Introduction

After witnessing a lull post the economic downturn, the Learning Services Outsourcing (LSO) market rebounded in 2011-2012. The LSO market grew at a healthy pace of 7 to 9% CAGR, reaching ~US$2 billion in annualized revenue in 2013. Besides direct cost reduction, access to capability, and up-skilling of talent, are the biggest drivers of LSO. In the last three years, the demand for LSO also emerged from developing nations in BRIC, Middle East, and Africa. Additionally, buyers are looking to incorporate gaming, m-learning, and social learning in their learning strategy. Service providers, too, continue to reinvent and expand their offerings to cater to the changed requirements. Each provider has its unique value proposition; hence, buyers need to align their requirements with the provider’s expertise to provide maximum advantage to their employees.

In this report, we analyze the LSO market across various dimensions:

• Market overview
• Buyer adoption trends
• Emerging trends
• Solution and transaction characteristics
• Service provider landscape

Scope of analysis

• LSO deals in which a minimum of three processes are included
• All geographies and industries

Content

This report provides comprehensive coverage of the 2013 LSO market and analyzes it across various dimensions such as market overview, buyer adoption trends, solution & transaction characteristics, and service provider landscape. Additionally, it includes emerging trends in the LSO market. Some of the findings in this report are:

• After witnessing a lull post the economic downturn, the learning services market rebounded in 2011-2012. Growing at ~7 to 9% CAGR, it reached ~US$2.0 billion in 2013
• Manufacturing, hi-tech, and BFSI continue to be the biggest LSO adopters. However, energy and public sector witnessed increased adoption
• Clients are looking to incorporate gaming in their learning strategy as it helps learners cultivate retention, enhance competition, increase connectivity, collaborate, and inculcate creativity
• Service providers have increased their offshoring leverage over the last few years. Although India continues to be a “hotspot” for offshoring, China and Southeast Asia are growing fast in terms of global sourcing activity
• LSO provider landscape continues to evolve on the back of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As). Primary reasons behind these M&As were geographic expansion and enhancement of capability