Information technology or IT, has come a long way. In the past, when you needed something done, you had to hire development staff, onboard them and manage them yourself. However, for quite a long time now, it is no longer the norm. Most companies use IT outsourcing service providers to take some tasks and responsibility off of their shoulders. If you aren’t yet using outsourcing, here’s why you should take advantage of it in 2021:
What Is IT Outsourcing?
Before we dive into the benefits of IT outsourcing, let’s discuss what it actually is and how it works. IT outsourcing is essentially moving work from inside your company to the outside. However, there’s many different types of outsourcing out there that you can use, depending on your specific needs. The three main types of outsourcing are onshore, nearshore and offshore. As you may already know, these terms are related to where the outsourced work is done. Onshore outsourcing means you hire a team that’s really close to you, likely in the same city. Nearshore outsourcing means the team you hired is rather close, within the same time zone for flexibility. And offshore means that there may be several time zones and locations involved with the team you hired. Within those types of IT outsourcing, you can also find different outsourcing models. Some companies simply outsource employees with specific knowledge and expertise for the duration of a project and manage them. Other businesses want to outsource the entire project from start to finish (this is where most software houses come in). There’s also the option to outsource the development of a specific feature or a few functions only.
Why Should You Use IT Outsourcing?
There’s many benefits to working with external contractors to support software development for your company. Depending on the outsourcing model you choose, the specifics that will influence your decision might be different. But there’s some common benefits for all the different types and models of outsourcing work. Let’s break them down:
1. Flexibility
From all the different types and models of outsourcing, you may already sense that this development approach provides a great deal of flexibility. Outsourcing allows you to implement many competences and include expert employees in your projects without the need to commit to hiring them full-time. This means that your resources are more agile and you can change your team members based on your project’s specific needs at the moment.
2. Cost Savings
If you decide to take advantage of IT outsourcing, you will greatly reduce costs. Mostly because you will avoid the costs of having staff in-house. Depending on the model of IT outsourcing you go for, you can also save a lot of money on infrastructure, employment costs as well as software and tools. Outsourcing service providers also offer a level of expertise and experienced technical staff on demand, which means you can reduce costs when it comes to recruitment and onboarding. Often those two processes can generate most of the employment costs and can also slow down your development.
3. Access To Skills And Knowledge Outside Your Location
Staying on the topic of finding employees, it can sometimes prove to be very hard to find specific staff within your local region. Especially when it comes to the software development industry, the market is very competitive and in some cases finding the person with the right expertise and experience can take several month. Outsourcing will give you access to specific experts who fulfill your requirements while it’s the providers’ job to find them. You also will be able to access people from various different locations, meaning if there’s no competences in your specific region, you can find them elsewhere.
4. Better Manage In-House Resources
Another great benefit of IT outsourcing is that when you outsource some of the work to outside service providers, you leave more room for your in-house team to focus on their tasks. It’s especially important when it comes to your operations and management staff whose tasks are crucial to reaching the company’s goals. In this case, outsourcing some of the functions will be a great strategic move for your business.
5. Accelerate Business Processes
Most of the outsourced work is related to information technology and software development, however, next top outsourced functions are business processes. Because those operations can slow down your business and leaving them to external providers can be greatly beneficial. Outsourcing providers have more expertise in-house, they have a bullet-proof infrastructure and a tested management approach. This means that they can come in and change the way your business operates, reduce costs and relieve your internal staff from some of the functions.
6. Share The Risks
Most of the time, especially when it comes to information technology (IT) outsourcing, your partner will share the risks and responsibility associated with the project. It will be just as important to your external provider as it will be to your internal team to deliver a product that users and clients appreciate. This will take some of the burden of you and your in-house team, living you to be more focused on delivering an excellent product for the users.
7. Fast Scaling
The last key benefit of teaming up with an external IT outsourcing provider is how fast you can scale your business using the provider’s services. Without outsourcing, scaling this fast is almost impossible. Especially when it comes to software products and projects. Outsourcing gives you the ability to control your infrastructure and make changes quickly to adjust to the market and industry trends. It is something that will make managing your business and staying competitive on the market much easier. Having this kind of control over your infrastructure enables you to be more free and work quicker.
Is IT Outsourcing The Right Choice For Your Business?
The decision to outsource some of your work to outside suppliers requires a lot of thought. There’s many reasons why companies decide to use IT outsourcing, but it’s most important to decide how will it benefit your specific business. Take into account the industry, who your clients are, the capacity of your internal team and infrastructure. Analyzing your resources is crucial before making the decision to outsource. Because you could outsource nearly any function. So before you dive straight in and sign the outsourcing contract, decide on which processes will be better off outsourced and which should stay within your inside management.
If you’re looking for IT outsourcing services and an excellent technical team to build technology solutions for your business – contact us and let’s get your project started!
