Outsourcing is a business strategy in which management entitles a third party to execute its operations. It has become a common practice in the industry owing to the advantages of lower expenditure, expanded proficiency, and a dynamic work culture shift to remote working.
Today, most organizations are outsourcing their IT needs to different vendors. While this arrangement comes with a bunch of advantages, it has led to some challenges as well. Let’s look into the best outsourcing practices, challenges, and suggestions to overcome those challenges.
Best Outsourcing Practices
IT outsourcing is increasing every passing day. Companies are adapting to IT outsourcing practices to ensure the smooth execution of their operations. Some of the best outsourcing practices are as follows.
Choosing the domain experts
When companies decide to outsource services, it is important to assess all the available options. For instance, when outsourcing IT services, the HR or the Tech leader must create a criteria list and then narrow the list of prospective outsourcing partners to choose the domain expert.
Building Relationship with the outsourcing partner
It is essential to build a bond with the outsourcing partner to ensure loyalty and long-term collaboration. Establishing a relationship enhances productivity by contributing to better understanding.
Putting forward a well-defined scope and schedule
Penning down the schedule helps in setting the timeline of any project. On the other hand, a clear scope of work enables both parties to enrich their understanding of the requirement and expected results.
Pricing must be clear
When outsourcing an operation, the pricing model should be clear to both parties. Any company that skips this step may end up paying more than estimated to the outsourcing partner.
Outsourcing Challenges and Solutions
Even though Outsourcing is often perceived as a cost-cutting move, some outsourcing challenges may lead to greater expense if not taken care of at the right time. Let’s look into the points and outsourcing tips to overcome these challenges.
Choosing the wrong vendor
Companies may end up with the wrong outsourcing partner. While they have covered all the expenses, the service may not be satisfactory. It is essential to communicate the requirement gaps to the outsourcing partner. If the dissatisfaction rate has been consistent, the companies must cut ties with the present vendor and choose another vendor.Solution: Researching well about the outsourcing partner is essential before investing in their services. Also, check out the reviews of their existing clients to understand the standards of their service quality.
Miscommunication due to Language hindrance
Communication is the key to ensure quality service through outsourcing. Companies must eliminate language hindrance to ensure clear communication of the expectation, schedule, and quality service.Solution: Companies must hire an HR or a project manager who can aid communication in both languages.
Lack of Control and Collaboration issues
Most companies complain about slower turnaround times or failure to meet deadlines when outsourcing services. In most cases, the reason for such problems is a lack of control over the team and collaboration issues.Solution: Sharing a schedule for completing subparts of the service can prevent delays. Also, companies may hire a project manager to handle the outsourcing team and communicate the progress of work to the company. However, in such cases, the companies need approval from the outsourcing partner.
Time zone mismatch
When companies opt for outsourcing services to vendors in a different time zone, it may lead to communication and collaboration issues. Time zone mismatch may hamper productivity and also lead to discrepancies in billing while tracking working hours. Solution: Time tracking software for outsourcing partners may eliminate hourly billing discrepancies. It is advisable to opt for an outsourcing partner whose time difference is not more than 5 hours.
Conclusion
Outsourcing services have become mainstream for medium and large companies in the last few decades. Therefore, numerous vendors offer trial programs to companies in order to enable them to check out the outsourcing arrangement. Opting for such trial programs helps companies from ending up with the wrong outsourcing partner. Any company that adapts best practices for outsourcing can fetch the perks of it without a doubt.