Program and Project Management Considerations

To increase the probability of success, organizations must use a structured approach to managing the [KPO] outsourcing opportunity. Organizations can pursue a KPO strategy directly without any prior BPO experience, although organizations with BPO experience will have a shorter learning curve and less risk. Outsourcing efforts should start by forming a team that will identify opportunities to outsource as KPO. This team should perform a thorough analysis of the organization to identify opportunities for outsourcing and it should represent all relevant functions of the business. The team must be aware of the organization's strategic intent and the objectives of the outsourcing effort. The project manager should be someone with prior experience in outsourcing projects and a high level of empathy given the human aspect of the project. In some organizations a central group is created to oversee the outsourcing efforts. This group can provide consistency in the way outsourcing projects are managed, evaluate adherence to outsourcing methodologies and monitor the on-going performance of the vendor. KPO vendor selection must be based on whether the vendor can provide a significant competitive advantage and must be able to provide the required talent and skills. Selecting the process or function to outsource should also be done on a phased approach from lowest risk to highest risk. During the first phase only simple processes can be considered. A second phase can include processes with low cross functional dependencies. A third phase should deal with the more complex processes.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Knowledge Process Outsourcing can provide value and allow companies to focus on increasing revenue growth while providing challenging and progressive positions to employees that want to move into supervisory and monitoring roles. KPO offers a great opportunity to outsource analytical intensive processes that contribute to the development of new products, evaluate new markets and offer new services. KPO continues to grow and is becoming a core option for business strategists. Large and small organizations can now take advantage of the KPO model since it requires deep knowledge and not the high volume transactions associated with BPO efforts. To increase the probabilities of success, a phased approach to selecting the outsourcing candidates must be performed using a program and project management approach with executive buy-in and cross-functional representation. Standard project management methodologies must be followed and most importantly a two-way communication with the KPO vendor must be maintained throughout to ensure on-going success.