The Deloitte Global Outsourcing Survey 2016 found that outsourcing will continue to grow, providing customers with innovative services and solutions that help them cut costs while remaining competitive and on track.
However, not all outsourcing is created equal and should be undertaken with a measure of consideration and a dollop of common sense.
Business process outsourcing (BPO) has evolved into a thriving and enormously successful market, accelerating in growth as it constantly reinvents itself and adapts to the changing paces of digital, country and economy.
Outsourcing allows for the business to achieve specific goals or tasks without having to train people, understand the solution or manage risk and redundancy. You get the advantage of expertise and advice, you can say farewell to the operational elements completely and you get built-in redundancy – a win for any size business.
There is also the immediate cost benefit in that the business does not need to invest in infrastructure or employees to gain access to superlative solutions and technology. That said, outsourcing must be undertaken with clear goals in mind and with the right service provider.
The benefit of BPO
Software upgrades, backup restores and system management – all these issues disappear into the hands of the service provider so the business can focus on delivering its core services, not on managing its internal ones. In addition, BPO mitigates the impact of employee loss due to illness or personal circumstance as the service provider must deliver on its mandate – regardless of the challenge, the organisation is assured of immediate continuity.
Another advantage is in confidentialit. For example, with executive payroll you can outsource the information to another business rather than keep it internal which will ensure the numbers remain private.
Some of the best tasks or services to allocate to the BPO model would be payroll, customer support and helpdesk, web design and virtual assistants. Each of these offerings comes with the best of breed in technology and capability, each one taking a load off the organisation’s proverbial shoulders.
360 degrees of awareness
There is much to commend BPO – it’s seamless, it cuts on costs, it creates room for the company to breathe while giving them access to the latest in technology and solutions, and it can be tailored to budget and business. However, the organisation must ensure that they select a reputable provider who has systems in place to protect critical data and who don’t happen to hold the data of a competitor in their hands.
You don’t want to run the risk of a competitor uncovering your critical data. So, pick a service provider which doesn’t have anyone in the same game, that minimises risk to your business, is aware of its redundancies, has rigorous security and is well audited. You are putting your business in someone else’s hands so make sure it is someone you can trust.
Teryl Schroenn is the Chief Executive Officer at Accsys.
