MSG Team's other articles

12658 Braked Acceleration: A Case Study of the Indian Automobile Industry

From Maruti to Mercedes: The Evolution of the Indian Automobile Industry The Indian Automobile Industry has come a long way since the Independence times wherein its growth has broadly mirrored the changing lifestyle aspirations and the economic boom amongst the Indian consumers. Indeed, while the Ambassador car was the symbol of the Indian Automotive Industry […]

10371 The Mobile Wave is the Wave of the Future

The evolution of media and its interaction with business trends has gone through several waves. If it was Web 1.0 with the introduction of the internet, then it was Web 2.0 with the explosion of social media. Both these waves of innovation revolutionized the virtual world and gave new meanings to how we live, shop, […]

11649 Types of Analysis in Analyze Phase

The analyze phase is one of the most dreaded phases in the Six Sigma methodology. There are common assumptions made that this phase involves a lot of high level statistical analysis. No wonder that most trainings are scheduled before analyze phase. The Six Sigma team members want to refresh their concepts before they actually get […]

12196 Production Module – Subcontracting and Materials Issue

Production Order Subcontracting – In the age of production outsourcing and the organizational focus on their core competency, subcontracting of production orders is assuming greater importance. In addition to the business functionality necessary for producing goods in house, sub contraction operations necessitates some additional business process such as generation of sub contracting purchase order. Sub […]

9063 Economics of the Electric Car

Tesla is the company that has propelled Elon Musk from obscurity to stardom. It’s hard to believe that the redundant electric vehicle market was made hugely popular by Elon Musk’s Tesla cars. Tesla cars are not an economy vehicle by any chance. Instead, the average price is close to $100,000. Tesla has become a role […]

Search with tags

  • No tags available.

In previous modules on continuity of business, we had discussed how companies need to be prepared for any eventuality - natural or manmade. The discussion was on how fast alternative sites for backup and recovery are made functional in the aftermath of disasters.

This article looks at the BPO sector in specific and the necessity of having backup sites to continue operations.

Take for instance, the massive grid failure in India that happened this week.

The operations of several BPO firms in the country were affected but only to a certain extent as they could shift their work to backup locations.

Further, there have been other disasters like floods and earthquakes that have rocked India and other Asian countries from time to time. When these calamities happen, the BPO sector which operates on a 24/7 basis has to quickly get back on its feet and ensure that its operations suffer minimal impact. And this is where COB or Continuity of Business Planning comes to the fore.

The BPO sector in Asia has backup sites in other states in the countries and the ability to become fully operational within hours of the outage often determines the extent to which the company has operationalised its backup strategy.

Disasters happen anywhere in the world and the BPO sector has to be prepared for any eventuality. This means that its risk management plan must take into account the fact that it might have to fly personnel to the backup location in case of emergency. Or, it might have to contend with loss of operational time in its main location and be prepared by shifting operations to another location. The time taken for recovery determines the success of the company’s backup and recovery strategy.

Backup Sites

Further, the BPO sector unlike the IT sector, services the back office operations for Western Customers that includes call center operations and supporting mission critical systems.

Hence, it is absolutely imperative that the BPO sector has robust backup plans in place. Though the extent to which disasters can cripple the infrastructure cannot be estimated with 100% accuracy, being prepared for disasters certainly can be done. This is the essence of COB which takes on an urgent aspect where the BPO sector is concerned.

Considering the regularity with which disasters have been happening in Asia starting with the Japan Earthquake and power outage in India, it is time for the BPO sector to be prepared instead of just throwing up their hands and being helpless when disasters strike.

Finally, though not all operations can be immediately restored in case of an emergency, the BPO sector ought to recover the critical ones at the minimum. And this is where the vision of its leaders as well as the thoroughness of its staff comes into the picture.

The final aspect is the human dimension which means that the employees ought not to panic and instead be professional about recovery and working from backup sites which would go a long way in ensuring that business is not affected and clients are not lost.

Article Written by

MSG Team

An insightful writer passionate about sharing expertise, trends, and tips, dedicated to inspiring and informing readers through engaging and thoughtful content.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Articles

How a typical Business Continuity Program Works ?

MSG Team

Introduction to Business Continuity Management

MSG Team

Business Continuity Management Planning around the World

MSG Team