Outsourcing is pretty common and for good reason. Lots of entities outsource, including some of the most powerful governments in the world. You would think that governments like the UK, US, France and Japan would have the financial incentives to hire all the workers they need, even if it’s just part-time. However, they choose to outsource because the benefits are so prevalent. For example, governments who need help with their healthcare system, hire IT companies to come in and design a new system for records, data capture, machine learning etc. They don’t use up the resources of their intelligence agencies or armed forces. So it’s a case of when you should outsource, not if.
Fill capacity
When a company has taken on a large project, the team usually has a vision that it may need to hire or outsource manpower especially when the project runs into difficulties. You can first try and offer overtime to workers so they catch up on projects or tasks that have fallen behind. However this is usually done in as many numbers as required. When this situation arises, you should outsource workers who can join your team and quickly onboard to get up to scratch. Filling to capacity for a project avoids many pitfalls. Outsourcing can sidestep burnout in your team, allow your talented members to avoid doing menial tasks, and also, do any extra finishing and polishing work which could impress the client.
Reducing cost
Even large companies go out of their way to outsource, just to avoid larger costs. Reducing the cost of a project is the number one reason why companies outsource. This can be because it’s not just about manpower but actually, having a lack of knowledge in an area, lack of software, lack of design capability and just a lack of skill in their own workforce. Not to mention, they can use the companies they outsource with, to essentially train their own employees. If you have ever wondered why do companies outsource? One reason is the access to intellectual capital. You can work out a deal, sending one or two or maybe a small group of employees to the outsource company to learn how to use the software they use, while they provide a service.
Deadline breach
Sometimes, companies are just in dire need of more workers, better talent and even fixing a project that has gone wrong. Maybe your company didn’t have the adept expertise required by a client or to complete your project up to specification as set out in the project plan. Outsourcing to a company that can fix the errors, bring up the quality of a project, can save you from reputational, financial, emotional and marketplace repercussions.
Every business will one day outsource to fulfill a need that it cannot do itself. It’s better to proactively plan when you may need to outsource than be caught off guard. This can be done in your project planning stage.
