Business Process Outsourcing Risks: The Diverging Views

by Yuwei Shi

The results of a recent Cutter Consortium survey of 97 business-IT professionals, reported in my previous Executive Update (Vol. 7, No. 20), reveal a complex structure of business process outsourcing (BPO) risks. The strategic risks that BPO client organizations face are tangled up with the project risks and means to reducing those project risks. It is not enough to manage and succeed in a BPO project. Client organizations have to be mindful about the potential hazard brought by even a successfully managed BPO project to their long-term viability. However, when the professionals surveyed are grouped by their BPO project and company characteristics, the divergences of their views emerge. These divergent views further demonstrate the complex nature of the BPO risks.