Defining the Seismic Shift from Legacy BPO to BPaaS

​As the sourcing industry explores the next threshold of value from their operations, beyond externalizing and standardizing business processes and technology support in lower cost global locations, the number of references to “BPaaS”—business process as a service—is increasing. We believe BPaaS will become a common way to partner for services that will deliver business outcomes through sourcing in what we call the “As-a-Service Economy.” And, while it may replace some of what we have addressed through BPO, it will not completely replace it.

We believe that platform-based BPO—outsourcing that increasingly uses tools and technologies to automate and complete activities—and BPaaS are examples of what we at HfS call “Plug-and-Play Digital Business Services.” In this POV we explore the meaning of BPaaS and its relationship with BPO, define how HfS thinks of BPaaS and what it means for the sourcing industry.​