IT Outsourcing - Sustained Competitive Advantage
There are a lot of terms in the title of this post.
IT Outsourcing.
Sustained.
Competitive.
Advantage.
It almost feels "heavy" doesn't it? It isn't that bad.
Actually - it's more beneficial than heavy.
Outsourcing is probably the most "negative" word in the title.
We have tied that word to many negative connotations for quite a long time now and the reason for that is simple: it meant loss of jobs.
Well, a lot has changed since the very first days of outsourcing and the great news here is that outsourcing does not mean what it used to mean.
Today, it can actually be a source of smart growth, competitive advantage, and the creation of jobs rather than the loss of them.
IT Outsourcing First, let's talk about outsourcing.
What does it mean to you? Does it mean that you give over a portion of your business to another country? Does it mean that you employ a "call center" in another country to handle customer support questions? Does it mean you let your current IT staff go and hire cheaper labor in another country? Well, it can mean any of these things but it can also mean some other very significant things.
Outsourcing, and more specifically IT outsourcing can mean using the resources of experts that are not located within your business but are not necessarily out of the country either.
There are terms for this: nearshoring, onshoring, out tasking, etc.
These days, outsourcing has taken on an entirely different persona.
Managed IT Service Providers (MSP's) are a great example of a "local" resource that can be used for your IT needs without employing overseas workers.
There are also situations where you might want to use outside resources for a portion of your IT tasks as well.
So why would you want to pursue this in the first place? Several reasons actually.
* Cost Savings.
When you utilize the resources of external service providers you can save overhead costs and use that money for re-investment back into the company.
The cost savings can be significant or minor depending on your needs.
The key here is that any money you save is that much more you have in capital for needs such as growth, marketing, projects, etc.
* Human Capital.
The resources of an outside firm are an incredible investment from a knowledge point of view.
Call it "wisdom of the crowds".
These companies have many clients that have their own set of issues.
They are solving issues all day long and in contact with multiple resources.
Chances are, you can benefit heavily from the use of all these resources at your fingertips.
Sometimes internal resources can only see internal issues and having that "outside" perspective is actually a huge advantage when it comes to needing information and direction.
* Creating less "mass".
Staying lean and mean is a huge advantage these days.
By this, I mean having less mass to carry around and thus staying more nimble.
When a business gets bogged down by having so many departments, the massive amounts of decisions increases and the amount of costs increases.
Leaving them vulnerable to shifts in their market that require them to change quickly.
There are probably a dozen more reasons why outsourcing can make sense but for the sake of brevity, I'll stick to the above three.
The point here is that outsourcing can help with many things that quite often get in the way of a business truly flourishing.
It is these things that lead to loss of focus and loss of customer loyalty/trust, and finally contribute to less competitive advantage.
So you wonder now, how to find an IT provider? How to find that perfect company and trust your entire infrastructure in their hands? Well, you can Google search or talk to others or you can use new types of services such as (gorilla-force.
com) to search by location/business vertical and view each company's information.
I'll do another post shortly to discuss what to look for when selecting a quality IT service provider for your business.
Until then, start thinking of ways your company can use the expertise and cost savings advantages of an outsourced IT provider.
IT Outsourcing.
Sustained.
Competitive.
Advantage.
It almost feels "heavy" doesn't it? It isn't that bad.
Actually - it's more beneficial than heavy.
Outsourcing is probably the most "negative" word in the title.
We have tied that word to many negative connotations for quite a long time now and the reason for that is simple: it meant loss of jobs.
Well, a lot has changed since the very first days of outsourcing and the great news here is that outsourcing does not mean what it used to mean.
Today, it can actually be a source of smart growth, competitive advantage, and the creation of jobs rather than the loss of them.
IT Outsourcing First, let's talk about outsourcing.
What does it mean to you? Does it mean that you give over a portion of your business to another country? Does it mean that you employ a "call center" in another country to handle customer support questions? Does it mean you let your current IT staff go and hire cheaper labor in another country? Well, it can mean any of these things but it can also mean some other very significant things.
Outsourcing, and more specifically IT outsourcing can mean using the resources of experts that are not located within your business but are not necessarily out of the country either.
There are terms for this: nearshoring, onshoring, out tasking, etc.
These days, outsourcing has taken on an entirely different persona.
Managed IT Service Providers (MSP's) are a great example of a "local" resource that can be used for your IT needs without employing overseas workers.
There are also situations where you might want to use outside resources for a portion of your IT tasks as well.
So why would you want to pursue this in the first place? Several reasons actually.
* Cost Savings.
When you utilize the resources of external service providers you can save overhead costs and use that money for re-investment back into the company.
The cost savings can be significant or minor depending on your needs.
The key here is that any money you save is that much more you have in capital for needs such as growth, marketing, projects, etc.
* Human Capital.
The resources of an outside firm are an incredible investment from a knowledge point of view.
Call it "wisdom of the crowds".
These companies have many clients that have their own set of issues.
They are solving issues all day long and in contact with multiple resources.
Chances are, you can benefit heavily from the use of all these resources at your fingertips.
Sometimes internal resources can only see internal issues and having that "outside" perspective is actually a huge advantage when it comes to needing information and direction.
* Creating less "mass".
Staying lean and mean is a huge advantage these days.
By this, I mean having less mass to carry around and thus staying more nimble.
When a business gets bogged down by having so many departments, the massive amounts of decisions increases and the amount of costs increases.
Leaving them vulnerable to shifts in their market that require them to change quickly.
There are probably a dozen more reasons why outsourcing can make sense but for the sake of brevity, I'll stick to the above three.
The point here is that outsourcing can help with many things that quite often get in the way of a business truly flourishing.
It is these things that lead to loss of focus and loss of customer loyalty/trust, and finally contribute to less competitive advantage.
So you wonder now, how to find an IT provider? How to find that perfect company and trust your entire infrastructure in their hands? Well, you can Google search or talk to others or you can use new types of services such as (gorilla-force.
com) to search by location/business vertical and view each company's information.
I'll do another post shortly to discuss what to look for when selecting a quality IT service provider for your business.
Until then, start thinking of ways your company can use the expertise and cost savings advantages of an outsourced IT provider.
