The drive to reduce costs while providing better service is ever present. Executives who are under continuous pressure to do more with less are turning to outsourcing as a way to reduce costs and improve service.

In traditional service contracting relationships, one company purchases services from another while retaining responsibility for the underlying processes, the client tells the contractor what it wants and how it wants the work performed.

By contrast, in an outsourcing relationship the provider assumes part of the ownership responsibility for the client and determines how to meet the client's service needs.

With BPO, the relationship moves along the continuum from client control to provider control of non-core processes, creating distinctive value.