Dell is one company with a BPO unit in Bratislava. (source: SITA)
BUSINESS process outsourcing (BPO) is a form of outsourcing that involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of specific business functions or processes to a third-party service provider. These can include contact centres, human resources, finance and accounting, marketing and sales, or procurement. BPO helps increase a company’s flexibility but on the other hand brings a risk of loss of control over the company's operations and processes.
Several companies have already launched BPO units in Slovakia and more are expected to arrive. The Trend economic weekly in January listed Dell, Accenture, IBM, Lenovo, Siemens, HP and other companies as having such a unit in Bratislava; T-Systems in Košice; ONS in Piešťany; and O2 in Banská Bystrica. However, Slovakia has so far taken only a small bite from the BPO cake. This is especially because of a lack of cheap office space and labour, according to Trend.
