More
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Featured
Local content
Sustainability and environment
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Featured
Global organisation strategy
Global product and service innovation
Global technology strategy
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Featured
The 2021 GCC business sentiment survey
The Ministry of the Future
inbold, Middle East podcast
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Featured
Our heritage
Press room
Our Middle East offices
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
Featured
Qadat
Loading Results
No Match Found
From back office to strategy room
Viewpoint
Business process outsourcing (BPO) providers in the Middle East, particularly in the GCC countries, have a significant growth opportunity. The industry is changing, and regional demand is taking off. In the past, BPO was a low-margin business focused on cost optimization. Providers operated call centers and offered such back-office services as payroll and invoice processing. Companies are now offering more value-added services, and increasingly sophisticated technologies are automating many traditional BPO functions.
Download the report
Until recently, the GCC’s BPO market was underdeveloped. That is no longer the case. The GCC market is now growing more than 10 percent annually, which is faster than the expected global growth rate. Greater government outsourcing of public-sector services is behind some of that rising demand.
“We estimate that the GCC market for BPO services could exceed $2 billion in 2025, which represents a significant opportunity for regional players.”
BPO providers in the GCC need to mature and scale up if they are to grow in this market. These firms will need to decrease their focus on cost optimization, and instead seize the chance to offer value-added services. To compete more effectively, regional players need to change their approach substantially, upgrading their technological capabilities, filling the talent gap, and exploiting their knowledge of the regional market. The BPO sector in the GCC can improve public-sector efficiency and delivery, while assisting with more private-sector growth, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The region’s BPO providers need to take six initiatives in order to capture GCC market opportunities. Each initiative requires action in multiple areas to position BPO providers for success:
A more skilled workforce will be needed for the new generation of BPO. For BPO providers, this means more focus on training existing talent, talent acquisition, and a value proposition that retains top performers.
BPO providers in the GCC need to raise their investment in building digital capabilities and integrate technologies such as AI, data analytics, and cloud capabilities, into their daily activities.
Providers can create a team focused on pricing, solutions, offer design, and bid management that will propose new models.
BPO providers need to think about how to continuously evaluate their offerings, rather than have a fixed menu that they stick to. They will need to redesign their customer life-cycle management product and service portfolio to shift to multichannel customer management.
BPO companies still need to convince small- and medium-sized businesses of the value of their services. They will need to invest in business development capabilities that enable them to provide advice and guidance to customers.
Regional BPO providers could build partnerships with large telecom players or establish a presence through digital channels. They could also use third-party resellers to reach SMEs and other smaller customers.
From back office to strategy room
{{item.publishDate}}
{{item.publishDate}}
Wissam Abdel Samad
Partner, Strategy& Middle East
Christian Stechel
Principal, Strategy& Middle East
Gaurav Pagaria
Principal, Strategy& Middle East
© 2019 – 2022 PwC. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.