Recently, Business Process Outsourcing (“BPO”) has experienced a substantial growth and is expected to accelerate in coming years. Factors that have contributed to the growth in Europe are the creation of the European Monetary Union and the increasing trend to centralize European operations as well as the slowing economy. Actually, BPO is rather independent of economic cycles. Outsourcing grows in good and bad times because companies will focus on cost cutting and growth expansion respectively.

BPO means delegating non-core business processes and IT-related processes to specialist outsource partners who are constantly up to date on the latest developments. These processes include back-office operations, such as accounting, human resources, training, logistics management, tax compliance and customer relations. BPO is no longer considered solely as a cost-cutting measure, but more increasingly as a business strategy which allows companies to streamline their back-office operations, focus on their core competencies and bring products faster to market while running with lower overhead. Costs are more controllable and predictable and the capital saved in BPO (a rough estimate is that firms can save at least 15% of what it would cost to handle everything themselves) can be strategically redirected. In addition, the specialist outsource partners often provide a level of IT service that their clients can't match.

The search for a service provider to take on business processes often yields niche providers as well as the well known names in the industry, such as CSC, EDS, and IBM Global Services. Companies can target a service provider for a specific function, or they can sign a contract with a large service provider that covers multiple functions.

	focus on core competencies
	cost saving
	avail of specialist expertise
	focus on strategic growth
	maintain/reduce head count

In the Netherlands, Price Waterhouse Coopers is one of the first Big Five firms that opened a cross-border outsourcing facility anywhere in Europe with its Centre of Excellence in Rotterdam since 1997. One of the requirements to succeed in their pan-European service operation was technically skilled, multilingual employees. Rotterdam was one of the few locations in Europe where they could find people to meet and exceed our clients' expectations. The Netherlands is a prime location as there is political stability and a sound telecommunications infrastructure. Additionally, an excellent technical skill pool can be drawn upon.