There’s a good chance you’ve interacted with business process outsourcing (BPO) services without even realizing it. Call centers, IT departments, and quality assurance services are often handled by third-party BPO providers.

For startups and small businesses where time, money, and manpower are all in short supply, outsourcing solutions provide a smart and scalable way to get things done. Larger companies, too, often prefer to keep their focus on what they do best and offload the rest to skilled third-party pros.

Let’s break down what business process outsourcing is, the various types of BPO services available, and how this type of partnership can give your organization a boost.

What is business process outsourcing?

Business process outsourcing is a strategic partnership where a company hires an external service provider to take on certain business tasks. 

These functions can span the entire business spectrum—from creative design and customer service to procurement and payroll.

For instance:

• A clothing startup might outsource graphic design.
• A manufacturing company may partner with a BPO provider for inventory tracking.
• A healthcare organization might rely on a vendor for medical billing.

Companies lean on BPO services when they need to scale fast, access specialized skills, or cut down on costs. Building out entire departments in-house is time-consuming and expensive. 

With outsourcing solutions, you can plug into a skilled team without going through hiring hoops.

Customer service is a great example. Outsourcing customer support allows you to scale up coverage, handle after-hours inquiries, and provide consistently responsive care—all without burning out your core team.

BPO services: front office vs. back office

Business process outsourcing generally falls into two camps: front office and back office.

These terms don’t refer to where your outsourcing company is actually located, but to the types of tasks they’ll be performing.

Front office BPO services

These include all customer-facing tasks, like:

• Call center services
• Sales outreach
• Market research
• Web design
• MVP or app development

Basically, if it touches your customer experience, it’s front office—and often ripe for outsourcing.

Back office BPO services

Back office BPO includes critical behind-the-scenes tasks:

• Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO)
• Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO)
• IT-Enabled Services (ITES)
• Human Resources (HR)
• Executive and Virtual Assistant support

These typically “non-core” tasks aren’t part of a company’s primary business activities, but they help the organization in areas like compliance regulation or data security. 

For example, an outsourced executive assistant can take scheduling, inbox management, and admin work off your plate—without needing a full-time hire. 

Offshore, onshore, and nearshore: where in the world is your BPO?

Location matters in business process outsourcing. Here's how the geography of your BPO services can shape your strategy:

Offshore outsourcing

Your outsourcing partner is based in another country—often with lower labor costs. Offshore outsourcing solutions are popular for:

• Customer support
• Tech support
• QA testing

It’s a solid way to scale while keeping your local team focused on core activities.

Onshore outsourcing

Here, your BPO provider operates within your own country. While it may cost more than offshore, it offers shared language, currency, time zone, and regulations—ideal for complex areas like legal or HR.

Nearshore outsourcing

This middle-ground approach involves outsourcing to a nearby country. This offers some of the same advantages of offshore outsourcing, such as lower labor costs, while keeping some benefits of onshore outsourcing, such as sharing a time zone.

A U.S.-based company might work with a BPO team in Latin America to enjoy both lower costs and time zone overlap.

Why do companies use business process outsourcing?

Often, working with a third-party service provider makes more sense than building a new department from scratch or rapidly scaling your customer service team.

Here are the three main reasons companies turn to outsourcing solutions:

1. You’re growing (fast!)

If you run a small business or startup, you and your teammates are probably used to doing a variety of tasks in-house. 

But as your company grows, outsourcing certain responsibilities can help you focus on your core business activities.

Launching a new department or hiring new team members takes time. BPO services help you scale quickly—without scrambling to hire and train new employees.

2. You need specialized skills

Let’s face it: hiring a full-time in-house legal team or HR department doesn’t make sense for every business. Business process outsourcing gives you access to pros who already know the ropes.

BPO companies that offer specific services–such as content moderation, customer support, or quality assurance–can help you reduce your team’s focus on work that’s outside your area of expertise.

3. You want to save money

Business process outsourcing can help you save on operational costs and equipment expenses. That’s partly because your BPO vendor may be based in a city or country with a lower cost of labor. 

Further, because the BPO will take the lead in hiring and training your outsourced team, you’ll save time and money in these areas, as well.

Smart outsourcing meets smarter AI

Welcome to the future of business process outsourcing—where artificial intelligence is no longer optional, it's essential.

Forward-thinking companies are blending human talent with AI to deliver faster, smarter, and more scalable outsourcing solutions. 

Smart BPO providers use AI to supercharge their teams—not replace them. It’s not man vs. machine, it’s man + machine. 

The result? Efficiency, cost savings, and lightning-fast turnarounds for your business.

In conclusion

Whether you’re scaling support, building a product, or just trying to get through your to-do list without cloning yourself—business process outsourcing might just be your business’s new secret weapon.

Want more customer service insights, tips, and tricks? Check out the PartnerHero blog.

Need a little help with your customer support or some assistance from Augmented AI? Get in touch, and let’s have a chat—no strings attached!