IDC Expands Its Long-Standing BPO Research Portfolio with New Products and Deeper Coverage.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- IDC today introduced two new products from its highly regarded business process outsourcing (BPO) research practice. The BPO Buyer Trends and Outlook service will explore worldwide purchasing trends in the BPO services marketplace. The Worldwide Services Contracts Analysis: BPO service will examine BPO services deals from both a business process and a core industry perspective. The two services add new depth to IDC's unsurpassed BPO research offerings.

"With more than a decade of experience covering business process outsourcing, IDC delivers the most trustworthy market insight available, based on deep industry knowledge, time-tested methodologies, and a presence in local markets around the world," said Katrina Menzigian, vice president for IDC's Business Solutions and BPO Services Research. "These factors enable IDC to cut through the market hype and deliver meaningful market intelligence."

IDC's BPO Buyer Trends and Outlook service was designed to provide IT and business services vendors with a behind-the-scenes look at how and why clients buy BPO services. The service targets critical market issues such as unmet buyer needs, global sourcing strategies, mid-market BPO adoption, the changing role of sourcing advisory firms, and winning partnership strategies. Recently released studies from this service include Midmarket BPO Outlook Study: Finance and Accounting View (IDC #201070) and Midmarket BPO Survey: Customer Adoption Patterns for HR BPO (IDC #200992), which closely examine the interest, adoption, and spending plans for BPO among midmarket buyers in the US.

The Worldwide Services Contracts Analysis: BPO program offers service providers valuable insight into the dynamics, size, and scope of BPO services deals from both a horizontal business process and a core-industry standpoint. This service helps the vendor, end-user, and financial services communities monitor the key deal trends and upcoming opportunities, as well as the performance of specific vendors. With coverage starting in 1995 and including more than 10,000 services contracts, IDC's Services Contracts Database represents the largest and richest information repository of services deals in the world. The recently released report, Trends in BPO Deal Activity, 2005 Versus 2004: Preliminary Results (IDC #34804), presents IDC's analysis of the BPO and processing services deals captured in IDC's Services Contracts Database, and provides a comparative analysis of 2004 and 2005 business outsourcing deal activity.

IDC has been providing critical market analysis on the business services outsourcing market for more than ten years - long before BPO emerged as the hot market of today. With a dedicated team of analysts and expansive global coverage, IDC offers the broadest portfolio of BPO coverage in the market. Currently, IDC offers BPO research in the areas of buyer trends, contracts analysis, market forecasting, competitive analysis, and vertical views. In addition to research offerings in key areas such as customer care, human resources, finance and accounting, and supply chain/procurement services, IDC continues to identify and monitor emerging BPO opportunities, such as learning, payment processing, claims processing, product development/engineering, and logistics. IDC is also continuously investing in new BPO research products and expanding its coverage in every region of the world.

"IDC's global BPO team, which includes 14 dedicated analysts, consistently provides a range of perspectives on key market trends and developments, as well as emerging opportunities, such as 'homeshoring' as a new sourcing option and procurement BPO as a leading entry-point for supply chain outsourcing," added Menzigian. "These insights help our clients gain competitive advantage in a very dynamic marketplace."

IDC's BPO research will be showcased at the upcoming IDC Outsourcing Forum Midwest: Reinventing Your Business Through BPO, to be held September 11-12, 2006 in Chicago. This two-day interactive forum provides buyers with new insights into the potential that BPO can deliver not only to the bottom line, but also in gaining market share and competitive advantage. IDC's Outsourcing Forums began in 2004 and have expanded to include three venues, with forums held earlier this year in New York, NY and Santa Clara, CA.

Visit the IDC BPO Portfolio for a comprehensive overview of IDC's BPO analysts, services, recent research, and events.

About IDC

IDC is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. Over 850 IDC analysts in 50 countries provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends. For more than 42 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

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