Spurred by positive economic movement in Central and Eastern Europe, the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) contact-center outsourcing market is likely to grow at a steady pace. The vast majority of large, medium and small businesses in EMEA continue to seek cost reductions, focus on building core competencies and gain economies of scale through smart investments in outsourcing.

According to Frost & Sullivan, the EMEA contact-center outsourcing market earned revenues of $11.20 billion in 2006, and estimates to reach $16 billion in 2012. “While the U.K. outsourcing market is very mature, and has almost reached saturation, there are significant opportunities in other European nations,” says Michael DeSalles, Analyst, Frost & Sullivan. “The Netherlands along with Central and Eastern Europe hold tremendous promise for new outsourcing contracts, especially in financial services, communications and information technology.”

There is a significant percentage of in-house (not outsourced) business in EMEA that represents a rich, viable opportunity for outsourcing providers to gain more wallet share. To some, it may be a surprise that contact center offshoring for EMEA is taking place in Northern Africa, particularly Egypt and Tunisia, for French-speaking customer care. South Africa is rapidly becoming another important contact center destination for U.K. clients. Given the current status of contact center technology, distance is no impediment in the quest for less expensive call center destinations — often outside the European continent.

In this very complex and fragmented market, successful providers have come to grips with the fact that they must provide native-tongue, multilingual agent capabilities — often termed a “pan-European” solution to attract and keep key clients, according to Frost & Sullivan.