OA500 and Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index

What is Outsource Accelerator’s Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index?

The global economy, technology, and innovation have changed the way businesses operate. As companies grow, they are increasingly outsourcing to become more productive and competitive.

The outsourcing industry was valued at USD 245.9 billion in 2021, according to GrandViewResearch. The sector is further expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.1% by 2030. Due to the increasing demand, more BPOs are in the market, making it harder for companies to choose the best outsourcing partner for them.

The Outsource Accelerator BPO Directory is arguably the world’s biggest outsourcing directory – listing over 3,200 (and counting!) BPOs all over the world. To “objectively analyze a set of disparate outsourcing firms,” Outsource Accelerator came up with the Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index and the OA500.

About the Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index

The Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index provides an objective assessment of all known BPOs around the world. It is also a great indicator of a firm’s reputation and prominence.

The index develops an efficient method to track companies’ progress, conduct cross-company comparisons, and do actual rankings.

NOTE: The Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index 2023 will be announced on February 15, 2023!

Unlike the OA500 which focuses only on the world’s top 500 BPO firms, the Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index gathers, sorts, and assesses all known outsourcing companies globally.

Further, the Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index is a vital tool in assisting the BPO decision-making community with a broad but objective assessment of the industry at large.

Introducing the OA500

OA500 is an Outsource Accelerator-created index that ranks the world’s top 500 BPO companies in the world.

NOTE: OA500 2023 will be announced on February 15, 2023!

Here’s an overview of how the OA500 BPOs are ranked. You can also check out the entire Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index and OA500 methodology here.

Assessing and ranking BPOs

To start creating the index, Outsource Accelerator’s research team had to gather, assess, and collate around 2,500 BPOs worldwide. Through careful research, the team took months to develop a thorough and objective scoring methodology to rank these BPOs by their prominence.

The team had to collect several metadata points that pertain to different aspects of the company and piece them together to provide a holistic analysis. Using just one data point is misleading, and the aggregation of publicly available metadata is deemed more objective and reliable for this instance.

The Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index and OA500’s measures broadly fall into two primary categories: 

• Footprint. This refers to the BPO’s online visibility.
• Quality. Determined through a series of metadata points, including, domain authority, site traffic, employee reviews, LinkedIn engagement, and third-party analysis.

Company size and revenue

The size of a company doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the perfect outsourcing partner for most firms, but it’s a powerful indicator that still needs to be considered.

Assessing an organization’s size and revenue is the simplest way to evaluate its prominence – hence making it a part of the OA500 methodology.

Online prominence and reputation

Another factor that needs to be considered is the company’s online prominence and reputation. While these are two different factors, their metrics and indicators tend to match each other.

For the Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index and OA500, some metrics that were used for the rankings include the following:

• Domain Authority (DA)
• Traffic analysis
• Metadata from LinkedIn, Crunchbase, ZoomInfo, and Glassdoor – among others

Employer brand and practices

Outsourcing is mistakenly associated with negative labor practices, including unfair wages and poor working conditions. One wrong partnership with a BPO with a poor track record can reflect badly on the outsourcer – it can even lead to legal and regulatory scrutiny.

In line with this, the Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index highlights BPOs with decent employer brands and good company cultures. Some indicators include Glassdoor rankings, community-centric portals, as well as general media.

Exclusion of variable subjective factors

The Global Outsourcing Firm (BPO) Index and OA500 aims to provide an objective and comprehensive BPO assessment. However, some variables need to be excluded, “especially in cases where the data is not universally available or is widely lacking in authenticity or relevance.”

These variables include:

• Geographical location
• Access to particular languages

Exciting, isn’t it? Stay tuned for the OA500 release next year!

NOTE: OA500 2023 will be announced on February 15, 2023!

About Outsource Accelerator: The independent global marketplace for the outsourcing industry

Outsource Accelerator is the world’s leading outsourcing marketplace and advisory. OA serves as the conduit between global outsourcing suppliers and businesses – clients – around the world.

The Outsource Accelerator website has over 5,000 articles, 400+ podcast episodes, and a comprehensive directory with 3,000+ BPO companies… all designed to make it easier for clients to learn about – and engage with – outsourcing.

Founded by Derek Gallimore, Outsource Accelerator also offers a full spectrum of brokerage, implementation, and co-management services.