Outsourcing to Foreign Shores: The Four Central Benefits

There is absolutely no doubt regarding the necessity of outsourcing in today's day and age. Outsourcing in the IT sector first revealed itself in a very big way, way back in the 2000s when Bangalore had overnight transformed into an offshore outsourcing hub after the major IT revolution. And as the years passed, the scope of outsourcing transcended the sphere of IT and extended to data entry, transcription, scanning, form conversion, software development, healthcare, photo editing services and myriad others.

The reasons why anybody would want to outsource are quite clear. Low costs apart, it also saves the outsourcing company a lot of time, manpower and resources. All the aforementioned tasks are extremely essential for any company, but immensely tiring and tedious, not to mention time-consuming. Plus, employing manual labour to carry out such menial jobs leaves them vulnerable to a lot of human errors.

Most companies, especially the ones that are small and recently founded, don’t have the requisite number of employees or the kind of expertise that is required to carry out all the clerical jobs with flawless precision. Plus, one can easily calculate that hiring additional employees for carrying out data conversion and data entry jobs would put a lot of pressure on the company’s finances. Hiring an employee for the full time would mean paying them full scale salary, plus casual leaves and year-end bonus.

Thus, it is a much safer option to take the entire volume of work and send it overseas to a distant country, where one would have to pay in the local currency and thereby slash the expenses by almost half. In fact, outsourcing data entry services is a both-ways win for the client company. It not only saves a lot of money by having to pay a company in Third World currency; but it also eliminates the need for hiring a full-time employee.

There are other numerous reasons as well, which are well-detailed below:

1. First and foremost, finding the right company to outsource to would enable the company to find a life-long partner, who could always be relied upon in matters of finishing a job fast and quick, not to mention customising their services in accordance with the needs of the client. This can build up to a really sustainable and effective relationship between the outsourcing company and its client, which can result in fast economic growth for the latter.

2. The outsourcing company (i.e. the client or the company which is doing the outsourcing) can always have more time on its hand to concentrate on the crucial areas of business that demand attention. In other words, having had the entire burden of data-related menial works lifted off of their shoulders, employees of the company would be free to focus on the core aspects.

3. The third point has already been mentioned once in the introductory lines. It is about how outsourcing eliminates any need for a company to hire additional employees to manage an ever-increasing collection of data. Hiring a new employee would entail having to pay them the full monthly salary, training them (in case their skills are not up to the mark) and possibly having to increase office space (if whole new batches of employees need to be appointed). And all that is when perks such as year-end bonuses are not being taken into consideration. Basically, if a company needs to hire new people, it’ll have to undergo a lot of visible and hidden expenses that it might not always be able to afford. Outsourcing tasks, on the other hand, would not only take a lot off of a company’s shoulder, but it would also complete the work in half the time that would be required by an employee of the (client) company.

4. To continue the above point, a data entry outsourcing company would be chiefly made up of people who are especially trained to perform data entry and related jobs with utmost flawlessness. And the number of data entry operatives would naturally be much higher in there when compared to a regular company. So, keeping in mind the superior manpower and greater expertise, it’s easily understandable that work would be completed much faster and with greater perfection. The single strongest argument in favour of outsourcing data entry lies right there. Practically no other reason is required if a company decides to outsource in order to shorten the turnover period.

Data entry outsourcing companies are enabled to communicate with the client through all kinds of telecommunication and internet communication methods available. And almost always, they are found to notify the client about any batch of work that has reached completion, or if any discrepancies have been detected. The client, on their part, can always let the company know about any change in priorities or design that might be required. And real-time communication methods such as customer chatting slots or instant messaging services make the process of connecting faster and seamless.
 
The provided text makes a strong case for the necessity and numerous benefits of outsourcing in the contemporary business landscape. It highlights the evolution of outsourcing from primarily IT-focused in the 2000s, exemplified by Bangalore's rise as an offshore hub, to a broader range of services including data entry, transcription, software development, healthcare, and photo editing.

Why Outsource? The Core Advantages:​

The fundamental reasons for outsourcing, as per the article, extend beyond mere cost reduction to encompass efficiency, resource optimization, and quality improvement:

  1. Cost Savings:
    • Reduced Labor Costs: Outsourcing to countries with lower living and labor costs allows companies to "slash the expenses by almost half" by paying in local currency. This eliminates the need for full-time employee salaries, benefits, and year-end bonuses associated with in-house staff.
    • Elimination of Overhead: Companies avoid costs related to hiring new employees, such as training, increasing office space, and other "visible and hidden expenses."
  2. Time and Resource Efficiency:
    • Focus on Core Business: By offloading "tiring and tedious," "time-consuming," and "menial jobs" (like data entry and data conversion), the client company's employees are freed up to "concentrate on the crucial areas of business that demand attention" and "focus on the core aspects."
    • Faster Turnaround: Outsourcing companies, especially those specializing in tasks like data entry, possess "superior manpower and greater expertise" due to their specialized training and larger teams. This leads to work being completed "much faster and with greater perfection," significantly shortening the "turnover period."
  3. Expertise and Accuracy:
    • Outsourcing to specialized firms means the work is handled by "people who are especially trained to perform data entry and related jobs with utmost flawlessness." This reduces the vulnerability to "human errors" often associated with manual labor from unspecialized in-house staff.
  4. Strategic Partnerships and Growth:
    • Finding the "right company to outsource to" can lead to a "life-long partner" that is reliable for quick task completion and capable of "customising their services." This fosters a "sustainable and effective relationship" that can contribute to "fast economic growth" for the client.

Communication and Flexibility:​

The article also emphasizes the ease of communication with data entry outsourcing companies, highlighting the availability of "telecommunication and internet communication methods," including "customer chatting slots or instant messaging services." This ensures real-time updates on work completion or detected discrepancies, and allows clients to convey "any change in priorities or design."

In essence, outsourcing is presented as a strategic move that not only delivers significant cost savings but also enhances operational efficiency, provides access to specialized expertise, and allows businesses to reallocate resources to their core competencies, fostering overall growth and competitiveness.
 
Back
Top