Low-cost countries such as China, India and Venezuela continue to attract companies to move things offshore and outside their own boundaries. However, outsourcing should not only be seen as a cost-cutting maneuver but also as a way to produce important strategic benefits. One thing that is slowly being recognized is that there are savings to be gained in sourcing knowledge and talent as there are cost savings in sourcing things.

The sourcing of knowledge and technology provides access to better processes or efficiencies as well as more efficient management procedures. Outsourcing opens the way to make use of specific specializations of entities that would otherwise not be available. More and more companies are starting to realize that the probability for attaining excellence is much higher if it concentrates its efforts on its core activities. Other tasks such as building of websites are better left to professionals. The good thing about the present status of building of websites is that the service can also be outsourced to offshore companies. A company can now have the benefit of a much bigger and better site for the same amount of money spent in the US for a regular site.

The forerunners of outsourcing have exhibited much competitiveness in terms of well-developed telecommunication and IT infrastructure, good business services and having a pool of qualified people. This is the very reason for the so-called India advantage. India ranks first among the most favored outsourcing destinations due to its varied inherent strengths. It has a booming IT industry which is recognized all over the world. It has the largest English speaking population after the USA and has excellent training infrastructure. India’s government is also very supportive of outsourcing activities. Not to be forgotten of course is its cost-effective manpower which caught the initial attention of companies seeking ways to reduce costs.

Outsourcing should not be construed as abdicating responsibility but rather as leveraging outside capabilities. When organizations outsource, they do so because they would want to leverage the distinct skills and resources of other organizations to the benefit of their company and their customers. The basic business philosophy underlying outsourcing is the delegation of business activities that isn’t of core competence. It is about accepting the fact that no single company can be particularly good at everything. It is about using this known fact to assess a company’s strengths and weaknesses. Once a company is clear about what it considers essential, then it will be able to focus on broader business issues while having operational details assumed by external experts. Outsourcing has long ceased to be a strategy used during bad times only as in cutting operational costs. It has also become a business strategy used during good times to focus on the company’s growth.

Building of Websites

Outsourcing has introduced teleservices to numerous organizations worldwide. It can be broadly referred to as information-based work performed at a distance from the customers. Its market can be divided into three categories namely tele-processing, software export and interactive teleservices.

The first category covers tele-processing which includes all back-office functions performed in remote information processing factories. Specific tasks such as data conversion services, remote technical staff and content management are performed by an outsourcing company. Content management would in turn include content services for websites, database maintenance and refresh, various design services and even animation. The second category includes website development and related e-business applications development while the last category provides technical support to owners of PCs and peripherals.

Website development requires a special touch that only experts in this field would know. It is not just about producing a website but ensuring proper full scale websites that incorporates web design and placement, Internet marketing and optimization to gain the right listing on search engines. A web services firm specializes in the planning, design and development of web based business-to-business sites.

Optimal website placement is crucial to the success of any website. Web services firms are expected to provide a complete, professional design that is based on a client’s specific business environment. The design and layout of text, logo and graphics is as important as the ease of navigation. Special attention is given to color, white space, type fonts, background elements and other related items as these make up the artistic elements of a website. The aim is to create a website that projects a professional image, while at the same time, pleasing to the eye. The design should also be search-engine friendly and scalable for future add-ons.

The high-quality content of websites is the leading reason for repeat visitors followed by ease of use, quickness in downloading requested information and frequent updating. One area of a corporate work load that is best outsourced is website management and maintenance handled by web professionals. A company stands to reduce costs by eliminating the need to maintain a full time website specialist, web developer, artists, designers and network administrators.

There are a lot of choices when it comes to website development providers. The important thing to consider is how well they would be able to respond to each company’s unique specifications. A company will do well with the services of a provider that guarantees proper maintenance and updating of a website for the least possible costs. Most website development firms offer affordable hourly and retainer agreement based contracts and plans.

A company may wonder what logic lies behind outsourcing the building of websites to low wage countries. Offshore outsourcing firms located in developing countries have a wide range of world-class website development services to offer at affordable prices. Generally, they are always interested in building mutually-beneficial partnerships with overseas companies. India has opened the way as it revealed its most important natural resource which is the abundance of technically skilled manpower. Cost-effective services are provided without compromising the quality. Other developing countries are making their presence felt in the industry. Common sense tells us that any company stands to gain more if it is able to access the same quality of services and products for a considerably reduced cost.

In these early years of the new millennium, where we stand today, the Asian and south-Asian countries ranks themselves as hot beds of outsourcing, a fact substantiated by market experts who put the net worth of outsourcing industry based on these countries to a whooping $100 billion, and the number increasing by the day. The figures itself is clear indication of the amount of work outsourced to this part of the world. But if you are new to this field, how to get yourself started with outsourcing? Also, there are other questions such as how to outsource work and where to find the required services and talent? Furthermore, where to post the proposals so as to receive maximum exposure? Well, these are exactly what we are trying to explain in the following paragraphs.

There are various websites in which you can submit the project proposals and requirements. Most of the websites charge a fee for signing up so as to post the project details while some others are partly-free. Also, there are free sites which allow people to sign up and advertise projects free of cost, and a nominal commission will be charged if the advertiser finds a freelancer through the site.

Which ever website you choose to post to, it is the visibility one’s advertisement gets that ultimately matters in drawing more talents and hence a better talent pool from which the final selection can be made. Therefore, tactically, it will be prudent to post the project in at least two websites at a time. Ideally this should be a pay-site with the most competent services and maximum viewer ship and a free one. The project posted in the former may provide an enhanced promotion – as per the marketing standards and quality of the site – meanwhile posting in the latter, and if it is a new one like workasfreelancer.com, it gives the client a place at the top of the list and hence better chances for finding quality bids with less struggle.

Alongside visibility, there is one more aspect that the advertiser need to stress on – it is the type of the project and a detail of the requirements and demands from your side regarding the freelancer who is bidding for the project. It is in fact a way of telling the freelancer about what you expect from him. Such enunciated way of posting projects eliminates the issue of inappropriate bids and draws more freelancers instead.

WorkAsFreelancer.com offers you free service in terms of posting the project and right through freelance bidding to signing the contract. Also, unlike other websites, both fee based and partly-fee types, it allows the clients to send private messages to others, in order to brief your project or to invite somebody else to join the bid. Another feature is that, as soon as the client wins a project or selected somebody to execute the project, the concerned party is provided a project page containing detailed information about the progress made, escrow account and much more. Finally, the website team will offer you necessary tips on the do’s and don’ts when clarifying the project requirements. And you won’t be charged even a penny for that as well.

To this end, a business needs to understand the WHAT of any outsourcing project. The what of course, is what will be outsourced. It’s not enough to simply state we’re gong to outsource IT technology services, or Human Resources, or any other facet of the business. To determine the WHAT means an intimate understanding of how your business is currently handling that work.

So the first order of business when considering outsourcing is:

Define the current Process. This should be done with an understanding of requirements. Requirements should be clearly defined in such a way as to eliminate ambiguity and offer a measurement method. Fast service is NOT a metric. Answering and resolving a specific type of customer inquiry within x number of minutes IS a requirement.

The exercise of defining the current process allows you to understand the details of what actually needs done. This information will be needed when/if transferring that process over to your new outsource partner.

Now would also be a good time to do a cost benefit analysis on the proposed process. This allows the business to have a solid estimate of the current operating costs of the process under consideration for outsourcing. When doing this analysis, be certain to honestly consider all the costs involved.

I was involved with a major technology company who insisted that any cost that couldn’t readily be quantified, be marginalized or simply ignored. They based the decision to outsource their internal help desk for thousands of people based on a simple statement; “Support call costs will go from 25 dollars to 6 dollars.” Problem was that they didn’t cover all the costs. Although they required calls to be answered within a certain period of time, they didn’t set a resolution time. When support was in house, an engineer could call for support and get a resolution in hours. After the transfer however, that same call took a minimum of 3 days and sometimes over a week for resolution. The cost in lost productivity to the company because the engineer didn’t have access to his files and email were never considered in the simple statement above. If the total costs were considered, the savings would have been much less significant.

So the key tip is to know your process and costs prior to considering offshoring any project. By being armed with solid information, it’s then possible to select the right outsource partner and make a good decision for the business.