• Democratic set up and stable Government which has been giving complete support for expansion of the IT and ITES industry in India; etc.

It is due to all such advantages, the number of organizations outsourcing services to India has only been increasing over the years. According to industry estimates, Knowledge Process Outsourcing industry is expected to reach USD 17 billion by 2010, of which USD 12 billion would be outsourced to India. Another report predicts that India will capture more than 70 percent of the KPO sector by 2010.