How Can Scaling Companies Start Their Outsourcing Journey?

With the global outsourcing markets projected at USD 245.9 billion in 2021, external support enables businesses to scale up and profit without interfering with their current process. It entails transferring ownership and control to a third-party specialist, who will jointly manage risk and shoulder responsibilities. As the third party is now in charge of the project’s execution from beginning to end, firms are better prepared to gain control over and focus on other tasks on hand – perhaps strengthening their core functions. 

In a research conducted by BCG and the University of Auckland, 100 percent of participants claimed they used outside resources to support their transformation. While some businesses just employed outside sources, the great majority—92%—used a combination of internal and outside resources, which suggests the increased traction outsourcing has gained over the past few years for scaling companies.

According to Gartner, the preparation stage of the outsourcing process is a critical component that supports the business’ overall success in outsourcing. Businesses that spend enough time strategizing their outsourcing plans get greater rewards in terms of improved cost-efficiency and operational excellence. Many firms still struggle with efficient business process outsourcing, though. 

Just like any other area of business, outsourcing has a real challenge. One cannot expect to dive in headfirst and become a master at it right away. Businesses need to adhere to a strategic approach to outsourcing through careful planning and communication protocol for a change management strategy.  The following tips will assist your organization in navigating the outsourcing process successfully and increasing operational excellence:

Evaluate the Purpose of Outsourcing Activities

Businesses that have specific, well-defined outsourcing goals are always one step ahead of the competition. Determine the needs of the company and be extremely clear about its core competencies and non-core competencies. Companies often follow a process that starts with outsourcing non-core activities to particular geographic locations as a successful outsourcing strategy, according to Mckinsey, which claims that industries have recognized outsourcing as a viable alternative to non-core operations.

Prior to outsourcing, businesses must undertake an internal assessment to determine whether outsourcing would enhance the team’s strengths or, in the event of an inaccurate assessment of the core competencies, weigh the company down completely. Which business functions can be outsourced? What processes can be outsourced or automated? It is important to build an understanding of how outsourcing improves efficiency for the business and ask questions that clearly define business requirements so that they may be expressed to potential service providers. Businesses should be clear about their needs and expectations going into the process before outsourcing their business operations to a third-party service provider. In the long run, it will contribute to both cost and business efficiency.

Additionally, take into account whether the company has the appropriate management strategies, personnel, and operational procedures, as well as whether the appropriate areas for outsourcing have been identified. Outsourcing may be advantageous for a business when it feels that its own resources have been fully utilized.

Identify the Best Outsourcing Model to Support Your Business

A growing company’s outsourcing strategy can be improved with more knowledge of the outsourcing market to predict growth and reduce risks. By weighing the pros and cons of onshore, nearshore, and offshore outsourcing, organizations will be able to determine why outsourcing is essential if they want to grow their operations. Some of the business processes that can be outsourced include:

• Customer Service
• Back Office 
• Sales 
• Marketing
• Data Science 
• Engineering 
• Financial Services
• Business Intelligence
• Healthcare

When business owners are well-versed in the various outsourcing models, choosing the one that best fits their company is simple. To determine which outsourcing model is ideal for a business given its temporary or long-term demands, do considerable research on the topic.

Identify Costs Associated With Outsourcing 

For businesses to successfully outsource, they need to answer the following question: What is the impact of outsourcing on cost and quality? This requires a risk assessment for businesses to carefully plan for a change management strategy with the new integration of outsourcing teams onshore or offshore. The risks can pertain to cyber security, technical lags, legal compliance, or environmental factors. After recognizing the potential dangers, speaking with the outsourcing company will offer businesses a clearer picture of the available solutions to those problems. 

Outsourcing frequently falls short of the expectations of some firms due to “hidden costs,” which necessitates a proper understanding before outsourcing. When a company outsources, it could have to deal with unforeseen initiatives that require greater knowledge or unexpected personnel turnover. Businesses may make the best options for themselves by being aware of potential obstacles and their effects. In order to create more opportunities than difficulties, it is vital to communicate with the team and service provider.

Finding the Right Outsourcing Partner

Once engaged, a business’s outsourcing partner becomes its primary support toward its success. It might be difficult to determine whether a potential BPO partner would be a good fit for the business. A company should take into account a few aspects, such as the following:

• Accessing Ample Talent with the Match Skillset
• Employing the Right Technology
• Sourcing Credible and Certified Network Infrastructure
• Verifying Good Industry Reputation
• Ensuring Robust Hardware and Data Security
• Sourcing Skilled Management 

Ask questions pertaining to the people, processes, technology, and security of potential outsourcing partners to understand better who is the right fit for your organization.

Strong Communication to Integrate Teams

Provide a thorough document with a job description and key result area, so the BPO partner can focus on the things that are most important to the company and better understand their goals. The scope of the work or the method by which a firm wants the work completed must be outlined in detail to avoid confusion.

In addition, to avoid employee turnover due to outsourcing of activities, businesses need to involve the existing workforce and communicate how outsourcing increases productivity and how outsourcing improves efficiency for the business to assist workers in their day-to-day tasks and add value to their roles through less repetitive tasks and more valuable work. 

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Infinit-O partners with the world’s fastest-growing technology, financial, and healthcare services companies that want to scale more effectively and advance their brands, providing a strategic advantage. 

Demonstrated by our world-class Net Promoter Score of 71, we deliver the highest quality outsourcing services using our unique data-driven approach, combining powerful technology and high-performance teams within our highly engaged and agile culture. 

Our expertise includes customer experience, back office operations, sales, data science, and engineering. Explore the benefits of digital transformation with people and technology through our website.