Wednesday, February 28, 2007

The Advantages of Outsourcing

Outsourcing has become a very popular alternative for a number of very valid reasons. Outsourcing initially emerged as a way for companies to cut costs by having processes such as manufacturing and assembly done in overseas locations where costs were much lower. Lower wages and operating costs both contributed to these reduced costs.

These lower costs were appealing because they greatly improved the profit margins for the companies. However, outsourcing is now gaining in popularity for a variety of other reasons. While cost reduction is still a primary advantage, other elements such as access to industry experts, a larger workforce and more flexible options are being embraced as welcomed advantages offered by outsourcing.

Cost Reductions from Outsourcing

As previously mentioned reducing costs was the original purpose of outsourcing and although outsourcing has since been demonstrated to have other significant advantages, cost reduction still remains one of the prime advantages.

Companies look to outsource tasks which would be more costly to complete in-house. An example of this type of task would be a software related task requiring specialized training. Companies who do not have an on staff employee qualified to complete this task can benefit financially by outsourcing this task.

There may be significant fees required to retain the services of an industry expert on a contractual basis but the efficiency of this individual will enable him to complete the task much more quickly than it could have been done in-house. If the task were not outsourced an in-house employee would have had to complete the task and may have taken significantly longer costing the company more in the long run.

On Call Experts

In the previous section we discussed how having industry experts available to complete outsourced tasks can result in a cost savings for the company but having these experts on call also provides the potential for new opportunities for the company. With experts waiting in the wings to assist, the company is able to go after larger and more specialized types of work. This is important because in doing this the company can find themselves enjoying greater prosperity.

A Larger Workforce

Still another advantage to outsourcing is the benefit of enjoying a larger workforce when necessary without the hassle of maintaining a larger staff. Through outsourcing companies can bring in additional employees on a contract basis during times of prosperity without worrying about having to lay them off or keep them utilized when the surge of work begins to wane. This is particularly relevant in industries which enjoy peak seasons as well as off seasons.

Another advantage of having a larger workforce is the ability to generate a larger profit. This is important because smaller companies can find themselves in a position where they can compete with larger companies for bigger jobs by outsourcing a portion of the workload.

More Flexibility

Finally, more flexibility is another considerable advantage to outsourcing work. Even the most well planned projects may suddenly end up behind schedule or under a time crunch due to minor errors, changes in plans or other incidental activities.

Smaller companies who do not have the resources to compensate for these inevitable mishaps may find themselves in serious trouble without the ability to outsource work when necessary. These companies can take advantage of outsourcing in times of trouble to help them deal with problems without alienating clients or performing poorly on a project.

For more information please visit here .

Saturday, February 24, 2007

History of Outsourcing

In fact outsourcing is said to have emerged a few thousand years ago with the production and sales of food, tools and other household appliances. As soon as small communities and societies began to form, people with specialized professions began to trade with each other for goods and services. In effect it can be said that each worker was outsourcing some activities to others. The history of outsourcing shows that even in the industrial age, a few thousand years later, very few companies outsourced any of their operations. Companies in the 1800s and 1900s were vertically integrated organizations, taking care of their own production, mining, and manufacturing from raw materials to finished goods as well as then shipping the goods to company owned retail outlets. These companies were often self-insures, handled their own taxes, employed their own lawyers, as well as designed and built their own buildings without outside assistance. This of course is not applicable to all companies during that time period, but it gives a general idea of the time.

The history of outsourcing shows that through specialization contracting began to be more popular, especially in the service industry. This in turn led to the first wave of outsourcing during the industrial revolution pushing the large-scale growth of services such as insurance services, architecture and engineering services, among many others. At this time the companies doing the outsourced work were mostly located in the same country, often in the city, just like the customers.

The history of outsourcing portrays that as onshore outsourcing continued manufacturing outsourcing of low-tech items such as toys, shoes and apparel goods began to take place. After this manufacturing higher value items like high-tech components and consumer electronics began to appear. In fact outsourcing history demonstrates that manufacturing was the first activity that began to move to offshore destinations in a quest for lower costs. Through the development of infrastructure as transportation and logistics improved, the costs decreased and offshore manufacturing increased. As the education and skills on lower wage countries developed, outsourcing manufacturers gained more value. More recently, in the US during 1970s, it was common for computer companies to export their payrolls to outside service providers for processing. This continued into the 1980s, when accounting services, payroll, billing, and word processing all became outsourced work.

Towards the end of modern day history of outsourcing, the trend has moved into the world of information technology, data transcription and call center operations. Studies on the history of outsourcing conclude that outsourcing is clearly not just about payrolls and call centers. This can be seen by simply looking into your medicine cabinet. It is very likely that the R&D of your daily medicine was outsourced to companies in India. Your insurance company which covers the costs of your medications may have their claim processing to offshore transcription providers. And your medical clinic may easily be outsourcing the administration of your confidential medical records to India, Russia or the Philippines.

For more information please visit here.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

IT Services Outsourcing

In today's world of complex IT solutions, intense competition, and global expansion, many organizations have come to realize that they can't do everything. The need to focus limited capital, resources and management attention on core areas of expertise has accelerated the outsourcing of non-core, non-strategic activities to business partners that have expertise in a specific service or function. In short, if the IT department spends most of its time struggling with routine IT services, then it will have no time to move onto the higher demands the business makes of it—better business intelligence, better processes, and a sharper focus on the strategic goals of the business.

If IT Services Outsourcing makes sense on paper, it is vital to source the service from the right provider in practice. Basically, IT Services Outsourcing means that an organization considering an outsourcing solution should evaluate not just different providers, but how a particular provider matches with its business needs.

Companies need to think about what services they have to keep in house to preserve their competitive advantage, and what IT Services Outsourcing are best to outsource for cost-cutting and efficiency reasons.

In the IT Services Outsourcing world, a number of criteria should serve as the main qualifiers in selecting an outsourcer:

• Broad technical coverage
• Realization of improved service metrics
• Product-specific expertise
• Lower service costs
• Appropriate geographic coverage
• Appropriate hours and days of coverage

A number of IT Services Outsourcing lend themselves to outsourcing, such as help desk services, asset management, hardware and software support services, desktop support, etc. IT Services Outsourcing and software outsourcing in particular, is a most effective way to stretch your budget. IT Services Outsourcing may be the only way out. Cutting your costs and upgrading the quality of the services you offer will allow you to concentrate on your core activities and expand the competitive capacity of your business.

For more information please visit here.

Offshore Outsourcing Strategy

Although outsourcing has lead to many success stories and has so many associated advantages, taking outsourcing for granted is not recommended.

This is the reason why companies need to plan and consult a lot before actually outsourcing their services.

The best way to go about is by Strategic outsourcing. Strategic outsourcing requires a company to carefully plan and analyze its long term objectives and decide which processes to outsource, why to outsource, when to outsource, where to outsource, the relative costs involved, the long term benefits, political stability of the outsourcing destination and lots more. Only after deciding on these issues should the company outsource its services.

Let us look at some factors that make the best business process outsourcing-

Selecting the Right BPO destination

• Should have a stable government
• Should have quality certified software firms
• Should have a good communications and internet infrastructure
• Should have a proper time zone to have 24/7 service
• There should be proper availability of skilled workforce
• The labor costs should be low

Selecting the Right BPO vendor

• The BPO vendor should have a good reputation
• He should be in a position to recruit and train a workforce
• He should possess quality infrastructure and expansion facilities
• He should have a quality certified license
• He should have customers in accordance to his size of business
• He should be able to deliver the needs for multiple technological skills

By taking care of these important factors that client company can be sure to have the best business process outsourcing that is bound to succeed.

To ensure that the outsourcing would be a wise decision following strategic points should be given due consideration:

Understanding the Needs and Objectives of the Organization

• Before actually planning to outsource a company must be sure of its long term goals and objectives. Based on these objectives a company needs to decide what kind of outsourcing contracts to go for.

Identifying the off-shore outsourcing destination

• In off-shore outsourcing the destination country plays the most important role. Before finalizing the destination a company has to make sure that the destination country has a stable government, good infrastructure and cheap labor.

Identifying and selecting suppliers

• Suppliers/Vendors are players who provide outsourcing services. The suppliers strengths, services he offers, existing customers, infrastructure and certifications are some things that need to be taken into consideration.

Signing the contract

• The outsourcing contract should be a full-fledged one with the mention of all necessary information. There should be a SLA or service level agreement also. Make sure the terms of service are flexible and expandable to newer levels. Licenses and other warranties should be signed with the contract

Establishing a communication channel

• Communication plays a major role in deciding the success or failure of an outsourcing project. So make sure to establish clear communication to the supplier about your specific needs and expectations

Measuring the ROI

• Measuring the ROI (return on investment) is the most important step in deciding the actual success or failure of the outsourcing project. Hence regular measurement of ROI is very important.

By following these simple steps on how to outsource successfully an organization is sure to reap the maximum benefits.

For more information please visit here.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Offshore Outsourcing Strategy

Although outsourcing has lead to many success stories and has so many associated advantages, taking outsourcing for granted is not recommended.

This is the reason why companies need to plan and consult a lot before actually outsourcing their services.

The best way to go about is by Strategic outsourcing. Strategic outsourcing requires a company to carefully plan and analyze its long term objectives and decide which processes to outsource, why to outsource, when to outsource, where to outsource, the relative costs involved, the long term benefits, political stability of the outsourcing destination and lots more. Only after deciding on these issues should the company outsource its services.

Let us look at some factors that make the best business process outsourcing-

Selecting the Right BPO destination

• Should have a stable government
• Should have quality certified software firms
• Should have a good communications and internet infrastructure
• Should have a proper time zone to have 24/7 service
• There should be proper availability of skilled workforce
• The labor costs should be low

Selecting the Right BPO vendor

• The BPO vendor should have a good reputation
• He should be in a position to recruit and train a workforce
• He should possess quality infrastructure and expansion facilities
• He should have a quality certified license
• He should have customers in accordance to his size of business
• He should be able to deliver the needs for multiple technological skills

By taking care of these important factors that client company can be sure to have the best business process outsourcing that is bound to succeed.

To ensure that the outsourcing would be a wise decision following strategic points should be given due consideration:

Understanding the Needs and Objectives of the Organization

• Before actually planning to outsource a company must be sure of its long term goals and objectives. Based on these objectives a company needs to decide what kind of outsourcing contracts to go for.

Identifying the off-shore outsourcing destination

• In off-shore outsourcing the destination country plays the most important role. Before finalizing the destination a company has to make sure that the destination country has a stable government, good infrastructure and cheap labor.

Identifying and selecting suppliers

• Suppliers/Vendors are players who provide outsourcing services. The suppliers strengths, services he offers, existing customers, infrastructure and certifications are some things that need to be taken into consideration.

Signing the contract

• The outsourcing contract should be a full-fledged one with the mention of all necessary information. There should be a SLA or service level agreement also. Make sure the terms of service are flexible and expandable to newer levels. Licenses and other warranties should be signed with the contract

Establishing a communication channel

• Communication plays a major role in deciding the success or failure of an outsourcing project. So make sure to establish clear communication to the supplier about your specific needs and expectations

Measuring the ROI

• Measuring the ROI (return on investment) is the most important step in deciding the actual success or failure of the outsourcing project. Hence regular measurement of ROI is very important.

By following these simple steps on how to outsource successfully an organization is sure to reap the maximum benefits.

For more information please visit here.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Outsourcing SEO is There to Help you on a Large Extent

Are you really worried about how to inform the online visitors that you have launched something new? Now, you don’t have to take any more tensions. Search engine optimization is here to solve your problem and give your online business a perfect direction. SEO has become an integral part of online marketing because nothing on the web can sell without proper promotion. Search engine optimization helps not only to provide a base for enhanced business opportunities, but take your site on the top of search engine rakings. If you have a lot of SEO workload, then you can opt for outsourcing SEO that will surely benefit your online business.

SEO is basically concerned with carrying out methods to increase the visibility of a particular site on the web. As the visibility of your site increases, you are bound to get enormous amount of traffic that can help you in increasing your sales graph. No matter what the problem is, your online business is surely going to flourish with the assistance of an SEO firm. Many times it may happen that the SEO firm to whom you have given work might have overload and outsource some of the work to get it completed well in time.

SEO has entered the market of online business and acquired a special place for itself. It is the best means of showing the availability of your website on the World Wide Web. SEO is the suitable technique of improving the visibility of a website in search engine linking. It is quite beneficial for every type of online business, be it in its infancy or be it a developed one. Outsourcing SEO works efficiently in managing the task, so that you are able to give proper attention to all departments of your business. Search engine optimization work given to outsourcing firm is performed successfully, so as to lessen your workload.

Outsourcing SEO has been preferred by a variety of people, in fact by everyone. The main reason behind this is that you can save a lot on the monetary front. Just imagine that you have kept a fully trained staff and then giving huge salaries along with perks and other add-ons. It will increase your total cost and the entire budget can go out of control. In this case, it is always beneficial for you to opt outsourcing SEO so that you can cut down on the extra cost and save that money for other important investments.

Time is a big constraint and you would not like to get it wasted because time is money. It is quite obvious that your in-house staff may take longer time to complete the task, as they might have to handle other things also. In this way, the quality of the work will get affect to a great extent. Outsourcing SEO professionals are skilled enough to do the work well on time because they don’t have to handle any other task. Outsourcing service acts as a life-saver for the companies, because excess workload can lead to negligence and this can cause losses.

For more information please visit here.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Outsourcing: Business in the 21st Century

In today’s world it makes more sense than ever for business to outsource much of their work. When a company chooses to outsource part or most of its work they save money on the maintenance of a full time employee which of course leads to larger profits. That’s what business is all about, larger profits, lower overhead, but all this comes at a price.

In December 2003, IBM decided to move the jobs of nearly 5,000 programmers to India and China. GE has moved much of its research and development overseas. Microsoft, Dell, American Express, and virtually every major multinational from Accenture to Yahoo has already offshored work or is considering doing so, with 40% of the Fortune 500 expected to have do follow suite. The savings are dramatic: Companies can cut 20% to 70% of their labor costs by moving jobs to low-wage nations--assuming that the work is of comparable quality.

Just as drastic are the loss of jobs and suffering of the people left behind. So far, at least, that enhanced productivity hasn't translated into jobs at home. Offshoring is encrouching into the educated classes, both in the United States and elsewhere, affecting jobs traditionally considered secure. People whose livelihoods could now be at risk include everyone from IT experts to accountants, medical transcriptionists to customer-service representatives.

Fortunately there is a way for companies to have the convenience and cost effectiveness of outsourcing and still contribute to a healthy economy. There are many qualified and cost effective companies within a business’ own national community that can get the job done for a reasonable price resulting in an increase in company profits.


For more information please visit here.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Outsourcing Your Internet Marketing Projects

Outsourcing is probably the most powerful internet marketing method. Marketers can outsource almost anything that is required to maintain or develop any web project. Outsourcing has become very popular in the past few years. There are three major benefits of using outsourcing method in internet marketing which are saving time, ability to work on more than one project at a time, and making more money by producing more income streams.

Saving time is the most common reasons why internet marketers are searching for ways to outsource their projects. Many of them are so busy that it’s almost impossible to manage all their work. By outsourcing webmaster can concentrate on marketing their websites and enjoy their free time. Saving time is very important for any internet marketer. Being able to spend more time on getting links to their website or perfecting their pay per click campaigns is an important factor of success. Internet marketers also want to start new websites and move on to more profitable industries while monetizing their previous projects. By outsourcing their work they become more productive which results in success.

Ability to work on more than one project at a time is another factor why outsourcing proves itself as very effective method in internet marketing. By letting a highly qualified professional do webmaster’s work, he or she can concentrate on coming up with new ideas and projects. This way of marketing is very successful. It’s something worth looking into, if you are looking for ability to do more than one project at a time.

Making more money by outsourcing internet marketer’s work is also one of the benefits of using this effective method. If a webmaster is able to save time and concentrate on other projects, he will have more income potential. If a webmaster is capable of doing more than one project at a time, it results in more income streams. As you can see outsourcing your internet work is very profitable if you know how to use it effectively.

For More information please click here.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Outsourcing SEO Services will help you in Completing your Targets

Is that you are overloaded with work? Usually, workload not only hampers growth, but also mars the attention that you have been paying to different sectors of your business. If your attention is deviated from the task you are doing, you are bound to commit mistakes. Search engine optimization work requires lots of hard work and dedication. The slightest mistake can ruin your entire work and also business. If you are overloaded with SEO work and are not able to pay full attention to it or any other department, then it is better to outsource the work.Outsourcing SEO services will help you to manage the entire work properly.

SEO has become the need of online business. It is the best means of showing the availability of your site on the web. SEO is the appropriate method of improving the visibility of a website in search engines. It gives you better chances of attracting customers and increasing your online business. Outsourcing firms work efficiently in managing the task, so that you are able to give proper attention to other departments of your business. Search engine optimization work given to outsourcing firms is performed effectively, so as to lessen your workload.

Outsourcing service acts as a life-saver for companies, because excess workload can lead to inattentiveness and this can cause losses. After all, you want to get your work completed in time and efficiently. Efficiency is what that matters in the field of business. Moreover, inattentiveness will hamper your progress and work also. After outsourcing SEO services, you can be rest assured that your work will have better quality. Apart from this advantage, your work would be done on time. It is because outsourcing companies handle specific tasks only and they don’t have to manage other things.

A variety of SEO related tasks can be outsourced to other firms. Content writing, pay per click campaign management, internet marketing and various other SEO related tasks can be assigned to outsourcing firms. Suppose, you have got so many keywords to write on and it is becoming difficult for you to complete your target on time. So, you can outsource this work. Then, you will see that your work is done effectively and that too on time. On the same track, you can also outsource internet marketing of websites. If you have so many websites to work upon and you are given time target, then outsourcing is the only option left for you. Isn’t it?

Outsourcing SEO services is the best bet or your online business. The main advantage of outsourcing your work is that you are able to cut down on the extra costs that were being spent on the large staff kept. It is an economic option that allows you to save on facilities such as provident fund, house allowance, overtime, cash advances and lots more. Apart from this, outsourcing helps you to keep a check on the overflow of your work. And, most importantly, you will be able to complete your targets. All the advantages associated with outsourcing SEO services have made this option as the most demandable.

For more information please visit here.

Friday, February 02, 2007

Business Process Outsourcing is becoming a part of every business

Business process outsourcing is all about hiring the other businesses to deliver the rk to you, so that you can concentrate on the core activities of your business. The core activities have been more important for establishing a particular business in the field. After all, you are spending so much to set up your business and missing out the core activities can cast a bad spell on the growth of your business. It is for this reason that big business house keep on outsourcing their non-core work, so that proper time should be given to the profit generating aspects of the business.

The concept of Business process outsourcing has been spreading its wings everywhere. Business process outsourcing is the outsourcing of back office and front office functions typically performed by white collar and clerical workers. It is like a contract that enables the business person to hire the services of an outsourcing firm that will manage and complete the tasks for them. As far as the contract policies are concerned, it becomes the entire responsibility of the service provider to complete the task well in time. Business process outsourcing is becoming more and more demandable and promising.

Business process outsourcing saves precious management time and resources and allows focus while building upon core competencies. There are various companies in foreign countries that keep on outsourcing their work such as call centre work, accounting work and many others.

Outsourcing these forms of tasks also proves to be cost friendly for the big business houses. The company will not only save on the house rent allowances, bonuses, cash advances and various other ad ons, but will also be able to cut down on the huge salaries that a trained staff would demand.

When it comes to small business houses, it becomes difficult for them to outsource. Since the owner of these business houses keep on managing the task on their own; they hardly outsource their work to any other company. Whatever the case may be, business process outsourcing helps to a great extent in saving the money that can be invested in enhancing the progress of other departments. The main aim of this service is to save you from problems that may crop up at any point of time. In fact, business process outsourcing has become an important part of every type of business.

There are various things that have to be tackled in a particular business. If you are running a business house and are getting worried about the increasing load of the work, then outsourcing is the best option for you. Usually, the concept of business process outsourcing has earned a wide acclaim. This service providing division is slowly and slowly entering every business house and is creating a special place for itself. The professionals with outsourcing companies are skilled enough to manage the tasks properly and complete the work on time.

For more information please visit here.