BPO market in Malaysia set to surpass US$1.4bil

As BPO services start to pick up in the country, Everise Holdings chief executive officer Sudhir Agarwal (pic) said the Malaysian government has played a “very active” role in supporting the outsourcing industry and digital initiatives.

KUALA LUMPUR: As Malaysia invests more in digital investments, the country is poised to be a prime location going forward for global and regional businesses to leverage on the business processing outsourcing (BPO) industry due to its strategic location and quality infrastructure.

According to AT Kerney’s Global Services Location Index, Malaysia was ranked third as one of the world’s leading digital innovation and outsourcing hubs last year because of its strategic location and investments in infrastructure.

As BPO services start to pick up in the country, Everise Holdings chief executive officer Sudhir Agarwal said the Malaysian government has played a “very active” role in supporting the outsourcing industry and digital initiatives.

Having said that, the BPO market in Malaysia is likely to surpass US$1.4bil by 2021, according to IDC.

Singapore-based Everise Holdings Pte Ltd (Everise) leverages on artifical intelligence (AI) technology to provide omni-channel customer service solutions.

In 2018, Everise set up its digital experience hub in Malaysia.

The company now delivers AI-powered customer experiences for its global clients from Malaysia.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Globee, a joint venture between Everise and UBASE, a leading BPO Korean company, recorded 250% revenue growth year-on-year as of May, driven mainly by their work-at-home solutions in the pandemic.

“Our strong performance enabled us to capitalise on business opportunities once the Covid-19 pandemic hit, allowing us to retain business continuity in spite of restrictions, and to secure significant new business clients who required a resilient, multilingual customer support solution, ” said Sudhir.

He added that Everise has invested “millions of dollars” in developing talent, tolls, and infrastructure along with security practices to enable staff to work at home.

“We have strong partnerships with officials on the ground which help with mobility and our work at home infrastructures, a best-of-breeds tech stack.

“Through Globee, Everise is also capitalising on Malaysia’s diverse roots, which enabled businesses to power customer experiences in multiple languages from a single hub, ” Sudhir explained.

During the current pandemic, Sudhir said there has been a surge in demand for its services from food and delivery, fintech and consumer technology industries, which have kept its financial goals on track as Malaysians turned to activities at home.

However, their confidentiality agreements inhibit disclosure of their customers.

For this year, Globee is projecting 200% year-on-year growth by building on its strong work-at-home performance, as well as continuing to focus on delivering great multilingual customer experiences for high-growth technology, gaming and smart home companies.

Meanwhile, Everise global revenue is expected to reach US$275mil this year.

Moving forward, Everise will continue to invest in technology to supply greater customer experiences for its partners by enabling a highly secure and scalable remote work environment.

“We will continue to expand on our products and invest in proprietary AI products, analytics, robotic process automation and a comprehensive line of Smart Home, Internet of Things (IoT) and software product-focused solutions, ” Sudhir pointed out.

As of June, both Globee and Everise employ around 650 employees in Malaysia.

Globee expects to grow its headcount by 59% between 2019 and 2020, having 740 employees by year-end.

“We continue to see exponential growth even through the pandemic and expect no less as we continue to grow, ” Sudhir said.