How are outsourcers supporting your digital transformation?

Below are the highlights of the roundtable discussion held during the Contact Centre Outsourcing Summit, in partnership with CCMA, in 2025.

Attendees were asked to explore how outsourcers are supporting their digital transformation. This included discussing the following:

• Are outsourcers supporting with process improvement and other transformational resources?
• What technologies are they using?
• Are they proprietary or are they buying them in?

Technologies in use

Organisations are actively exploring a broad range of technologies to drive their digital transformation agendas. Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands out as a key area of investment, with implementations spanning:

• Customer interaction automation (e.g., chatbots, FAQ handling).
• Enhanced training and knowledge retrieval for agents.
• Large-scale interaction analytics (e.g., reviewing millions of customer engagements for insight).
• Risk profiling and product personalisation.

AI is being complemented by other innovations, including video-based support platforms, language translation tools, and virtual systems to handle common queries. Many organisations are running trial phases for emerging technologies to evaluate their effectiveness before broader deployment.

Proprietary vs. purchased technologies

There is a strategic balance in how technology is sourced:

• Proprietary development is typically reserved for areas where organisations seek a competitive edge or need tighter control (e.g., in regulated sectors like finance).
• Off-the-shelf solutions are used for standardised needs such as CRM systems, webchat platforms, or analytics tools.

This hybrid model allows for agility, while managing cost and complexity. In several cases, buyers have encouraged BPO partners to deploy tech in non-core areas like HR, process management, or impact sourcing – but have retained ownership of core contact centre technologies.

Challenges with offshore suppliers

Offshore partners often bring robust technical capabilities, yet are constrained by several factors:

• Fragmentation across technology eco-systems limits integration and efficiency.
• Suppliers may lack deep understanding of the client’s compliance frameworks, especially in regulated environments.
• There’s a cautious approach to onboarding tools proposed by BPOs, even when they show promise, due to past underperformance or a lack of proactive engagement.

Additionally, translation and localisation tools are being deployed in regions like Cairo and the Philippines to support language requirements, but these often focus on simpler, less complex service areas.

Strategic role of suppliers

A recurring theme was the deliberate effort by clients to retain strategic control over digital transformation initiatives. Key motivations include:

• Preserving ownership of technology architecture to avoid dependency on a single vendor.
• Maintaining supplier agnosticism for flexibility and long-term cost control.
• Avoiding full reliance on BPOs to lead transformation, even when those partners possess advanced proprietary tools.

This guarded stance often leads to scenarios where outsourcers are used for executional support but are not empowered to shape or drive broader transformation strategies.

Support for process improvement and transformation

Despite the above limitations, technologies being deployed are contributing meaningfully to process improvement and organisational transformation. Examples include:

• Automating routine interactions to free up human agents.
• Enhanced data analytics to identify root causes of customer dissatisfaction (e.g., NPS detractors).
• Streamlined workflows and improved knowledge management.
• More consistent performance across global delivery models.

Some organisations are also investigating tools to level the playing field between in-house and outsourced teams, such as technology that standardises processes or delivers real-time updates across both functions.

Cultural and operational barriers

Several non-technical factors were seen to hinder digital progress through outsourcing:

• Data sensitivity and compliance concerns prevent broader data sharing with third parties, especially in financial services.
• Buyers often still treat outsourcing partners as “glorified agents”, limiting their role to execution rather than innovation.
• There is a hesitation to adopt supplier-recommended tools if prior initiatives failed or if internal stakeholders lack clarity on ownership.

In some cases, procurement cycles (e.g., RFPs) fail to reflect the rapid pace of technological change, leaving solutions outdated by the time implementation begins.

Control vs. opportunity

Finally, a critical tension underpins many outsourcing relationships. Organisations want the benefits of cutting-edge transformation without relinquishing control. This creates a paradox; buyers often engage vendors for their scale and innovation promise but default to managing them as cost-saving FTE providers.

Some participants noted that unless organisations are willing to “put their eggs in the supplier’s basket”, they may continue to miss out on the full value of transformative partnerships.

In conclusion

The roundtable revealed a sector in the midst of a complex transition. While the appetite for digital innovation is strong, actual progress is tempered by legacy systems, data concerns, fragmented ecosystems, and governance constraints. Outsourcers play a critical role in executing tactical improvements, but the leap to true strategic partnership requires greater trust, clarity, and aligned incentives from both sides.

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