As reported in December 2010, just before the year of 2010 comes to an end, the Asian-country Philippines has already exceeded its Indian competitors when it comes to the area of contact center outsourcing. India usually comes to mind when outsourcing is being discussed, especially because of the cheap costs the Indian outsourcing firms offer their clients. However, this is no longer the case as the Philippines is now regarded as the top destination for call center outsourcing.

The call center industry has been present in the market for so many years already and its extensive presence in the industry has promoted innovation and expansion within the industry. This has brought about changes in the market, especially now that companies are constantly looking for ways on how to conduct their processes seamlessly and more efficiently. Part of its innovation as well, is the emergence of and virtual call centers and its acceptance into mainstream contact center processes.

When companies found that they could successfully shift operations of call center services to call center outsourcing provider’s years ago, many jumped at the chance, fueling an outsourcing boom to places such as the Philippines and India.  Now however, some companies are choosing to go with an in-house model for call center operations, moving away from the outsourcing trend.

When companies began adopting home based models, the goal was to reduce costs within the company by encouraging flexible work sites and times, while reducing overhead costs.  A goal much attuned to the ever growing business of outsourcing.  And while the adoption of home based work has been minimal as compared to outsourcing work, it has been gaining renewed attention among companies, not only among private companies, but also outsourcing companies looking to become even more competitive, especially in the already highly competitive call center services outsourcing market.

A number of outsourcing companies have sold or are now selling their subsidiaries after less than stellar performance these past few months. In what had been previously hailed as the need for diversity in outsourcing offerings, some companies are now realizing that they may have bitten off more than they can chew.

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 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.