Our annual list of the biggest enterprise HRO deals of the year.
2004 was a roller-coaster year for BPO. But as HRO Todays annual list of the top enterprise level HRO deals of the year shows, HRO is still coming out on top.
Early 2004, in the pre-presidential election mass-media feeding frenzy, it seemed as though the three most frightening letters in the English language, next to WMD, were BPO. Turn on the TV and you would hear pundits pontificating on the effects of outsourcing, which many used synonymously with offshoring. Open the newspapers and see front-page editorials on Outsourcing Pros and Cons. Even pop culture jumped on the trend. The Internet and entertainment magazines abounded with bizarre outsourcing stories (the Catholic Church is outsourcing prayers to India, did you know?). Former MTVers worked on the much-hyped documentary Americas Jobs. Even the publishing world jumped in the fray. Folio Magazine outsourced an entire issueeditorial and designin an ode to outsourcing.
The only people who werent talking about outsourcing were the users and providers.
Fast forward to end 2004, post-presidential election, and the controversy surrounding outsourcing has ended with a whimper, not a bang. The HRO industry has emerged not only unscathed but also stronger than ever. And the previously quiet giants have begun to speak up.
As our list below shows, some of the biggest names in the industry bought in to HRO this yearSun, Goodyear, Best Buy, TXU. And former media-shy providers, such as Fidelity and Hewitt, began to tout their growing services. Hewitts relationship with CapGemini and acquisition of Exult this fall prompted several major HRO contracts on the list; Convergys acquired DigitalThink earlier in the year, strengthening its offerings. Look for other bigname buyers and providers following the consolidation trend, such as EDS-Towers Perrin, to appear more prominently on the list in 2005.
