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Some of the major BPO companies in Australia assembled last week in Sydney to give their imprimatur to the establishment of the BPOAA.

“Australia is in the midst of dramatic growth for outsourcing, making this an opportune time to establish a Business Processing Outsourcing Association. I believe some of the major benefits of this organisation will be to expand business consciousness of the advantages of outsourcing,” remarked Richard Switzky, Managing Partner of Publicis Solutions.

There are many issues facing the nascent industry, including the government drafting new regulations to require ISP’s to store browsing histories for law-enforcement agencies to be able to access. Given that we will see a bigger uptake of customer contact via electronic means including social media into businesses, this is a worrying development for the industry especially so close on the heels of the Do Not Call legislation.

Barry Cottrill, CEO of Customers 1 to 1, one of Australia’s leading 24/7 BPO operations said, “I welcome the formation of the BPOAA and envisage that it has the potential to make a valid contribution towards our industry and over time provide that all important universal and consistent voice on relevant issues for mutual benefit.”

Up until this point in time the $2 Billion plus industry has had no centralised and specific body to look after its interests. The BPO space is very broad it ranges from outsourced customer service and all aspects of voice services to back office processes, which may include all of the different areas of accounting processes, debt collection to medical, and legal reporting and transcriptions. In the future, the BPOAA will have members who work in outsourced printing, software and application development, architecture and engineering, graphic design, animation, HR  (RPO) payroll outsourcing, and Carbon Management Outsourcing (CMO) to name but a few sectors that it will eventually touch.

Scott McCorkell, MD of McCorkell & Associates, is strongly behind the concept and agrees with Cottrill, “It is long overdue for the BPO sector to have a voice and a forum through which shared issues, opportunities and challenges can be addressed.  We applaud the advent of the BPOAA; it is a valuable, intelligent initiative.”

The fledgling association has already received informal pledges of support and affiliation from BPO industry bodies in Europe, and the USA.

The main reason that the association is being formed is to promote industry growth in Australia.

The Association will move to improve BPO performance standards (via the establishment of a voluntary Code of Conduct detailing acceptable behaviors and practices and developing an accredited training and development programme for industry participants). According to Richard Switzky, “It’s important to establish standards of acceptable behaviors and practices, and ensure favorable legislation is passed to further the interests of both providers and users of outsourcing.”

The Association will reject unlawful and unacceptable commercial practices and will work to forestall unwelcome legislative regulations that impede productivity and growth through ignorance or poor communication.

The analysts tell us that the BPO industry in Australia across the board is now worth around $1.5 to $6B (depending on which analyst you follow) – the point is that thousands of Australians are relying upon the industry for their livelihood. As a point of comparison, the BPO sector in the Philippines is currently worth US$10 – 12 B and already employs over ½ million people. India’s BPO industry currently employs 1 million people, while also providing indirect employment to 3.5 million people. Customers 1 to 1’s Cottrill believes ‘That the new association will provide a universal voice for our industry, allow us to network with our peers and generate business growth for mutual benefit – long overdue.”

The Sauce weekly newsletter will act as the first voice of the association until such time as it builds its own online presence.

Some Industry issues raised in the initial meeting include:

• Breakfast briefings to keep members abreast of market developments and to network;
• Input to ‘Do Not Call Register’ issues, including B2B calling, B2B faxes and B2B SMS;
• The storage of browsing histories for law-enforcement agencies to be able to access;
• Helping the industry to understand how to leverage off social media;
• Introduction of professional standards and accreditation;
• Regular events and a yearly conference.

There was overwhelming support for the foundation of the BPOAA, and an initial ‘steering’ committee of Martin Conboy, Bill Lyons of FooBoo and Richard Switzky of Publicis Solutions agreed to take all necessary initial steps to breathe life into the BPOAA. It is expected that a general meeting will be held within 3 months to ratify the operating rules and objectives. It is anticipated that there will be a call to start a Melbourne chapter as soon as possible. At the upcoming general meeting there will be a call for nominations of an initial advisory board and other office bearers. This expanded committee would then consult on a wider membership and business Agenda for the association.

The Association has already received some financial pledges in order to get it established from its supporters.

Anybody interested in joining the BPOAA should contact Peter Springett at pspringett@foobooonline.com or call on 0416 212 199.

Any company with a business registered to operate in Australia may join.

Membership is open to companies that use BPO services or supply the BPO vendors, Academics, and interested government departments.