The business practice of sub-contracting specific IT functions to third party companies specializing in the same, irrespective of their location around the globe is known as IT outsourcing. IT outsourcing companies offer varied portfolios offering services right from pre developmental planning, blueprints etc. to post delivery maintenance and support. While they are a necessity for businesses that prefer focussing on their core competency only and not getting into the tertiary verticals, in recent years, IT outsourcing has also emerged as a key force driving the industry, thanks to the data and real-time information available at disposal. Moreover, availability of skilled resources in budget has recently put India as key centres of global outsourcing.
However, a pool of industry experts consider outsourcing as a pure-play cost-reduction activity and underestimate the changes that the host organization, its people, it’s processes go through. Also, the amount of data based insights and learning this structure offers, often proves to be the differentiator over the other players in the market. A mobile app development company does offer enhanced budget flexibility and control by enabling businesses to pay for only the services and functions they need, only when they need them. TechAhead offers not only real time and measurable improvement in the bottom line, but also keeps the information supplement for better decision making, available.
Sourcing, procurement and vendor management (SPVM) experts facing the dearth of time and resources to attend more to stakeholder management, performance metrics, data analytics, and process refinement find outsourcing relatable and indispensable.
Some of the most outsourced activities include:
- Customer support division
- Financial due diligence/ Primary market research
- Identifying potential suppliers/ customers and channel partners
- CA/Govt compliance and corporate affairs
- Initial responses to Request For Information, Request for Proposals, query responses
- Hiring consultants etc.
While Outsourcing does give you privileges like lower overall human resource costs, access to a larger talent pool, not having to hire permanently etc. it also brings along a fair share of caveats or risks. Losing control of the process is one big concern. While you can always give directions to the concerned vendor, you have to give away the first hand view of the process. Whether it is a conscious decision or a situational requirement varies from client to client.
Interpersonal fluency or communication between the host and vendor teams becomes a challenge. Difference of time zones, internet connectivity, different preferred modes of communication (call, mail, message etc) add up to challenges restricting effective and precise information flow. Quality of delivery is another important factor resulting in bad experiences. Since the development phase is missing for the host company, they get to know about the product only after development. This often results in expectation mismatch with the quality of delivery.
