Most of the outsourced services are carried out onshore, with just an estimated 5% using offshore outsourcing operations, according to an AMI Partners report. Midsize businesses appear to be stagnating in their adoption of business process outsourcing, according to a survey conducted by Access Markets International Partners.

Announced Thursday, the survey compares BPO figures from three years ago with current figures and comes to the conclusion that midsize businesses' -- companies with 100 to 999 employees -- use of BPO has remained static at about 60% over the three-year period. "The lack of momentum in BPO usage implies that midsize businesses' wants and needs -- such as improved processes, turnaround time, and cost-cutting goals -- are not being met," said Melissa Chong, an AMI Partners research analyst, in a statement.

"Midsize businesses in the U.S. have over the years reported revenue growth of 7% to 8%, slightly higher than actual GDP growth. In addition, the need for cost control and decreasing operating costs is of high concern among U.S. midsize businesses." AMI Partners said its surveys found that three years ago, 97,000 U.S. midsize businesses did some level of BPO, while that percentage remained roughly the same at 60% of the 99,000 similar-sized businesses surveyed recently. The market research firm noted that most of the outsourced services are carried out onshore, with just an estimated 5% using offshore outsourcing operations.

The primary selling points for midsize businesses, Chong said, are cost control and obtaining greater efficiency in non-strategic processes. However, she said these businesses don't seem to be reacting to those benefits. AMI Partners observed that just 3% of these companies use BPO front-office outsourcing such as customer support and call centers. Back-office business functions like payroll and accounting are the most common business processes that are outsourced, the market research firm said. Source: W. David Gardner - InformationWeek