Key Insights
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The world is going digital. And outsourcing solutions are no longer just a quick fix to achieve cost reduction
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Global outsourcing is changing the game plan, ensuring that work happens at a place that does it best
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Such an approach ensures flexibility in decision-making and operations
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Businesses benefit by not getting locked into outdated or static processes but can change and evolve to meet new growth challenges
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It’s a common assumption that outsourcing is a new phenomenon. This is far from the truth
Outsourcing dates back to the 1970s when manufacturing companies seeking process efficiency began hiring third-party vendors to manage their less-than-essential processes. This approach made its way to IT operations and entire back-office operations, including human resources, payroll, and accounting.
Outsourcing is at a crossroads today.
Businesses no longer outsource only vertical business units. Companies are seeking strategic advantages based on outsourcing alliances, operational efficiency being the driving force behind this.
With the disruptions brought about by the pandemic, virtual outsourcing solutions have become a competitive, strategic marketplace tool, allowing companies to improve response times and develop new products faster than ever.
Once focused just on reducing expenses, today’s outsourcing initiatives are likely to help companies do things they previously could not do.
The Rise of Global Outsourcing
On the verge of disruptive outsourcing and Robotic Process Automation (RPA), companies are turning to virtual outsourcing solutions. The prominence of titles like “Chief Globalization Officer” and “Strategic Services Manager” clearly highlights this shift.
Work from home outsourcing takes a long-term holistic view of the client enterprise and aligns its business goals to the outsourced service offerings, in contrast to tactical short-term contracts that take a piecemeal project-by-project approach.
Global outsourcing and virtual outsourcing solutions allow companies to find partners from any part of the world to execute some (or even all) of their work for either financial or operational reasons or both.
Global outsourcing solutions are quickly becoming the norm, and it brings numerous benefits:
1. Scalability
Lack of funds to invest in additional resources is a big reason hindering business growth for many organizations.
Additionally, businesses often don’t dedicate the time required to recruit a new employee to leverage potential growth opportunities. This is where global outsourcing providers can have your outsourced team set up in as little as six to eight weeks.
That way, you will be able to free up funds that can be used to reinvest back into the growth of your business.
With the additional support of a globally outsourced team, your team is free to take up more tasks. You also get the ability to scale up or down quickly.
A study by Clutch found that almost 24% of small businesses seek global outsourcing services to improve their work efficiency.
2. Cost Efficiency
Virtual outsourcing solutions and global outsourcing can help you in cost savings by having day-to-day tasks completed in a lower-cost economy.
A popular model is the “managed operations” model.
In this, a third-party provider takes care of several processes, ranging from recruitment, human resources, payroll tax, to overall management supervision. Apart from the engagement costs in such an approach, you only need to sacrifice time to train new offshore employees.
3. Cybersecurity
Digital transformation has become a fast-evolving trend, amid the widespread disruptions brought about by the pandemic. The need for cybersecurity has never been greater.
The IT Trends Report by Syntax highlights that 83% of leading IT organizations are considering partnering with global outsourcing services to handle any digital threats that may come along with this unexpected shift.
3 Hard-to-Ignore Trends That Will Dominate the Global Outsourcing Space
According to statistics by Grand View Research, it will reach $405.6 billion by 2027. India and China are already leading the outsourcing bandwagon, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, and the Philippines.
Similarly, new sectors–such as health care and fintech–are predicted to invest heavily in outsourcing in the coming years, along with IT which continues to remain the No. 1 sector.
Keeping these in mind, let’s look at the top trends for the virtual outsourcing and global outsourcing landscape in 2022:
1. Quality & Innovation
Rather than pricing, quality and innovation will be the top consideration for remote working solutions. Until a few years back, cost-cutting and the availability of cheaper offshore solutions drove outsourcing.
But the trend is changing since companies are not just outsourcing non-core activities but tasks that demand quality.
2. Tremendous Growth
The global outsourcing industry is set to grow in the coming years.
A report by GSA-UK highlights that 70% of buyers surveyed expect to increase their use of outsourcing, with 35% planning to do so significantly.
There is a strong belief that outsourcing is set to become more popular as a business practice over the next five years
3. Stringent Data Laws
With the world going digital, data protection laws and cyber insurance will be increasingly enforced.
Global businesses, industries, and countries are focusing on setting up stricter measures in their own capacities to curb cybercrime.
While data security was always prioritized for the outsourcing industry, the coming years will see greater enforcement in the form of better compliance with the laws of client-residing countries. Cyber insurance is one of its facets, a sector that is projected to grow to $20.4 billion by 2025.
Towards a Brighter Future
From CEOs to local staff to consumers, global outsourcing, when done right, benefits everyone involved.
Organizations increase their efficiencies while having the flexibility to scale and grow – allowing many to invest in other business areas.
In the fast-moving, competitive world, it’s critical to make sure that you are not left behind. If you decide to incorporate virtual outsourcing or global outsourcing solutions, ensure that you partner with experienced and reliable companies and people to drive business growth.
This is the second installment of our series on Remote Outsourcing where we explore many ways in which work-from-home outsourcing is shaping the business landscape, providing innumerable opportunities for long-term growth.
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