Quality management and outsourcing are integral to business success. Outsourcing has come a long way since its early inception consisting of payroll processing, data entry and customer service.
Even though it contributes to unemployment for millions of American workers, it continues to grow. So why should you consider this global concept that increases productivity and reduces expenses?
What is outsourcing?
Outsourcing is the hiring of an individual or company to perform specialized tasks or services or develop products for another company. You might think that outsourcing and quality management are simple terms and therefore easy to implement. But anyone who has tried to execute these two interconnected principles without professional expertise will tell you that it is not.
The Outsourcing Institute (OI), a 74,000-member organization, is the largest neutral professional association committed to technology and outsourcing. Since 1993, OI is the definitive source for people who want to buy, sell and manage outsourcing.
OI states, “2016 promises to be a pivotal year for the sourcing marketplace as transformational Digital and Automation technology both disrupt and enable industries across the globe.” Outsourcing is not a trend and it is not limited to low-cost labor.
The outsource advantage
For countries like India, China and Mexico, outsourcing has meant a flux of lucrative business opportunities. Leaders of small and large enterprises who want to focus 100 percent of their time and resources to key business operations choose it to gain a measurable competitive edge.
Outsourcing is a nimble approach to adapting to ever-changing demands like those experienced in the recent economic crisis. In other words, outsourcing means business survival.
Quality control
According to the American Society for Quality, Total Quality Management (TQM) “describes a management approach to long-term success through customer satisfaction.” All members of an organization strive to produce stellar results through the highest level of processes, products and services.
As companies move to multiple platforms with social, cloud and mobile, stakeholders are located around the globe. This “dispersed” type of environment has caused critics to cite outsourcing as a cause of a lack of quality control and project management.
However, for companies such as ACN, Agilent Technologies, AT&T, Delta Air Lines, Google, SunTrust Banks, Xerox and Yahoo outsourcing contributes to quality management processes.
Although outsourcing seems to have tons of different benefits is it really the best overall approach? To answer that question consider these issues that may be affecting your company.
1. Technology and security
Security is the No. 1 issue for businesses and shifts in IT outsourcing seem to be the answer in 2016. Concepts like hyper-speed deal making, standardization of cloud computing and the Internet of Things (loT) have changed the landscape.
Online operations offering consumer and commercial products are vulnerable to threats and companies that have inadequate security measures will incur huge fines.
2. Web programming and design
Upwork and Freelancer, two iconic forces in freelancing job boards provide hundreds of listings for web programmers and designers every day.
Why pay $2,000 – $5,000 for a website when you can pay less than $300? Verification of employee certification is available along with options for dispute for both parties.
3. Virtual assistant
Business-savvy executives who need help running their operations turn to virtual assistants to do everything from booking airline tickets to planning a conference. “The Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) market size was USD 750.0 million in 2015,” states Grand View Research.
Voice recognition technology and reduced onboarding costs, e.g., advertising, interviewing and training contribute to the popularity of VAs.
Outsourcing is a great idea because it solves a problem. As long as companies need to generate revenue and reduce costs, it will always exist for the benefit of business.
