Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

FAQs

Who should outsource?

From the entrepreneurs in the SOHO (small office home office) segment to small and medium enterprises (SME) and to large businesses with varied business processes, every company can benefit from outsourcing, in order to acquire competitive advantages.

Why should my organization outsource?

A company should consider outsourcing for various reasons: so that it can focus on its core functions, in order to have a particular activity delivered by a specialist service provider, in order to decrease overheads and introduce a competitive advantage to its support services, and so on.

How many activities should my organization outsource?

The number of activities which should be outsourced depends on each company. It can start with a single manpower contract or a multi-activity contract.

How long should an outsourcing relationship last?

An outsourcing relationship can last from a couple of months to many years. It all depends on your company’s needs. When deciding upon this, you should have in mind issues such as flexibility, planning, adding/restructuring the incentives over time, business/technology life time and the cost of getting into and out of an outsourcing relationship.

How do I know if the provider I choose can manage my project requirements effectively?

In order to ensure that you’re dealing with an appropriate provider, you have to watch out for requirements document, a development methodology, good communication channels and the ability to understand and think ahead of a business model.

What can make outsourcing relationships unsuccessful?

In order to achieve a successful outsourcing relationship, companies must follow the fundamental principles of outsourcing throughout the partnership. If not, the relationship could be unsatisfactory and it could lead to an early termination of the contract. Incomplete description of the service scope and boundaries of its components can be other reasons for an unsuccessful outsourcing relationship.

Are the benefits achieved through offshoring sustainable?

The main reason to offshoring is reducing costs, so, before choosing the right destination, companies should consider some factors such as currency exchange rates and labor availability. If you choose a suitable location for your outsourced activities, benefits will soon clear.

What needs to be done in order to prepare for an offshoring arrangement?

A successful offshoring arrangement requires a lot of planning. You need to determine the functions that are best to be offshored, the number of employees and the roles that will be affected, the expectations of the teams involves in this arrangement and the clear purpose of the initiative.

How can you prepare your offshore employees?

In order to achieve the goals of your offshoring arrangement, such as reduced cost, increased productivity and efficiency and global reach, you need to provide support to your offshore employees. This supposes ongoing training, regular communication and fixing clear standards to which employees must comply.

What are the risks involved with offshoring?

Moving tasks to an offshore location does come with some risks. Offshoring supposes the loss of the ability to supervise work directly. If the long distance supervision is not adequate, there can be a decline in quality, timeliness and efficiency.

How can the risks be managed?

The most effective way to manage risks is by choosing the right offshoring location, taking into consideration the currency exchange rates and the labor availability, establishing clear standards relating to quality and timeliness and making setting up an effective project management function.