Glossary of  Words commonly used in BPO Sector

Aggregators

Aggregators are Web companies such as Yahoo Inc. that combine content or applications from multiple online sources. Recently, a new generation of aggregators has been reselling a potpourri of information to other Web sites and to corporations that operate external or intranet Web sites. Some analysts call this reselling process "syndication."

Application controls

Refer to the transactions and data relating to each computer-based application system and are therefore specific to each such application. The objectives of application controls, which may be manual, or programmed, are to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the records and the validity of the entries made therein resulting from both manual and programmed processing. Examples of application controls include data input validation, agreement of batch totals and encryption of data transmitted.

Application development review

An evaluation of an application system under development which considers matters such as: appropriate controls are designed into the system; the application will process information in a complete, accurate and reliable manner; the application will function as intended; the application will function in compliance with any applicable statutory provisions; the system is developed in compliance with the established systems development life cycle process

Application Service Provider (ASP)

An ASP is a company that rents applications and related services over the Internet. Examples include email, payroll processing and ERP applications.

Back-sourcing

Back sourcing is the expiration or termination of an outsourcing arrangement and the recapture in-house of the outsourced function.

Best Practices

Best Practices are those practices and procedures, followed regularly, that reflect the wisdom and experience at leading-edge companies. The collection, interpretation and assembly, and re-definition and updating of best practices has been historically performed by management consultants from working in many industries and analyzing common threads.

BPO

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) occurs when an organization turns over the management and optimization of a business function to a third party that conducts the activity based on a set of predetermined performance metrics. A BPO vendor manages people and processes, while traditional outsourcers focus on life cycle management and hardware uptime.

BS7799

The BS7799 Certification is the best International Information Security Management System Standard in security field. The purpose of this certification is to identify security risks and to manage the risks effectively as well as publicly assuring that the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the customers' information are guaranteed by the organization.

Business Process

Business Process Means a sequence of defined steps necessary to achieve a business objective. Business objectives can include any business operation, including product design, marketing, sales, finance, accounting, manufacturing, logistics, supply chain management, customer relationship management and other special business relationships.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) occurs when an organization turns over the management and optimization of a business function to a third party that conducts the activity based on a set of predetermined performance metrics. A BPO vendor manages people and processes, while traditional outsourcers focus on life cycle management and hardware uptime.

Call Center

A functional area within an organization or an outsourced, separate facility that exists solely to answer inbound or place outbound telephone calls; usually a sophisticated voice operations center that provides a full range of high-volume, inbound or outbound call-handling services, including customer support, operator services, directory assistance, multilingual customer support, credit services, card services, inbound and outbound telemarketing, interactive voice response and web-based services.

Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

A process developed by SEI in 1986 to help improve, over time, the application of an organization's supporting software technologies. The process is broken down into five well-defined levels of sequential development: Initial, Repeatable, Defined, Managed and Optimizing. These five maturity levels provide an ordinal scale for measuring the maturity, and therefore the capacity of, an organization's use of its software technologies. The levels also help prioritize an organization's software improvement efforts. The more an organization depends on formal rules, rather than individual performers, to keep software projects relevant, within budget and on schedule, the more advanced the organization's software development "maturity."

Contract

In a contract arrangement, a specific product or group of products is the focus, often for high-volume production runs and in situations where per-piece pricing is crucial. The customer still controls the equipment, materials, technical knowledge and quality management. The offshore contractor has more control over the process and the manufacturing operation.

Facilities Management (FM)

Facilities Management is an outsourcing solution in which the customer entrusts to an external services provider the responsibility for operations and maintenance of one or more facilities.

Insourcing

Insourcing is the transfer of an outsourced function to an internal department of a company, to be managed entirely by employees. The term has also been used to describe foreign companies locating facilities in the United States and employing U.S. workers.

Offshore

An outsourcing term describing the provision of services from a country that is geographically remote from the client enterprises — for example, services provided to a U.S. enterprise from a service provider located in India.

Offshore, Off shoring

Offshore outsourcing or 'offshoring' is outsourcing overseas or in a separate country. Outsourcing to a contiguous country may be considered nearshore outsourcing (see above).

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is the management and/or day-to-day execution of a business function by a third party service provider. Outsourcing can be provided on or off premises, in the same country or in a separate country.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is the management and/or day-to-day execution of a business function by a third party service provider. Outsourcing can be provided on or off premises, in the same country or in a separate country.

Pilot Conversion

In this instance, the new system is installed for a few users, who evaluate it and help decide weather it is suitable for the rest of the system to join suit. This method is handy for new products, as it ensure functionality is at a level that can perform in real operation.

Project plan

A management document describing the approach taken for a project. The plan typically describes work to be done, resources required, methods to be used, the configuration management and quality assurance procedures to be followed, the schedules to be met, the project organization, etc. Project in this context is a generic term. Some projects may also need integration plans, security plans, test plans, quality assurance plans, etc.

Quality of service

Quality of service is a measure of the ability to control and assign network bandwidth to specific traffic so as to provide predictable levels of IP-based data throughput based on the importance of the business process associated with that traffic.

Request for Information (RFI)

An RFI is a document that requests prospective service providers to provide general information on their business capabilities and strengths, typically in response to a set of requirements.

Request for Proposal (RFP)

An RFP is a document that requests prospective service providers to propose terms and conditions for a solution (or solutions) addressing a set of requirements.

Service Level Agreement (or SLA)

An SLA is a contract or addendum to a contract that defines the type, value and conditions of the outsourcing services to be provided. Typically, SLAs address quality of service conditions, such as response time, availability, speed, et cetera.

Shared Services

Shared services is the outsourcing of a business function within an enterprise to a highly skilled internal department or group. For example, the purchasing department at one plant may provide purchasing services to all other plants within a given manufacturing company. Shared services may also be provided to third parties.

Specification

A document that specifies, in a complete, precise, verifiable manner, the requirements, design, behavior, or other characteristics of a system or component, and often, the procedures for determining whether these provisions have been satisfied. Contrast with requirement.

TCO (total cost of ownership)

TCO (total cost of ownership) is a type of calculation designed to help consumers and enterprise managers assess both direct and indirect costs and benefits related to the purchase of any IT component. The intention is to arrive at a final figure that will reflect the effective cost of purchase, all things considered. When you decide to buy a computer you may go through a TCO analysis: for example, the greater cost price of a high-end computer might be one consideration, but one that would have to be balanced by adding likely repair costs and earlier replacement to the purchase cost of the bargain brand. TCO analysis originated with the Gartner Group several years ago and has since been developed in a number of different methodologies and software tools. TCO analysis performs calculations on extended costs for any purchase - these are called fully burdened costs. For the consumer's purchase of a computer, the fully burdened cost may include costs of purchase, repairs, maintenance, and upgrades. For the business purchase of a computer, the fully burdened costs can also include such things as service and support, networking, security, user training, and software licensing. The TCO has to be compared to the total benefits of ownership (TBO) to determine the viability of the purchase.

Transaction

(1) A command, message, or input record that explicitly or implicitly calls for a processing action, such as updating a file. (2) An exchange between and end user and an interactive system. (3) In a database management system, a unit of processing activity that accomplishes a specific purpose such as a retrieval, an update, a modification, or a deletion of one or more data elements of a storage structure.

Vendor

A vendor is any person or company that sells goods or services to somone else in the economic production chain. Parts manufacturers are vendors of parts to other manufacturers that assemble the parts into something sold to wholesalers or retailers. Retailers are vendors of products to consumers. (When you have a street fair, the people who set up booths and tables are often referred to as vendors.) In information technology as well as in other industries, the term is commonly applied to suppliers of goods and services to other companies