Whether you are starting your company of you already have one, you might be considering offshore outsourcing to handle things that you don’t want to put up with, or because you’re looking to save money.
Well, you’re in luck! Below, you can read all about offshore outsourcing, what it is, the pros and cons, and whether or not it’s for you.
What Is Outsourcing?
To get started, let’s begin with what precisely offshore outsourcing is. Offshore outsourcing is the collaboration of two organizations; wherein, one of them hires the other as an external organization to perform tasks that the first does not want to.
There are three basic kinds of outsourcing:
- Firstly, there’s business process outsourcing; which is, when a business hires others for specific jobs. Phone companies, for example, will sometimes outsource customer support or payroll processing because it is less expensive than hiring people.
- Next, we have infrastructure and technology outsourcing. As the name suggests, technical parts of the company are outsourced, such as networking.
- Lastly, we have software outsourcing. In this category, software development is often outsourced to the other countries or organizations from other countries. India and China are examples of these countries.
What Are Outsourcing Pros and Cons?
Now that you know what outsourcing is, we can talk about the pros and cons of it because this will help you determine whether or not it’s right for you.
Pros
- Cutting costs. Outsourcing helps to cut costs; therefore, your company will make a profit. You can invest this money back into your business to expand it.
- Diversity. By outsourcing, you’ll have a diverse range of people on your payroll and people from different educational backgrounds to bring new perspectives. When you have this diversity within a company, you can learn to tailor to the needs of a broader spectrum of people.
- Performance. Tasks are performed more quickly because most of the time, companies will outsource to people or organizations who are experts in the given field. Since they’re experts, fewer mistakes will be made, and they’ll have the most up-to-date software to perform whatever tasks you need.
Cons
- Data security can be violated. In the age of technology, you can never be too careful. When you outsource to other companies, you must be aware of the security risks. Confidential data and information may be accessible to the company you’re working with. Of course, it is the outsourcing company’s responsibility to keep any customer information private and to create an NDA for involved parties.
- Outsourcing to the wrong people. You always have the possibility of hiring someone who doesn’t deliver with the quality you want, or within the timeframe you want. In some cases, you’re better off staying within your company.
- It can be more expensive than you think. While generally, outsourcing is believed to be less costly than having people within your company do these tasks, you have to be careful about hidden costs that can render a job much more expensive than you’re prepared to pay. You can always ask the person you hire to make a report about the additional costs that may accumulate, as well as risks.
- Services won’t be performed FOR the clients. The person or company you hire might have other clients; so, they might not have your company’s mission at heart and the quality of the work may not cater to your clients as much, or may not have the excellent quality it could. Sometimes, though, you’ll find that investing in more is needed to find the perfect partner!
Why Offshore Outsourcing Is Good
Most would agree that when you own a company, delegating is a key to success and productivity. Outsourcing is significant because you can have people from all over the world working for you. If you’re looking for organizations that charge less for the same quality, the power of the internet allows you to find this balance.
There are parts of your business that are crucial if you’re planning to expand, but these are also things that you may not be knowledgeable about or things that take up unnecessary time. While it can be time-consuming to figure out which people or organizations you should be delegating to, you’ll be saving money that you can invest in your company later on. From all perspectives, outsourcing can only lead to growth.
5 Main Fears about Outsourcing Web Development
Here, we’re going to discuss five fears and risks that are associated with outsourcing web development.
- Language barriers. If you’re outsourcing to people and organizations from other countries, you might encounter some language barriers. To prevent this, you could stick to countries that your primary language as their own or speak the international language at a high proficiency level.
- You can’t control everything. Within the walls of your own business, you can control everything that goes on, but when you outsource, you can ease up. Find someone who shares the same goals as you, and you’ll be fine.
- Time zone struggles. Because you might be from different time zones, communication can be challenging. One of you might have to wake up earlier or go to bed later to keep the conversation going.
- Quality. Of course, different countries and companies have different levels of expectations and the quality of work might be different than you’re expecting. Try having the person or company go through a “trial period” to find out if they’re right for you. It will be perfect for you if the trial period is free.
- Security problems. We’ve mentioned security before, but we can’t stress enough that when you’re outsourcing web development, you should improve your company’s safety. Is offshore outsourcing a viable business strategy for companies?
Offshore outsourcing is a good idea for any company. It allows you to maintain diversity. Not only this but the people and companies you hire most likely specialize in the field you’re hiring them for; therefore, they have access to the most recent technology. Your business will always be innovative!
In general, companies should try to save money where they can do so that later on, they can invest this money back into the business. If you do this as well, you can expand your company in no time!
Like anything, offshore outsourcing has its cons and its risks, but there are ways for you to prevent all of these things from happening! In the long-run, you’ll find that offshore outsourcing has more benefits than complications.