Have you heard about outsourcing? Now, in the era of the internet, you might hear this term frequently. We speak about outsourcing if a company assigns some tasks to a third party.
The main purpose of such an approach is to cut costs. Sometimes though it might be connected with the availability of needed specialists in a particular location and their absence in the place where the company is located.
Some companies look for specialists they need while others take up the role of an intermediator. They look for specialists that a different company needs. In such a case, the outsourcing company gets a commission or the difference between the sum they pay to a specialist and the sum they charge from the other company. It looks like a nice business, doesn`t it? However, not everybody can do it, and this approach can be applied in specific industries only.
Outsourcing Types
Some fields, such as IT, are perfect for outsourcing, while others, such as debt negotiation services provision, cannot be outsourced. There are several outsourcing types:
- Outsourcing of business processes: here, we speak about the outsourcing of specific tasks connected with business processes. For example, a company can outsource payroll, marketing, technical support.
- We can talk about the outsourcing of knowledge processes. Those are usually processes that require advanced skills in a particular field or deep research. Pharmaceutical research and development can be outsourced.
- Manufacturing outsourcing is one of the specific types. For example, we can speak about this outsourcing type if an automotive enterprise outsources to another company to make windows for all or a specific type of cars produced there.
IT as a Specific Outsourcing Field
IT outsourcing has become especially popular recently. Agile development and the development of cloud technologies have created wonderful opportunities to outsource. IT outsourcing companies offer their services to big corporations and IT development businesses overseas. Many collaboration patterns are developed:
- An outsourcing company might have their specialist work in their office, use their equipment, and be paid based on the legislation of the country where they are located and where the outsourcing company operates. While a client is charged according to the standards common in the client’s location.
- An outsourcing company might look for specialists ready to relocate to work in the client’s office. In such a case, the outsourcing company charges a fee from the client.
- A specialist provided by the outsourcing company might join the client’s team at a specific stage or he/she might be the only one responsible for a specific project or task.
There are many other options to outsource and many patterns of collaboration. But the main target or any outsourcing is to make the entire process beneficial for an outsourcing company, its client, and the employees. Outsourcing allows us to solve the issues connected with the lack of specialists and to provide experts with new, more attractive opportunities.