The business process outsourcing race among destination countries is a fierce competition that has been predominantly lead by South Asian country, India.  The Philippines however, has been holding its own against India, emerging as a power player in the BPO outsourcing space.

The big three of Indian outsourcing companies have a lot to evaluate, as their lower ranking rival Cognizant (NASDAQ:CTSH), is slowly starting to emerge ahead of the pack following the company’s first quarter results. This comes with the continued albeit slow rebound of the outsourcing market this year.

What have certainly abounded this first quarter are the strategic partnerships that have been formed among different types of companies across the industry. Efforts to diversify their product offerings are at the root of this trend as competition for outsourcing contracts increases.

For the first quarter of 2010, there were some notable outsourcing contracts established, albeit they’re not the ‘mega deals’ of old, but substantial they are still.

Prospects for outsourcing in the current year seem very bright indeed; this is according to different surveys and market estimates indicated during this first quarter.

For the first quarter 2010, expectations and estimates are high, buoyed by the continued recovery of the economy from the recession. And although there have been job cuts and closing of centers in some outsourcing companies such as Convergys (NYSE:CVG) who is laying-off of 677 people in Albuquerque in the US as it closes its center there; the outlook still remains positive.

A few months back I wrote an article on how outsourcing has already been helping with cost reductions in the Healthcare Industry, and with the recent passing of the U.S. Healthcare Reform Bill, many are anticipating an increase in business opportunities in this sector.