By positive economic movement in central and eastern Europe, the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the call center outsourcing market is likely to grow at a steady pace. The vast majority of large, medium and small businesses in EMEA continue to seek cost reductions, focus on building core competencies and gain economies of scale through smart investments in outsourcing. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, EMEA Contact Center Outsourcing Market, reveals that the market earned revenues of $11.20 billion in 2006 and estimates to reach $16 billion in 2012.
"While the UK outsourcing market is very mature and has almost reached saturation, there are significant opportunities in other European nations," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Michael DeSalles. "The Netherlands along with Central and Eastern Europe hold tremendous promise for new outsourcing contracts, especially in financial services, communications and information technology."
There is a significant percentage of in-house (not outsourced) business in EMEA that represents a rich, viable opportunity for outsourcing providers to gain more wallet share. To some, it may be a surprise that contact center offshoring for EMEA is taking place in Northern Africa, particularly Egypt and Tunisia for French–speaking customer care. South Africa is fast becoming another important contact center destination for UK clients. Given the current status of contact center technology, distance is no impediment in the quest for less expensive call center destinations – often outside the European continent.
In this very complex and fragmented market, successful providers have come to grips with the fact that they must provide native-tongue, multilingual agent capabilities – often termed a 'pan-European' solution to attract and keep key clients.
"Not unlike the trend in North America, enterprises serving customers in EMEA look to enhance customer experience through high quality contact center interactions," explains DeSalles. "Customer retention activity is becoming more important with growth in outbound calling to expand company value and branding with existing customers and acquire new ones."
Increasingly, clients are looking for outsourcing service providers that offer comprehensive, globally expansive solution sets. This helps to mitigate operational (and political) risks without sacrificing quality or customer retention and satisfaction. From a technological perspective, the emergence of IP technology along with hosted contact center offerings, have been important drivers for EMEA outsourcing growth.
The EMEA Contact Center Outsourcing Market is part of the Contact Centers Growth Partnership Service, and it provides an overview of this customer care outsourcing sub-set. It includes a complete analysis of key market challenges, drivers, restraints and trends that are impacting market penetration and growth in the industry. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysis thoroughly outlines market size, market share by major providers, and pricing strategies. Interviews are available to the press.
Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company's industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies and the investment community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies, econometrics and demographics.
