Accenture has reported a strong growth in the business
process outsourcing (BPO) market amid a weak IT spending
environment.
While consulting sales at the management consulting firm dipped
10% for the financial year that ended 31 August, BPO revenue
doubled to $1.44bn (£855m).
Accenture first entered the BPO market in 1991, when it took
over discrete accounting operations for British Petroleum and
Northwest Airlines.
The company now has eight BPO divisions, including finance,
human resources and business services for utilities - and it is
continuing to branch out.
Accenture recently began providing life insurance policy
management services for a customer in France and is now looking to
expand those services to insurers in Europe, the US and other parts
of the world, said Joel Friedman, chief operating officer for
Accenture's BPO business.
BPO has continued to grow during the economic downturn and is
expected to expand from an $860bn (£511bn) business to one worth
$1.2trillion in 2006, according to market research firm IDC.
Some of Accenture's BPO customers include AT&T,
ConocoPhillips and the US Department of Defense.
Thomas Hoffman writes for Computerworld