The Other Side of Outsourcing and Offshoring


Offshoring and outsourcing are business practices that are still loaded with negative connotations.  When looking at most of today’s headlines, the mental image you'll have is jobless citizens. While job cuts have occurred in different businesses across industries, let's consider the other side of the coin.

Globalisation has taken competition in a higher level. SMEs find themselves competing in a local, national or regional scale. Bigger businesses find themselves in the company of hotshots who are poised to grab their market share as soon as they succumb to poor economic conditions.

Coupled with a volatile market still crippled by an economic slowdown, businesses find themselves in a rut. SMEs need more skills and capabilities to grow and compete. Big companies need low-cost efficiency to sustain their size.

Offshoring and outsourcing provide these businesses smart and flexible solutions in a global marketplace where the only thing certain is of course, death and taxes. These enable them to continue operating, contribute to their local economy, hire more employees, and grow in a more efficient manner.

What, when, how, and why they outsource, is a corporate responsibility. Many advisory firms, and others who have a less volatile attitude towards outsourcing and offshoring, advocate collaborative strategies that focus on value instead of the traditional lift and shift outsourcing. They recommend a mature and realistic approach that will benefit both the client and service provider in the long run.

Recommendations include RFS (request for solutions), vested outsourcing, or simply working together to focus on value instead of just the bottom line. It's about time to let go of “them vs. us”, and replace it with “we”.

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