Outsourcing has now evolved from its primary aim to cut cost in operating a company to a more complex process. Although money remains its biggest thrust for its consideration by most, it has assumed a more sophisticated role in business. Besides its cost-cutting benefits, companies these days outsource for the new reasons:
- To benefit from globalization:
Since outsourcing involves the 24/7 utilization of manpower, processes, and technologies around the world, companies take advantage of this set-up to conduct non-stop operations of their business. They are able to deliver their services to a wider market at all times. This translat
es to bigger productivity and increased revenue.
- To increase resources:
With the availability of more skilled talents open to companies from other regions and other parts of the world, outsourcing providers can better support companies in their the developments of new opportunities. These include mergers, acquisitions, and expansions into new regions.
- To allow innovations:
Outsourcing, which enables a company to tap to more resources, can provide the opportunities for it to go into new and innovative markets. They can go, for example, into infrastructure, service business processing, and software developments. This strategy can mean more resources and save the company money that could otherwise be spent in interoperability.
- For better control:
Outsourcing enables a company to better regulate and maintain important functions such as finance, manufacturing, manpower, etc. Companies can outsource the design, execution, and auditing of these functions. Although this can expose the company’s regulatory control when handled by a third party such as an outsourcing partner, the benefit of a better monitored function of a department results to better performance of these functions that can outweigh the risk. Also, a carefully drawn up contract term in this area can effectively meet the critical control requirements.
- For flexibility of Operating Expenditures (OpEx):
Outsourcing is resorted to by companies to convert capital expenditures into operational cost. This eliminates the need to reflect the return on equity from capital investments. This has a dramatic effect on the company’s financial statement.
- To consolidate management of resources and functions:
Outsourcing can streamline and consolidate management of resources and functions. These are vital factors to achieve operational competence. Greater control in managing company resources and functions eliminates unnecessary duplication and help reduce operational costs.
- To improve the development of processes:
Outsourcing can help build a more customer and process-oriented company. It can affect process integration that improves delivery of services. It can align resources in delivering business value by repeatable processes.
- To enhance the company’s strategic focus:
Outsourcing lets the company to focus on the management of operational functions. This enables the company to concentrate on its core business, thus saving time and improving its overall efficiency. Outsourcing boosts innovation, improves data managing centers, and uses technologies to help the company adapt to the constantly evolving market.
With the evolution of outsourcing, new reasons are being recognized and utilized to make the process more relevant to the ever changing business world.