What is the difference between BPO and KPO?

The elements that separate these two processes are focus, process,
specialization, driving force, activities, and client contacts.

BPO has a process which is much more simple than KPO. While BPO
places an emphasis on low level processes, KPO places an emphasis on
high level processes such as patent filing, investment research, and
legal issues. When it comes to focus, KPO focuses on the application of
knowledge rather than processes. The differences in specialization
between are primary connected to their domains.

Most BPO workers do not need to have a large amount of knowledge in

any specific areas. The primary requirements for BPO workers are a
high command of the English language and simple computer skills.

In contrast, KPO workers are expected to specialize in specific fields.

Some examples of fields where KPO workers are expected to have
specialized knowledge are financial analysis. These professionals are
expected to be qualified as a CA or MBA. When it comes to driving
force, again, KPO companies place an greater important on knowledge
rather than business processes. This is the exact opposite of BPO
companies. The activities of KPOs are different from BPOs as well. Any
activity that requires specialized knowledge will be connected to KPO,
while BPO will use a rigid structure for handling business procedures.

KPO workers can expect to deal with international clients on a regular

basis. They will be responsible for communication issues, and direct
communication will be essential in situations where complicated tasks
must be performed.

A number of people have said that there are few differences between
KPOs and BPOs. In reality, KPOs are simply one end of the spectrum.
The KPO is an extension of the BPO, and allows businesses and
organizations to carry out a large number of processes. There are a
number of powerful advantages that can be gained from Knowledge
Process Outsourcing.
When work is outsourced to other countries, companies in the
developed nations can save large amounts of money on the cost of
manufacture. A number of studies have indicated that these savings
are as much as 40% to 70%. In addition to this, the profits that are
created by the use of KPOs are double the revenues that are obtained
from BPOs.

While BPOs have statistically brought in about $11 per hour, KPOs have
been shown to bring in as much as $24 per hour. Perhaps one of the
most powerful advantages of Knowledge Process Outsourcing are the
advantages it brings to developing countries. By generating revenues
from this industry, a country can become more prosperous.

You require high skills to work for KPO when compare to BPO for
Eg.any graduate can work for BPO..the area of work will be some thing
like order processing or even web development or document
processing of Insurance comp and so on

when it comes to KPO

you require high and professional qualifications

for E.g. pharmaceutical company wants R&DA work (research and
development ) for its new drug or for new drug discovery or a Law firm
hands over its case study to CAPO for the legal case ...above these two
cases you need to be highly qualified some thing like PHT in Pharmacy
or Chemistry ,Misc.M.Pharm etc. the second eg I gave you .one has to
be a LAB graduate with experience. you may have heard about a
professional from Bangalore has drafted a speech for British top
politician.. this is called Knowledge out sourcing (KPO also comes
under BP only ) KPO is lucrative also

For above fields HR activities though doesn't vary much however there
will be some difference they could be

1.for KPO- you will have to recruit professionally qualified or highly

skilled people

2interacting with such people for a junior HR wouldn’t be that easy

3.some times HR Dep’t will have to act according to their beck and call

4.retaining them is also another head ache

5.since the quality of the work what the parent company expects that
has to be fulfilled for that you have to hire right candidates .

when it comes to BPO

HR Dpt. is center of all activities and some what you can say "HR will
be ruling with the iron feast " in fact the HR should not

KPO is a new upcoming field on the similar lines to BPO (in its business model). The
key difference between those two is that KPO - Knowledge PO - you would have to do
research to identify the required factors for a particular requirement. This would most
likely be an input for the business at a particular area. For example, the percentage of
people in Bangalore, Singapore who would be interested in using blac berry.
But BPO - Business PO is nothing but canvassing people to start using some product or
to resolve any problems that they would having with the product

n the most basic sense, a good way to think about the differences between
BPO and KPO is that BPO refers to the outsourcing of more basic business
activities, such as transaction processing, whereas KPO refers to the
outsourcing of more complex business activities, such as R&D, product
development, or engineering.

In addition, BPO traditionally has been undertaken primarily to reduce costs

by replacing more expensive on-shore resources with less expensive off-
shore ones. KPO, however, has been less about reducing costs and more
about transforming the organization by driving innovation or finding
specialized resources not available on-shore (or both).

Beyond these basic distinctions, however, it's critical to pay attention to the
emergence of what some folks are calling "Outsourcing 2.0",
"transformational outsourcing", etc. In a nutshell, these terms refer to an
approach to outsourcing that sees it as a way for organizations to transform
their goals, strategy, tactics, and operations through their partnerships with
Outsourcing Service Providers (OSPs). The days of quick win savings from the
"lift and shift" transfer of business processes are almost over for most
organizations, partially because off-shore wages are rising, but also because
most outsourced processes were moved as-is with little or no process
analysis and improvement. The inherent inefficiencies in such "your mess for
less" outsourced processes eventually erode many short-term gains. The
limitations of current outsourcing approaches can be seen in the large
number of companies that swap OSPs, need to escalate BPO issues to upper
management for resolution, or simply bring the work back in house.

Outsourcing 2.0 attempts to overcome these issues by approaching BPO

more like KPO has typically been approached: as a way to transform an
organization through product innovation, customer relations, branding,
thought leadership, operational excellence, global vision, and so on. Cost
savings will be there in most cases, but will not be the primary driver of the
decision to outsource; they will be one among many factors driving the
effort.