Asia-Pacific Represents Exciting Growth for All Contact Center Vendors

Dynamic growth is being predicted for both the number of contact centers and customer service agent positions in Asia Pacific. Independent market analysis firm Datamonitor puts this down to a combination of a growing middle class in China and India, the expansion in demand for products and services and the increase in offshoring. According to the report, 'Asia-Pacific -- a framework for contact center growth', which covers India, China, Australia, Japan and South Korea, this will lead to the creation of four times as many new contact center agent positions (APs) in developing markets over the next four years as in developed markets.

India and China currently represent over one third of the world's population. India has traditionally been perceived as an underdeveloped nation, yet all market projections indicate its middle class, and its income, are set to increase substantially. The same is true of China; recent reforms have put China back on the global trade map. The consequence of the reforms is an exploding Chinese middle class, leading to an increase in income and an increase in the consumption of goods and services.

But this poses a challenge for enterprises. Enterprises need to not only tap into this emerging demographic but to retain their loyalty. In India, for example, APs are set to increase significantly from 370,000 in 2006 to 567,000 in 2012 - a compounded growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6%.

Meanwhile, developed nations, like Japan, South Korea and Australia, present challenges to the contact center vendor. When you operate in a developed nation you can sometimes reach a plateau -- how do you continue to generate new revenue from a saturated market? This is of key concern for many vendors that have operations in developed APAC nations. A second key concern is culture; when North American enterprises move into Japan and South Korea there are often cultural confusions.

The developed countries in the Asia-Pacific region have strong economies, a strong technological infrastructure and a growing need to service a sophisticated consumer base. Despite deflation issues and intense competition amongst contact center vendors, Australia's kangaroo economy keeps bouncing along. In contrast Japan's once frail economy has strengthened in recent years. Despite falling wages, Japan's economic expansion of the past few years has dramatically increased the demand for labor. This has increased the demand for consumer goods and services. And in South Korea we see cutting-edge communications technologies being used in everyday business, in the corporate world and among consumers. This is a very promising economic climate for contact center vendors, according to Datamonitor.

More information about the contact center market can be found at http://www.supportindustry.com/