My team frequently advises clients on ways to optimize their global footprint or as we call it, their “Place Strategy.” Place Strategy is focused on aligning location, workplace, culture and technology with future business demands, resulting in impactful real estate and workplace solutions that increase innovation, productivity and business returns.

As an output of this strategy, we have seen more and more companies looking to Business Process Outsource (BPO)/customer service centers as a cost-saving measure.  This begs the question: Are the traditional BPO locations still ranking on top, or is there an opportunity for our clients to be considering new, emerging locations?

In a recent study (.pdf), we looked at markets in the USA, Latin America, South/Southeast Asia that already maintained and demonstrated a political and economic environment supportive of a BPO or a technology industry employment base by multinational companies. We see each market has their own unique characteristics, as we dive into below. Dependent upon future business requirements, companies today have the opportunity to select BPO locations that fall in line with their own unique business requirements rather than traditional, text book locations.

USA
Not surprisingly, the southwestern region exemplifies strong political-economic conditions given the strong balance of labor quality, cost and accessibility. The markets we identified have a track-record for outsource operations coupled with ample labor pools to support the scale we defined in the study.  Sophisticated customer service solutions and areas with proven call center track records allow for a BPO region that supports local, USA-based companies.

Latin America Region
Latin America is known for multilingual populations so the key for companies looking for BPOs in this region is focused on areas that have not been oversubscribed and can support the appropriate scale. Buenos Aires and Gualajara exemplify the benefits of multilingualism, however emerging markets in Columbia and Panama are beginning to compete with the traditional markets.

Asia Pacific (India/SE Asia)
Not surprisingly, India’s cities exemplify the benefits of an excellent labor force and present a majority of the opportunities. A robust economic environment with large densities of high-quality labor allows companies to select from a competitive array of locations. Companies may also consider additional criteria based on their requirements, including country- and market-level factors such as tax and real state costs.

For a copy of the complete white paper, please click here.

As Executive Managing Director of the Strategy & Innovation Service Line for Corporate Solutions, Chris leads three practice areas including Lease Administration, Technology Services (including Colliers 360) and Consulting Services. Chris was awarded the Colliers 2014 Innovation Award for his work developing data-driven workplace solutions.