The Philippines business process outsourcing (BPO) industry has emerged as one of the country's economic pillars. BPO comes as an offshoot of the global economy as companies attempt to have strategic advantage via assignment of certain operational functions to a third-party in areas where it costs less to do the same amount of work.  

BPO is referred to by some as offshoring (in recognition of political and socio-economic realities) via information technology enabled services (ITES).  There are also growing subsets or offshoots of BPO such as knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) and "out-tasking" (ie, hybrid arrangement wherein specific tasks are assigned to a vendor while more effective and critical operational control remains with the client).  It has been estimated that the global "addressable" BPO market is worth upwards of $150 billion.

Integral components of BPO include derivation of mutual benefit by the parties involved (with appropriate respect to the inherent rights of the client), data integrity and security, and compliance with applicable country-specific trade, legal, and/or international laws.  Potential benefits aside from cost reduction include more efficient delivery, improved productivity, and stimulus for innovation. Among the leading BPO countries/regions include India, the Philippines,  Pakistan, China, Egypt, South Africa, and Eastern Europe.  

The challenging environment facing businesses all over the world has served as one of the factors for the growth of the Philippine BPO industry as it evolves to provide for the needs of multinational organizations. 

(Video from youtube.com; posted by BizManagementPhils 10.04.11)