Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

A recently released Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Market report indicates significant continued growth in the BPO sector over the next decade. The results of the study on which the report is based show an expected growth from the 2022 market of $245.9 billion to $544.8 billion in 2032, an 8.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

The UK communications regulator and concurrent competition authority, Ofcom, announced on April 5 its proposal to refer the UK cloud services market to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for further investigation. This coincided with publication of the interim report of Ofcom’s market study of the largest providers of cloud services (referred to by the authority as “hyperscalers”) in the United Kingdom’s £15 billion ($18.7 billion) cloud services market.

As noted in our recent blog posts, The Rise of Next-Gen Business Process Outsourcing and Key Contracting Issues to Consider, the core premise of next-gen business process outsourcing (BPO) includes (1) the leveraging of automation, bots, performance tools, and other technology to transform and optimize workflows and business processes and (2) the implementation of solutions to collect and analyze data to improve user experiences and business outcomes. Next-gen BPO drives the development and implementation of transformative technology and the generation of critical business data. As such, the identification of key intellectual property (IP) and the allocation of IP use and ownership rights invariably becomes a gating issue in contract structuring and negotiations.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently proposed expanding its Negative Option Rule to all subscription agreements. Businesses offering subscription services would be required to make it at least as easy for consumers to cancel a subscription service as it is to sign up for it. For example, if a consumer can sign up for a service online, then the consumer must also be able to cancel it online in the same number of steps (and not be required to cancel in person).

Our recent blog post, The Rise of Next-Gen Business Process Outsourcing, highlighted the importance of understanding the exciting opportunities and the challenges of next-gen business process outsourcing (BPO) in order to effectively negotiate contract provisions that maximize the benefits of next-gen BPO and minimize the risks. In this blog, we take a look at a few key issues to consider when developing and negotiating a next-gen BPO contract.

Join us at our Philadelphia office for an interactive discussion on hot topics related to next-generation transactions and outsourcing, followed by a reception with refreshments and opportunities to network with peers.

The recent rise in popularity of generative AI–powered applications such as ChatGPT poses important copyright issues for individuals and businesses with respect to content creation, including the scope of rights with respect to commercial use, content publication, potential liability for infringement, and content enforcement.

The UK government published its first National Quantum Strategy (the Strategy) on March 15, setting out £2.5 billion (over $3 billion) in funding quantum research and naming a quantum computing industry as a strategic priority for the United Kingdom. The following day, the science and technology committee of the UK House of Commons (the Committee) announced a new inquiry on turning quantum technologies into commercial products. As quantum-focused startups proliferate, UK policymakers are demonstrating their intent to enable early-mover advantages in the sector.

Please join us on April 12, 2023 at 12:00–1:00 pm ET as Morgan Lewis partners Vito Petretti and Anastasia Dergacheva and of counsel Eric J. Pennesi discuss key topics for customers to evaluate when acquiring new technology solutions or expanding technology offerings within their current environments.

The UK government published a white paper on March 29 setting out a “pro-innovation” UK regulatory framework for artificial intelligence (AI). The framework centers upon five cross-sectoral principles, of which implementation will be context-specific to the use of AI, rather than the technology itself. The government does not propose introducing a new regulator or any new legal requirements on businesses, instead leveraging existing powers of UK regulators and their domain-specific expertise.