BPO outsourcing to grow at 3.3% a year

The US outsourcing, project-based services, and support and training services markets are anticipated to experience moderate overall growth over the next 5 years, according to IDC, with growth within select industries exceeding market averages. While the growth of outsourcing services within the discrete manufacturing, banking, and government sectors will hover around the market average, at about 9.3%, growth within the communications industry is expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.7%. Increased adoption of business process outsourcing (BPO) services within communications firms is expected to occur as they prioritize the outsourcing of key business processes, such as customer care and other back-office functions, to respond to competitive challenges faced from a host of technologies and players.

The overall CAGR for project-based services is expected to be 3.3% over the five year forecast period. Banking, government, and healthcare, as well as what IDC terms other financial services, will be the industries in which the highest growth rates will occur. Healthcare will have an above average CAGR, an estimated 5% from 2005-2009. Driving this growth will be the increased need to utilize project-based services to gain advice, education, and implementation solutions that maximize the healthcare industry's investments in technology and process redesign as a means to improve productivity, manage costs, and increase patient satisfaction. A close second in terms of growth prospects, enterprise-wide integration projects, as well as retail advisor front-office integration and compliance considerations, will fuel the need for project-based services for securities and investment research firms.