The concept of IT outsourcing has changed since it began in the early 1980’s. The global economy is now offering a pool of qualified workers, and technology has made physical borders an afterthought. As a result, the ability to outsource IT functions, which were once a luxury afforded to only large companies, can now be utilized by all types of businesses.
But how has the fundamental aspect of Outsourcing evolved over the last 10 to 20 years? Let’s take a look at 4 ways that IT outsourcing has changed, and how it is helping companies, both large and small, to become better at what they do.
Small & Medium Companies Now Have Access to Affordable IT Professionals
Historically, outsourcing was a luxury reserved for large companies while smaller competitors were left out in the cold. These days, advances in technology and communications are helping to break down geographic barriers enabling the smaller firms to leverage IT outsourcing to build better products and go to market much quicker.
This type of disparity is especially true when it comes to the availability of specialized IT professionals. Many times, smaller firms simply couldn’t build or complete a project that required specific expertise due to the costliness of hiring a local specialist who would break the budget. These days, almost any type of specialists is available at an affordable cost to help add that additional component to any project to make it a success, and do it in a cost-effective manner.
Outsourcing Relationships, Not Projects
The ongoing role of outsourcing has also dramatically changed. Historically, it was primarily a project-based type of relationship where one-off tasks were delegated with cost efficiencies being the main concern. There were very few long-term relationships, and outsourcing was seen as a quick fix for the issue at hand.
These days, the value of ongoing relationships, primarily through the means of staff augmentation, have provided a tremendous amount of value to companies. The availability of IT specialists at a reduced cost has given firms the ability to have team members on a permanent or contract basis resulting in faster project turnaround time and increased product quality. 20 years ago, this simply wasn’t a resource that was available to the masses.
Startups Can Quickly Go To Market with Outsourced IT Specialists
As technology and innovation continue to evolve, one’s speed to market with a product can make or break a company in a competitive space. After all, who knows if someone else may be working on a similar idea, but have much more in the way of resources and available expertise.
IT outsourcing in the startup community has provided founders the ability to not only quickly conceptualize a product or service, but also gives them immediate access to qualified teams of professionals to begin work right away. Resources such as these can prove to be invaluable due to the difficulty in finding good talent, plus the expenses entailed with hiring a full-time resource, or local contractor can quickly become prohibitive. By providing a start-up access to the right kind of human capital, their product or concept can quickly get to market and become a resounding success!
No Barrier for Collaboration & Communication
Historically, communication has often been a problem for teams of professionals who are working on a highly collaborative type of IT project. It was difficult to share documents and information, plus the dramatic time differences could make communication a real issue.
Today, with the availability of free messaging and video conferencing, plus collaboration tools like enterprise social networks and robust file sharing platforms these efficiency problems simply aren’t an issue anymore. Collaboration tools enable teams to work closely together on projects while leveraging technology to help them communicate directly and stay aligned at a fraction of the cost.
Are you a business that could benefit from a collaborative outsourced IT relationship? We would love to see how we can help your firm, either on a project or staff augmentation basis. Please call Ronnie Z. Fuleihan, VP of Software Services, at 770-977-0070 ext. 118 to discuss your IT outsourcing needs, or email him at ronnie@softensity.com.