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Unity Communications

• April 27, 2023

Outsourcing Case Studies: Lessons Learned From Successful and Failed Outsourcing

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Written by Dion Jay Tality

Running a business is taking a risk. Sometimes entrepreneurs win; other times, they fail. Either way, the outsourcing case studies outlined below share some knowledge to guide you through your business decisions.

Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a double-edged sword. It can help you save time and money while improving your overall efficiency and business productivity. However, it might also lead to disastrous outcomes if not managed properly. So outsourcing is a calculated risk.

Explore the outsourcing projects below to learn more about successfully implementing the strategy.

Lessons Learned From Successful Outsourcing

First off, what is BPO ? It entails delegating non-core tasks to third-party service providers instead of handling them in-house. Companies of all sizes outsource both front-office and back-end operations.

Outsourcing has long been a popular strategy for scaling operations and reducing costs. The industry grew further due to the pandemic. The global BPO market size could grow from nearly $262 billion in 2022 to $525 billion by 2030 at a 9.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

These facts and figures speak volumes about the industry’s market growth. Check out the BPO case studies below to learn how to make the most of outsourcing.

1. Slack: Accessing Experts To Grow a Business

Slack has become a digital hub for employee collaboration, used by businesses of all sizes. What started as a messaging startup has become a popular tool for business communication.

Slack’s outstanding success owes much to outsourcing. They hired MetaLab, a Canadian design team, to develop the beta version of their business model. MetaLab’s feedback allowed the Slack team to create a helpful tool that quickly gained traction.

By outsourcing its logo design and mobile application and hiring external website development teams , the company secured a $250 million investment with a total valuation of $5 billion in July 2017.

In 2021, Slack’s valuation stood at $27 billion. As of 2020, it had over 10 million daily users and was projected to reach almost 80 million by 2025, according to Statista. Its success story showcases the power of outsourcing for business growth.

2. WhatsApp: Offshore Outsourcing for Market Expansion

WhatsApp is among the most popular messaging apps globally. It started as a small company with a capital of $250,000 in 2012 and had only 30 full-time employees and five part-timers. As of April 2022, it had over 2.44 billion users in more than 180 countries.

We can attribute WhatsApp’s success to using offshore developers from Russia. Its co-founder, Jan Koum, recognized the engineering talent in this country. Outsourcing allowed the company to focus on core operations and customer support while the BPO team handled the app development services . 

WhatsApp’s offshore outsourcing endeavor helped it reduce costs and build a successful product. Later in 2014, Facebook acquired the company for $19 billion. But while it relocated its third-party contractors to the United States , offshore outsourcing played a crucial role in its business growth and success.

3. CuriosityStream: Integrating Onsite and Offshore Teams

CuriosityStream is an international media company providing video-on-demand streaming services. The company decided to try outsourcing after seeing its competitors reap the benefits of working with third-party vendors.

In 2019, the company hired a team of six programmers to develop a new feature for its streaming service. The BPO team helped increase the number of hours watched while reducing operating expenses.

The company’s chief technology officer, Andre Silva, witnessed how outsourcing helped scale their business. Silva recommended integrating offshore teams with in-house teams to streamline operations.

Lessons Learned From Failed Outsourcing

BPO can be a valuable tool for companies looking to reduce costs, streamline operations, and grow their businesses. But outsourcing also presents unique challenges and risks that you should carefully manage.

Here is the truth: half of the outsourced projects fail outright or do not meet expectations. Three-fourths of businesses report management issues and hidden costs as culprits for this failure. About half were unhappy with their hired vendors’ performance, while 30% encountered communication problems.

The outsourcing case studies below reveal how some companies had to learn the hard way. You can also learn from them in your pursuit of outsourcing. Check out the BPO case studies below to learn how to maximize outsourcing and minimize risks.

1. Klout: Staying on Top of Privacy and Security

Launched in 2008, Klout was a social media analytics company that measured an individual’s influence. Its founder, Joel Fernandez, launched it through bootstrapping—starting a business with meager capital from personal finances. He already had an offshore team in Singapore, and he joined them there for a while to cut operating costs. Three months after, he returned to the U.S. with a working prototype.

Later on, Klout faced a lot of controversy due to its role as a social scoring service. A software vendor, Lithium Technologies, eventually acquired it in 2014. But according to the software company’s CEO, Pete Hess, Klout was not aligned with their long-term strategy as a standalone service. So they had to shut it down.

In hindsight, there were a few reasons Klout failed as a business. For one, it outsourced user data management to third-party vendors and raised concerns about privacy and security. The company could have tapped into expertise and technology to improve its flawed scoring system. 

Lastly, it could have hired a reputable provider to create a more sophisticated tool capable of competing with other analytics tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer. Instead, it submitted to Lithium Technologies and saw its demise due to long-term goal misalignment.

2. PatientDox: Core Operations as the Primary Focus

PatientDox was a cloud-based startup that supplied healthcare providers with software as a service (SaaS) technology. This platform offered secure messaging, appointment scheduling, and patient education tools to improve patient communication and satisfaction.

Despite its promising start, PatientDox’s downfall was due to its outsourcing case . Unfortunately, none of its co-founders had a software engineering or technical background, which led them to outsource. 

But most of its outsourcing expenses went to product development, depleting its cash reserve and hindering its progress. The company’s third-party teams were also working on several projects simultaneously. They could not prioritize and meet consumer needs.

Further, PatientDox faced competition against other healthcare technology companies. Its poor outsourcing strategies, market changes, and stiff competition contributed to its unexpected demise.

3. JPay: Maintain Business Control

JPay was a technology company that provided services to incarcerated individuals and their families. Its services included electronic messaging, video visitation, and money transfers. This technology became a game-changer for affected individuals.

However, JPay’s success was short-lived. Initially, external developers helped build its infrastructure, technology, and resources. The company hired people in India for quality assurance, Israel for engineering, and China for hardware supplies. Ultimately, offshore outsourcing aided in its business growth and expansion. 

Unfortunately, such rapid growth and expansion overwhelmed Ryan Shapiro, the CEO. He could no longer take control of his company to navigate it in the right direction. In 2018, Securus Technologies, a company providing telecom services to correctional facilities, acquired JPay. But the acquisition led to job losses and service disruptions for customers.

Unity Communications: Proof of Successful Outsourcing Cases

Unity Communications is an outsourcing company that operates globally, offering different solutions to businesses of all sizes. Since 2009, we have grown to provide front-office and back-end outsourcing services to companies across various industries. 

But as with any business, we also have our fair share of outsourcing failures and successes. What’s important is that we have grown and learned through all these years. We are proud to say our BPO case studies now showcase how proper outsourcing works. 

Explore the following case studies that demonstrate how outsourcing can help your business meet its goals.

1. Wireless Watchdog: Developing a Custom SLA for Outsourcing Success

Wireless Watchdogs is an award-winning wireless management company. It faced operational challenges such as staffing and human resources (HR) issues. As its business grew and referral business increased, the need for responsive support staff became evident. 

Unity Communications developed a custom service-level agreement (SLA) to address the abovementioned issues. This contract included key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure outsourcing performance and track task efficiency. Our call center staff also underwent proper training and received management support to meet the target metrics.

In just a week, we managed to move many repetitive tasks to the offline team. This step allowed Wireless Watchdogs’s in-house team to free up their time and focus on core business operations. Ultimately, we exceeded the SLA terms by increasing service efficiency and work quality, not to mention having payroll savings on the side.

2. IT and Telecom Company: Establishing a Back-office Team

A well-known information technology (IT) and telecommunications company reached out to Unity Communications. Due to a growing customer base, the company sought help for its back-office operations . It was facing operational challenges, limiting the company’s efforts to acquire new customers.

To address these challenges, Unity Communications helped them establish a back-office team consisting of three members and a project manager. The BPO team handled administrative tasks such as data entry, order processing, proposal creation, and overage reconciliation. 

Further, we tracked the team’s productivity through well-defined KPIs. Ultimately, the company’s productivity and customer satisfaction increased by 70% and 92% respectively in just two months. The company now has a streamlined back-office process that efficiently delivers quality work.

The Bottom Line

Outsourcing is a viable option for improving your business operations. But using this strategy with extra caution and a solid plan is crucial. Consider the case studies of different companies presented here to learn a thing or two.

Remember to weigh the potential benefits and risks of outsourcing. Examine your current business operations and search for outsourcing partners. More importantly, hire the BPO service provider best suited for your business. With these, you can avoid the pitfalls of failed outsourcing and reap the benefits of successful outsourcing.

Ready to take advantage of outsourcing without risking your business? Reach out to us, and let’s connect ! Unity Communications is ready to handle the nitty-gritty tasks while you focus on achieving your goals and growing your business. 

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About The Author

Dion Jay Tality is a content writer and one of the creative forces behind Unity Connect’s blog posts and marketing copy. Before joining Unity Communications, he spent over five years in the BPO industry, wearing various hats—from being a CSR and email and chat support specialist to being an SME and QA analyst. Name it; he tried it!

Passionate about writing, Dion loves to bring ideas to life through the power of words. When he’s not busy crafting content, you might find him working out, enjoying mindful walking, exploring conspiracy theories, or singing at the top of his lungs.

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11 Successful Outsourcing Case Studies From Tech Giants

11 success stories of companies that successfully established a place in the market through outsourcing and pro tips on how they did it.

The growth in outsourcing and remote working opportunities are the silver lining among the dark clouds brought on us by the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the early stages of the pandemic, many were in a clueless situation, and many outsourcing companies faced a dip in their productivity.

But once everybody got accustomed to the situation and adopted new technological solutions, the outsourcing capabilities and business opportunities found new paths to venture.

As per a global IT outsourcing market study , the industry is expected to grow by 98 billion USD by 2024, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5%.

Though outsourcing is a highly profitable and effective way to improve your business, there are things you should consider and learn before you implement them. Learning from the experiences of companies that have successfully done this can be an easy way to start.

After reading this blog, you will get a more comprehensive understanding of outsourcing and imbibe the tactics used by companies that run a successful outsourcing team.

Take a deep breath and dive right in.

Outsourcing Overview

Before we jump into the stories of IT outsourcing success, let’s take a quick look at the basics of outsourcing a business. We all know that outsourcing is hiring talent from the outside for a service, but there are some confusing FAQs that really need to be addressed before we proceed further.

Why Do You Need to Outsource?

You may be a talented entrepreneur with high business acumen and technical skills, but you can’t run a business all by yourself. For moving that mountain you need a team.

Hiring a team of developers near you would be costly and sometimes the quality of talent available to a business at its early stages would be not up to the mark.

Those are the first signs that push you to the idea of outsourcing your business. The world has a talent pool far greater and economically feasible than local talent.

Check out: 10 Reasons Why You Should Outsource Your Mobile App Development

When Do You Need Outsourcing?

The stage at which a company needs to outsource is completely dependent on it; some companies need to outsource in the initial stages like Alibaba, where some prefer to outsource after they have established a proper foundation.

The time to outsource depends on a few factors:

• The quota of talent you can gather by outsourcing without disrupting your process.
• The economic condition of the company.
• Whether you can find quality service offshore.
• Does outsourcing support your business plan.

You have to first examine all the possibilities and then determine if outsourcing is the right way to go.

See how you can outsource product development in the right way and avoid some common costly mistakes.

What Should You Outsource?

A business has so many platforms that make it function, such as customer support, product development, branding and so on.

But the thing is, you can’t outsource all of these platforms.

You can’t outsource something because you don’t feel like it; you have to farm out the things which don’t affect your core business and outsource them if they need to be outsourced. The things that companies usually outsource are:

• Special set of skills that is required at a definite point in time.
• For doing repetitive tasks.
• For expertise knowledge.

There are a lot of things to keep in mind while outsourcing; otherwise, it may result in the failure of the company as a whole.

Outsourcing Success Stories

Finding examples of successful outsourcing companies is easy in this technological era. Many companies have grown their businesses by adopting remote work and outsourcing into their business plan. Here are a few successful outsourcing examples:

1. CuriosityStream

Curiosity stream is a global independent media company and video-on-demand streaming service that dipped their feet into the possibilities of outsourcing in 2019.

They hired a team of six programmers who helped them develop the video feature that increased the number of hours watched. This helped them increase their overall productivity and reduce the cost required to make the software.

Like most of the entrepreneurs who are reading this blog, the CuriosityStream team drew inspiration from the many successes of other companies and learnt the ways to implement a successful outsourcing programme.

Based on the interviews of Andre Silva, CTO of CuriosityStream, the advice he gives other entrepreneurs is to figure out ways to integrate the offshore team with the on-site team.

2. StudyTube Hires

StudyTube is an online education platform based in the Netherlands, which relies on nearshore programmers. They collaborated with part-time engineers in the early stages but soon realised it was not meant to be.

So they hired Ukrainian developers and this nearshore outsourcing concreted their chances to grow their business. With a secured investment totalling €1,500,000, they are still scaling constantly.

We are all familiar with Skype, the telecommunication application that specialises in video and voice calls between devices via the internet.

European web developers were employed for most of the software development. Skype claimed that it needed professional web development for its product idea, so it chose outsourcing as an option.

The 300 million monthly active users and almost 1 billion downloads can vouch for the success they have achieved through outsourcing.

Among the success stories of companies from outsourcing, Slack has a growth story on its own. The company hired a Canadian design team MetaLab to help with developing a successful product from the beta version.

The company raised a total valuation of $5billion in July 2017, and they are still growing. The company gathered more investments by outsourcing website design and mobile app development .

Slack’s rag to riches story is a great example of the best IT outsourcing success stories. MetaLab provided the Slack team with valuable feedback, which helped them create a tool that reached 15,000 users in 2 weeks of its launch.

GitHub provides hosting for software development version control using Git. This subsidiary of Microsoft offers version control and source code management (SCM) functionality of Git and adds its own features to the mix.

GitHub is one of the companies that outsourced its MVP . They hired a backend developer to build the backend of the product.

6. Whatsapp

Whatsapp has over 1.5 billion active users in over 180 countries, and this highly successful company is no new to outsourcing. With the small cash reserve they had, founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton decided the best way to develop the product was through outsourcing .

So they hired Russian app developers to minimise operational costs and get highly skilled developers. Whatsapp has become the third most downloaded android app on Google Play Store and has an active user base of over 2 billion.

7. Waitwhile

Created by two ex-Googlers, Waitwhile solves a common problem for the people, waiting in line for a call. We hate being held up at “receiver point” for hours on end with an infuriating tone that rings periodically. Waitwhile is solving that problem with the help of an AI; will wait for you while you do your productive work.

Waitwhile initially had a base app that the initial users well received, and scaling became imminent. But they were limited by their technology; that is when they outsourced the work to NeoITO .

We upgraded their old framework, which was made from AngularJS, and gave it the necessary features to support high scaling possibilities. With over 2 million hits, Waitwhile has announced its position in the market.

Dig Deeper : Software Outsourcing For Startups: An In-Depth Guide

8. Widget Brain

Widget Brain is a Netherlands-based startup company and is a pioneer in AI driven workforce management. It is one of the hottest startups in the Netherlands.

Outsourcing changed the game for them when they hired five Ukrainian developers, the quality of workforce they received at a feasible rate helped them in their growth as a business.

Software outsourcing has helped Widget Brain gather 2 million dollars in investment to expand worldwide.

9. Oktopost

Oktopost is a social media management platform launched in 2013. They operated in Israel, Ukraine and the US, with an employee count of 22.

In 2018, Oktopost hired software developers through Daxx that helped them extend their roadmap and helped them scale their business. The offshore development team has certainly helped them develop services they struggled with in the earlier stages.The outsourced work helped them improve their business roadmap and attract more investments and customers .

10. Alibaba

You can never leave out Alibaba from the list of successful outsourcing examples. Jack Ma, the co-founder of Alibaba Group, is a strong proponent of an open and market-driven economy.

Jack Ma initially outsourced his software development work to the US. This move was to appeal to a bilingual audience and to hire skilled tech professionals , which he did not find locally.

This did not go in vain as Alibaba now accounts for the 60% share in the Chinese e-commerce market.

11. TransferWise

TransferWise is a global money transfer company that says they don’t do offshoring, outsourcing or use consultants. However, the company admits to having “independent workers” who are an integral part of the core team working remotely.

The company’s remote team is dispersed across Estonia and Ukraine. Ukrainian technicians are sought out for their quick technical reflexes and the skills they put forward.

Read More : Outsourcing SaaS Product Development: A Non-tech Founder’s Guide

There lies a common misconception in people’s minds that outsourcing leads to poor management practices and below-par services for the customers. To reap the benefits of outsourcing, you need to hire the right people that can meet your requirements.

The below blog will help you choose the right partner for outsourcing your software development .

To find the right outsourcing partner, you need to know the type of outsourcing model ideal for your business. Proper utilisation of outsourcing helps boost a business’s efficiency and economy.

Want to know more about how you can benefit from outsourcing? Read our Case Studies and Book a Free Consultation today!

What are some notable outsourcing success stories?

Discover how tech giants achieved success through strategic outsourcing partnerships.

How did outsourcing benefit tech giants?

Outsourcing allowed tech giants to tap into specialized skills and cost efficiencies.

Which industries witnessed successful outsourcing?

Industries like IT, software development, and customer support thrived with outsourcing.

What lessons can we learn from these case studies?

Case studies offer insights into how strategic outsourcing can drive innovation and growth.

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6 IT Outsourcing Case Studies Every Startup Can Learn From

Planning to outsource.

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Table of content.

For many years IT outsourcing has been a popular option among technology companies. Nearly 57% of global companies hire offshore developers seeking to focus on their core business activities. 

Besides multiple successful cases of outsourcing by big companies, many startups still beware of outsourcing web development overseas for trust and delivery concerns. However, the practice of big players shows the reality of outsourcing is wholly different. 

In this article, I want to use some successful cases of outsourcing among big companies to disrupt some misconceptions and deduce some lessons that cofounders can follow. So let us start!  ‍

Slack: Outsourcing is a Choice of Early-Stage Startups

Slack is  a real-time office collaboration tool featuring chat rooms (channels) by topic, private groups, and direct messaging. Needless to say, that now this is one of the most popular tools for business communication with nearly 12 million daily users (as per 2020), and this number is expected to reach 79 million by 2025.  

At the same time, Slack stands out as an example of the most successful outsource cases. In fact, in a bid to save raised funds, the company outsourced design and app development services from the very beginning. Relying on outsourced workforce, Slack managed to get 15,000 users during 2 weeks after launch and to become a startup unicorn in 2014. 

Slack outsourcing case: Lesson learnt

Slack’s case is a vivid example of how a startup outsources its development to win ample investments and thrive with thousands of users. 

WhatsApp: Find the Expertise You Lack

Whatsapp is an app that hardly needs a presentation. Hands down, this is probably the most popular messaging app, with over 2 billion users around the globe. However, the wind has not always blown to WhatsApp founders’ backs. 

Back in 2012, at the outset of WhatsApp’s story, it was a small organization with only 30 full-time employees and five part-timers. The company started only with $250,000 capital raised at the seed round. 

Frankly saying, this is little to kickstart a product. But WhatsApp needed to keep its costs down and find the web development talents with the quality/price balance.  This is why the company turned to East Europe, the biggest outsourcing hub, to find tech talents for developments. 

WhatsApp outsourcing case: Lesson learnt

Outsourcing does not only help to reduce costs, but also opens access to an enormous talent pool. Isn’t this what matters when starting a product? 

CitiGroup: Outsourcing Helps to Save Up

Among the famous outsourcing examples, Citigroup, a US-based  multinational investment corporation probably sits atop as the oldest company to hire overseas. Citi has been hiring people offshore since 1992, outsourcing workforce from India, the Philippines, and Poland. The company’s efforts in this direction went even further. In 2014 Citi slashed  11,000 jobs at its HQ, at least a quarter of which were IT specialists, to bring them offshore. This move saved the company $1.1bn a year. 

Outsourcing tech development is a widespread example among banking giants. For example, such banking entities as Bank of America, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan also hire developers overseas.  

CityGroup outsourcing case: Lesson learnt

Outsourcing can be a viable option not only for startups, but also big corporations and banks. 

Basecamp: Outsource Web Development and Focus on Business

Basecamp, a company offering project management solutions, is another example of a successful outsourcing case. At some point in growth, the company faced the “cobbler’s children” problem. While others were using their tool to manage projects and work, they had internal issues managing workflow and client support. As a result, Basecamp decided to outsource some essential development functions to resolve this situation so that their internal teams could focus on business. 

Basecamp outsourcing case: Lesson learnt:

The tip for picking up from Basecamp is identifying your weak spots in the company and outsourcing development work to remote programmers to drive internal improvements for the organization. 

Google: Outsource to Cut Labor Expenses

It turns out even the 89,000+ in-house Google army cannot handle the massive workloads. This is why Google outsources global talents and partners with contractors for its AdWords project, which completes the company’s lion’s share in revenue (2017). According to Bloomberg, 2018 was the first year when the number of Google’s contractors surpassed direct employees .

Google purports the first reason to outsource is the access to the global pool of talents and expertise that lacks within Google's walls. 

Secondly, by outsourcing, the company skips employment and operation costs. 

Google outsourcing case: Lesson learnt

When it comes to outsourcing – take it rationally. If you cannot find the right talents in your current personal – no need to seek them in the labor market. It takes a little time to find the expert you need with no additional expenses required. 

Alibaba: Outsource the Talents You Need

Alibaba, the Asian e-commerce giant, is another example of successful outsourcing. As of now, the company wields 779 million active customers and has 149,2 billion in revenue. In fact, the company has outsourced its website design and development work. 

Back in the 90s Jack Ma, Alibaba’s founder faced a scarcity of resources. There were Chinese specialists with expertise in e-commerce development. Another complication was that China had formidable internet restrictions, which was a hindrance for website development. 

So the company started to seek partners and outsourced overseas across a range of different projects, and they found the human resources they needed in the US. By hiring specialists overseas, the website started growing at an astronomical pace. For instance, in 2014 Alibaba hit the record by becoming the largest IPO in history and raising $25B. 

Alibaba outsourcing case: Lesson learnt

You should clearly see your weaknesses. By knowing the talent gaps in the region, Alibaba managed to outsource resources elsewhere and grow into a flourishing business. 

Recap: Why Companies Outsource?

As it stems from the IT outsourcing examples, hiring developers remotely helps tackle many business problems. Let’s summarise some of them. Here are the key objectives that companies pursue when outsourcing developers from abroad: 

Cost reduction

‍ working with remote contractors allows to save up on operating costs. The economic interests play a more critical role, especially in the midst of COVID-19 outbreak, when the economic environment is unstable;

Focusing on business

Ooutsourcing web/app development functions, companies manage to double down on the product development, scaling-up and enhancing the speed to market; 

Saving funds at the beginning

‍ Young startups tend to outsource web/app development at the beginning of their journey to save funds and invest them into the product;

Gain new expertise

If you want to test a new AI-based technology for your product or some AR feature for an app, employing a person might be too overwhelming. Outsourcing a subject specialist with the needed skills might be a less effort-consuming solution; 

Avoid extra labor costs

Again, you do not have to go through all the employment fuss and provide all the social benefits, when you can outsource product development to a contractor and save your budget.  

Conclusion 

The IT outsourcing cases I described show that outsourcing is a viable solution that can save your business, regardless of its size, business model or age. If you want to know more, contact our team , so you could figure out what is the optimal solution for your business.

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Getting business process outsourcing right in a digital future

As recently as a decade ago, companies outsourced business processes primarily as a cost-saving strategy. While technology was used to optimize processes, it was limited mainly to basic task automation. Today, that approach is giving way to a smarter one, in which companies can outsource to capitalize on more sophisticated provider offerings. These include customized industry solutions and advances in digital technology, such as AI, analytics, and machine learning.

The experiences of pioneering organizations increasingly show that the time has come for the outsourcing industry’s focus to evolve from traditional right-shoring and basic automation to fully digitized operations through business-process management (BPM). These types of outsourcing deals  are not yet common, creating an opportunity for both service buyers and providers to leapfrog ahead by generating differentiated advantages in operations and significant bottom-line value. However, the window of opportunity to capitalize on those advantages is closing. In several years, these deals will likely be table stakes. Companies can seize the initiative—starting today.

Digital outsourcing: Growing fast

Worldwide, companies spend an estimated $230 billion on managing business processes. These range from customer-service functions, such as call centers, to back-office processing in applications such as claims, payments, finance, and procurement. To date, outsourcing deals that explicitly call for next-generation technologies account for only a small share of the total spend. But that share is growing quickly.

A detailed analysis of 53 business-process-outsourcing deals that closed between 2016 and 2020—a sample taken from a pool comprising more than 200 such transactions—shows that about one-quarter included at least one digital component (social media, mobile applications, analytics, automation, cloud, or Internet of Things). But the number of such deals almost doubled over the five-year period. That potential opportunity stands in sharp contrast to the overall outsourcing industry’s single-digit growth rates.

An analysis of total contract value (TCV) shows a similar trend. Over the five years from 2016 to 2020, digital services grew from 30 to 70 percent of TCV, and the number of new deals with a digital component has steadily increased to almost 50 percent (exhibit).

Companies report several reasons for such rapid growth of digital in BPM deals. One is that customer demand for digital products and services has grown exponentially. Another is the worldwide adoption of cloud technologies , across industries. In 2020, our analysis shows that cloud-enabled deals peaked at 67 percent of TCV in the private sector and 63 percent in the public sector.

In turn, cloud platforms and services enable the adoption of further digital and data technologies. For example, many BPM providers are leveraging cloud-based systems in specific applications, such as for accounting and credit and cash management—to reduce cycle times for data-intensive processes. Last—and probably most important—is that digital-based outsourcing yields high-quality results. BPM buyers and providers report that incorporating digital into an outsourcing contract can deliver two to three times more impact than under traditional models, while also improving the experience for buyers and their customers.

Overcoming the challenges

Yet digital also poses several clear challenges. The first is achieving executive support. Digital sourcing programs require a heightened level of aspiration from the chief procurement officer and other senior leaders, along with explicit endorsement of the change, oversight during the transition, and focus.

These steps are essential to overcoming the cultural challenges inherent in any change program. Even when times seem relatively calm, organizational inertia, painstakingly built relationships, and an understandable desire for stability can lead procurement teams to stick to current suppliers. Moreover, digital sourcing doesn’t just represent a new provider but a new way to work with all providers. Given the radical changes most organizations now face on multiple fronts, some working teams may argue that they don’t have the bandwidth to support a digital procurement program as well.

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Perhaps the biggest challenge is weak sourcing capabilities. Some organizations may not have the in-house capabilities to source providers for next-generation digital services. Doing so calls for a different kind of business case—based on outcomes and innovation rather than straight cost savings. For instance, some clients are now expecting providers to achieve dramatic improvements in end-user experience metrics, such as faster service and call times, or positive feedback for AI-based digital tools. Other clients want providers to deliver on transformation initiatives, measured by the percentage of automation initiatives delivered on time or the success rate for digitization projects. This evolution also means considering a different set of providers, structuring contracts to foster collaboration and shared accountability, and partnering with the provider in a much more direct, integrated manner. It is not the turnkey outsourcing that companies could apply in the past.

Moreover, sourcing processes themselves increasingly need to incorporate digital and automation—a marked upgrade from the current, and largely manual, processes that remain in place at too many organizations today. In other words, to access digital from external providers more effectively, companies need stronger skills in using digital internally.

Building these capabilities can take up to a year. Yet there is a clear reward for implementing smarter procurement processes. Our analysis has found that using digital and automation in the renewal process for outsourced contracts can unlock three times the financial impact of traditional outsourcing arrangements, while also improving the experience for internal customers.

Four success factors for digital outsourcing

Our analysis of the deal landscape, reinforced with the experiences of major outsourcing providers and buyers, highlights four critical elements to next-gen outsourcing deals.

A focus on transforming operations through digital. The traditional approach to outsourcing was a straightforward transaction aimed at generating marginal efficiencies. Companies handed off a set of well-defined tasks, and providers were paid based on a straight rate for time and materials. That is giving way to a new model: outsourcing to radically transform operations through digitalization with providers taking on more complex processes and being paid based on the outcome they deliver and the range of technology solutions they deploy (such as natural-language processing, robotic process automation, or AI).

Shared incentives aligned to innovation. Because these technologies and applications are still evolving, the potential value they can unlock is in flux as well. As a result, companies can structure deals to incentivize innovation through the full contract term, through arrangements such as gain sharing. For example, if a provider suggests a process change that reduces working-capital requirements or decreases days-sales-outstanding figures by several days, the provider may negotiate to retain some share of that value. Ideally, the innovation agenda aligns with the organization’s overall priorities and covers all dimensions: efficiency, effectiveness, and experience.

Redesigning digital journeys end to end. Because processes are increasingly being redesigned to capitalize on digital, companies can no longer outsource a single, fragmented slice of a process and hope to see much improvement in results. Instead, for the highest impact, the provider usually needs to own—and transform—the entire end-to-end process, through optimization, digitization, automation, and the elimination of manual processes and work. For example, a provider tasked with automating invoice processing could experience initial issues due to nonstandard formats and, as a result, suggest upstream format changes to the invoice submission process for suppliers. Over time, this expanded perspective helps build a broader continuous-improvement mentality, enabling the provider and buyer to collaborate in generating further value as the business and technological landscapes evolve.

Because processes are increasingly being redesigned to capitalize on digital, companies can no longer outsource a single, fragmented slice of a process and hope to see much improvement in results.

Joint accountability for digital transformation and adoption. Rather than the hands-off arrangements of the past, in which a company and provider often worked at arm’s length, digital sourcing calls for a joint governance structure. Dedicated teams with representatives from both organizations develop and monitor a comprehensive set of KPIs, including customer experience. Providers need to be empowered to make some decisions on their own, and they need to coordinate more closely with customers as partners, in areas such as access to the technology stack or allaying data-loss concerns to the chief information-security officer.

Three success stories

To see how this outsourcing approach looks in the real world, consider the following three case studies.

Telecom. A large telecom player that wanted to modernize its business operations and evolve away from highly manual, inefficient processes launched an 18-month digital sourcing program, which ultimately would identify a single external provider that could increase automation and digitization across the company’s operations.

The provider offered a variety of advanced analytics– and AI–related technologies, such as robotic process automation, machine learning, and natural-language processing—together with platforms that could support organization-wide process revamps, from business units to call centers, service assurance, and other functions. But perhaps even more important than the technologies themselves was the way in which the company and provider agreed to deploy them.

Rather than focus on cost cutting alone, the two sides negotiated yearly price reductions and performance improvements, along with incentives through which the provider could share in the value of any promising new ideas it implemented. That created powerful support for continuous improvement. Further reinforcement of the collaborative approach was achieved through a joint governance structure, together with a comprehensive set of KPIs, service-level agreements, and related metrics—including ones focusing on customer experience. These were all agreed to in crafting the contract between the two sides, a process that built trust and helped align long-term interests.

Slashing the number of outsourcing providers the company uses to just one strategic relationship across business units has generated major scale efficiencies—including, for example, giving machine-learning algorithms more data to learn from. And the cost advantage was still substantial: the new outsourcing relationship led to a 60 percent reduction in operational costs.

Industrial. A large industrial manufacturer wanted to partner with a BPM provider to transform its legacy processes and business-support functions using next-generation platforms and solutions. It engaged a global BPM player to help redesign its shared-services operations through a combination of business-process reengineering, robotic and point automation, and lean principles. One of the most effective steps was the automation of billing and invoice payments from end to end; in addition, optical-character-recognition systems eliminated manual effort where possible, and a business-intelligence engine fed insights and executive-level reporting to dashboards.

Overall, the program reduced transport inventory backlogs by more than 80 percent, while productivity increased by about 40 percent, and end-customer satisfaction rose by more than 35 percent. And automating almost all billing processes revealed more than $10 million in duplicate payments.

Managing change: What lies behind G&A spend transformation

Consumer packaged goods. A large food and beverage company had a well-established shared-services function, with consolidated finance and HR to support global operations. But costs were still very high, and integrating new business in the existing setup was becoming tedious. The organization asked a global BPM leader to transform its existing setup to make it scalable and cost competitive.

The provider brought in a proprietary human–machine operating engine that optimizes people, technology, data, and intelligence. Through that tool, the provider redesigned and standardized hundreds of HR and finance processes, implementing automation and analytics along the way. The new capabilities were first rolled out in Europe and expanded to North America, Australia, and New Zealand over the next year.

In finance, half of the company’s journal entry processes were automated, boosting real-time postings from about 90 to 100 percent. In HR, error rates in employee correspondence declined to less than 1 percent, the turnaround time for onboarding letters dropped by two-thirds, and compliance deficiencies fell by 85 percent. Across both finance and HR, the transformation boosted productivity by more than 30 percent and saved more than $5 million.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated digital disruption to the BPM industry, with the potential to unlock sizable financial and operational benefits for well-prepared organizations. Overcoming the internal and external challenges and reimagining each step of the sourcing journey will be challenging, but digital represents the new normal for large outsourcing deals. We believe companies have a choice—they can seize the initiative and capitalize on this shift, or they risk ceding a significant advantage to the competition.

Abhi Bhatnagar is a partner in McKinsey’s Atlanta office, Dany El Khoury is a consultant in the New York office, Stawan Kamani is an alumnus of the Boston office, and Amit Vashisht is a senior knowledge expert in the Waltham, Massachusetts, office.

The authors wish to thank Rahil Jogani, Jibak Sahu, and Monica Vlaicu for their contributions to this article.

This article was edited by Christian Johnson, a senior editor in the Hong Kong office.

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Successful   Software Outsourcing  Case Studies That You Can Learn From

Since the   COVID-19 pandemic  outburst back in March this year, companies and employees have been working remotely. Within the U.S, 16 million workers started to work from home.  Gartner  CFO survey revealed that nearly three in four CFOs plan to shift at least 5 percent of previously on-site employees to permanently remote positions post-COVID-19. The action is necessary. 

Due to the current circumstances, companies are forced to work remotely using technologies to keep the business running, which results in the clear visibility of the increased number of successful outsourcing case studies. Business owners have already realized the importance of remote work and outsourcing during crises like this. Although there are arguments about the pros and cons of working remotely, it is indisputable that remote work and outsourcing are viable options for keeping the business running by leveraging the 4.0 digital technology. 

According to the research, nearly 75 percent of companies outsource IT services, while 87 percent are planning to do so.

Outsourcing is becoming more desirable since there is a tech talent shortage. It also solves several problems like cutting software development costs, finding the needed specialists, business intelligence development, cloud-based services, building websites, etc.

The most popular messaging app with more than 1.6 billion users, outranking   Facebook Messenger  at 1.3 billion, and  WeChat  at 1.1 billion users outsourced the core development, especially iOS development. 

Whatsapp was founded back in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum after they had gotten rejected by Facebook, ironically. Because they wanted to optimize the costs, they hired a professional team from Eastern Europe to build all the core development. The project successfully took off to the top rankings on App Store, Google Play. 

This Chinese multinational eCommerce technology conglomerate started in 1999 by Jack Ma when companies were increasingly using websites for customer relations. The business outsourced developers from the U.S to create its website that would appeal to both locals and international customers, especially those in the English-speaking countries. The reason that Alibaba so successful is the genius idea of outsourcing an English-speaking team just to localize the online content rather than just translate words. The thought brought Jack Ma the status and Alibaba the global revenue that they are today.

When Slack first started its business, no one thought it would be a team collaboration tool that attracted 10 million users as it is now. It was like an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) inside a browser, and there are probably only a few people left who remember what the early prototype looked like. Among many similar systems, Slack turned out to be the most successful one. Slack hired an outsourcing team to improve the user experience (UX). This move has resulted in all consensus opinion claims that the way Slack looks, feels, and sounds are different from the competitor. Slack’s UX becomes its unique selling point. The outsourcing team came up with the general design concept to revamp the app, logo, and commercial website.

The American multinational corporation, which is a subsidiary of Microsoft since 2018, provides hosting for software development and version control. There aren’t any software developer who doesn’t know about Git. Forty million Git users use the website for version control, bug tracking, source code management. When it founded, it was written in the Ruby on Rails framework, but soon it became clear that the solution was in much need of people who extremely proficient in Git itself. The specialist who was engaged as an outsourced presence behind the project was founded, it was Scott Chacon. He was the perfect piece allowing Git to be as being as it could be. 

In 2005, Unilever, with approximately 200,000 employees worldwide and soon extended operations to dozens of countries, encountered the need to merge different ERPs across their sphere. They want to extend and streamline processes, and because they are a non-tech company, they decided against outsourcing. An ERP system integration project is vital for a company like Unilever. If Unilever does otherwise - recruiting a fulltime IT engineer, spending money and time training, might have been detrimental to the company’s inner focus. ERP solution implementation is not an easy task. As of now, Unilever’s operations run smoothly thanks to the ERP system development outsourcing decision. 

Did you know that back in 2003, the founders of Skype outsourced the actual back-end development of the platform to Estonian professionals? These professionals created what we know and use today. The video chat, instant messaging, and file transmission features are what makes Skype one of the telecommunications application pioneers. After just two years, Skype was acquired by eBay for $2.5 billion, and in 2011, by Microsoft for $8.5 billion. This story is an inspiration and has drawn attention to the IT talent pool in Eastern Europe. “Skype” even becomes one of the verbs in the English language - ‘to skype someone,” which means to have a spoken conversation with someone via the Internet using Skype, also viewing by webcam. This dictionary entry speaks volumes about the triumph of the project.

What do they have in common?

If you read and study similar IT outsourcing case studies in the business, they have something they all have in common, even though they are different. So you see, many companies use IT outsourcing to solve capacity issues, reduce costs while maintaining focus on their business objectives, or satisfy the need for specific expertise.

A right strategic IT partner is also the key to your success. When they have the same mindset, the analytical minds that know what your business is looking for, and have the same approach as you will result in building not only a successful business but also long-term business relationships.

Here at   TP&P Technology , we offer you various IT solutions from custom software development, blockchain development, machine learning, AI, Salesforce implementation and customization, SAP consulting, etc, you name it, we have it. Talk to one of our experts today to know about our services and see how we can effectively implement the strategy tailored for your business needs. 

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7 IT Outsourcing Case Studies Every Startup Can Learn From

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In today's competitive labor market, finding and retaining top talent is a crucial challenge for companies looking to meet their strategic goals. To build their future workforce, more and more IT firms are thinking beyond traditional hiring approaches and exploring expanded talent sourcing ecosystems that incorporate external service providers.

Inspired by the numerous successful outsourcing examples of startups and industry leaders, businesses are recognizing the benefits of remote teams. For one thing, hiring offshore developers allows them to access a global talent pool beyond their immediate locale and enhance long-term workforce planning. Outsourcing also solves a number of issues from cutting software development costs to finding niche technical skills.

In this blog, we will take a deeper look at seven compelling case studies of innovative startups that have embraced offshore teams. The examples provide insightful models for companies looking to unlock greater potential through  effective outsourcing .

Outsourcing – A Key to Harnessing Expertise Across Business Functions

Considering the global tech talent shortage, outsourcing is becoming a desirable option for businesses looking to gain access to new capabilities and specialized skills. As many companies are facing the challenge of technology changes outpacing feasible adoption timelines, they are leveraging external partners to quickly bridge skill gaps and stay competitive and responsive in a climate of fast-paced innovation.

Deloitte Global Outsourcing Survey  shows that 76% of companies rely on third-party providers for delivering their IT services. The study highlights that while outsourcing was once seen primarily as a means to eliminate routine tasks, allowing internal technology teams to focus on core competencies and innovation, the attitude towards this business practice has changed considerably over the past two decades. It is now valued for providing access to specialized capabilities across a wide range of IT functions.

In-house vs. Outsorcing: IT functions (Source: Deloitte)

While IT is leading the charge in adopting third-party service delivery, outsourcing now encompasses many business activities. Numerous departments beyond tech can benefit from outsourcing including HR, finance, customer support, marketing, legal, and more.

In-house vs. Outsorcing: Business functions (Source: Deloitte)

Outsourcing Examples of Companies Built by Remote Teams

With the rise of global connectivity, a growing number of companies worldwide are building distributed offshore teams to develop software and services. This trend allows enterprises to tap into the global talent pool and expand their reach.

By examining case studies of forward-thinking startups that use  remote teams , we can see how they leverage these distributed teams to grow their business, outpace competitors, and access global markets. Here are ten successful outsourcing examples that illustrate these benefits:

Pricena  is a price comparison platform that has been empowering savvy shoppers across the Middle East and Africa since 2013. By aggregating real-time product data, it provides users with the most accurate and up-to-date details to make informed purchasing decisions. It enables users to easily search and compare prices across a vast range of products – from electronics and home appliances to fashion and everything in between. 

Within two years of the platform's launch, Pricena recognized the need to expand to mobile apps to reach more shoppers. In June 2015, they  partnered with Grid Dynamics  to hire mobile developers to build iOS and Android apps. 

This move proved to be a wise one. Within just six months, Pricena's new Android app amassed over 50K downloads and a 4.3-star rating on Google Play. Given the tremendous success of the mobile apps in a short period, it was no surprise when Pricena won the Online Startup of the Year award for 2015.

Riding this momentum, Pricena decided to further improve the customer experience by updating the web version of their platform. They  hired a full-stack engineer  to lead the web development efforts. The goal was to provide seamless integration between the mobile apps and the web platform.

The series of technology investments allowed Pricena to make major strides forward. Today, the company provides a unified user experience across all major platforms and devices. Omnichannel availability, well-designed features, and pricing comparison capabilities have become a key competitive advantage for the company, allowing it to take the lead in the MENA market.

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CuriosityStream

CuriosityStream  is a global video streaming service that offers a wide variety of documentaries, series, shows, podcasts, and audio courses to satisfy viewers' curiosity about the world. With thousands of titles covering topics like science, nature, history, technology, travel, crime, adventure, and more, the platform aims to be a one-stop destination for high-quality factual entertainment.

As a budding startup seeking to expand its business offerings and scale up its services, CuriosityStream soon recognized the need to build a larger tech team to achieve these growth goals. After assessing the talent gaps in the local IT market, the company decided to leverage outsourcing services to fill key engineering positions with experienced specialists.

In 2019, CuriosityStream hired a team of six programmers, who helped them develop the video feature for the web version of the platform and background playback capability for mobile applications. Introducing new functionality led to a significant increase in the number of hours watched. 

Andre Silva, CTO at CuriosityStream, commented on the  company’s outsourcing strategy : “Outsourcing is of great value for a business, as hiring remotely makes it easier to scale. The main advice – try to figure out a way to integrate the offshore team with the on-site one. It can be challenging, but the return on investment is definitely worth it.”

StudyTube  is an Amsterdam-based startup that provides B2B educational solutions. The company operates an e-learning platform that allows organizations to manage, distribute, and share knowledge internally. Studytube develops customized training and educational content tailored to its clients’ unique needs and goals, enabling businesses to build and maintain an educated, skilled workforce.

The company initially relied on part-time engineers as a cost reduction measure. However, StudyTube soon realized this approach was not well-suited for building a robust, enterprise-level product. Therefore, the company decided to change their talent strategy and source engineering talent nearshore. 

Seeking to access dedicated, highly-skilled tech professionals, Studytube opted to  build an outsourced development team  in Ukraine. This move aligned with the company's priorities for expanding platform capabilities and accelerating innovation. Since switching to  nearshore engineering , the startup has been able to build momentum and scale more efficiently. This strategic decision has already enabled Studytube to secure three rounds of investment totaling €1.5 million.

Software development market statistics of the tech countries — Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belarus, and Croatia.

Slack  is a world-renowned instant messaging tool for professional and organizational communications. The app facilitates real-time messaging, file-sharing, and collaboration across devices. 

Slack’s success story is one of the best examples of strategic IT outsourcing. In its early days, the company partnered with the Canadian design team MetaLab to help turn their early prototype into a polished product. The scope of work included  logo design , marketing website development, and the release of web and mobile applications. 

By collaborating with MetaLab, the Slack team received valuable feedback that helped to evolve the minimal viable product into a user-friendly tool ready for widespread adoption. Within two weeks following its launch, the platform gained a remarkable 15K users.

Today, the service boasts an impressive 20 million active users. It has been integrated into the daily business activities of high-profile organizations including IBM, BBC, and Oracle.

WidgetBrain

WidgetBrain  is a Netherlands-based startup that helps organizations optimize their business using artificial intelligence. Thanks to AI-powered capabilities companies can forecast peak and down periods in demand and automate their workforce scheduling. It helps them to reduce labor costs, improve business performance and compliance, and boost employee happiness by focusing on their preferences and skills.

WidgetBrain's decision to outsource its IT functions became a game-changer for the company. Nearshoring to Eastern Europe not only provided quality work at feasible costs but also fuelled the platform’s growth leading to its recognition as one of the hottest Dutch startups of 2018.

Check out WidgetBrain's outsourcing success story:

Oktopost, a social media management platform, was launched in 2013. They operated in three countries and had 22 employees –14 in Israel, 3 in Ukraine, and 5 in the U.S. 

In 2018, Oktopost partnered with Grid Dynamics to access additional software engineering talent and  extend the development team . Tapping into offshore talent enabled the budding startup to make progress on services that had posed struggles before. Working with remote engineers also allowed Octopost to improve their product roadmap, scale their business, and eventually attract more customers.

Vive , a Netherlands-based startup, offers a personalized investment app to help professionals and freelancers achieve financial health. 

As an early-stage startup, Vive struggled to attract top local developers who were lured away by the lucrative salaries offered by tech giants. This changed for the better when the company began collaborating with a remote team of talented Ukrainian developers. By tapping into the offshore talent pool, Vive gained access to skilled technical experts to drive their product development, overcoming hiring hurdles they initially faced in the local IT market.

Rogier Roukens, the CTO of Vive, stated that he was impressed not only by Ukrainian developers’ level of education, experience, and English but also by their investment in the project’s success. “We have the same goals, which creates a special team feeling and I think our Ukrainian developers are a really important part of that.”

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Given the proven benefits of outsourcing like cost savings, access to specialized skills, and flexibility to scale resources up or down, and the shifting mindset toward embracing blended workforces, its adoption levels will continue to rise. As companies navigate the ever-evolving landscape of global innovation, this cooperation model provides the adaptability and capacity that is essential for driving business growth over the long term. 

If you consider leveraging the benefits of IT outsourcing, Grid Dynamics is here to help. We can help you build a remote team perfectly suited to your unique business needs and technology requirements. With our expertise in offshore product development, we can assemble an engineering team with the precise skills and experience necessary to successfully deliver your project. 

Our process is pretty straightforward:

• Provide us with your software development needs and desired team size. Whether you need one developer or a full team, we are here to assist.
• Interview the candidates from a pre-screened pool of engineers that best suits your project specifications.
• Once assembled, your team works under your command. We help you establish effective cooperation and implement robust retention initiatives to minimize turnover and maintain the satisfaction of your remote employees.
• Stay focused on driving your development process forward while we handle administrative tasks like taxes, payroll, office management, HR, and more.

If you are ready to explore the opportunities offered by our model, get in touch with us!

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BENEFITS OF OUTSOURCING CASE STUDIES

THE COMPANY –

Thomas Cook Group plc is one of the world’s leading leisure travel groups with sales of over £8.5 billion and more than 22 million customers in the year ended 30 September 2014. Thomas Cook UK and Ireland have over 6.2 million passengers, 847 retail outlets and 31 aircrafts.

WORKFORCE STRENGTH –

Annual revenue –, outsource nature –.

• 2, 00,000+ ASSETS;
• Support 700+ LOCATIONS across the U.S./Mexico/Canada;
• 38 PROCESSES & 700+ FTES across India/Mexico/the U.S./EU;
• LEAN SIX SIGMA – Operating Culture;
• 10+ YEARS Penske – Genpact ‘Operational’ Partnership.
• Operating cost savings of $20 MILLION annually;
• Bad debt expense reduction of approx. $10 MILLION annually and $40 MILLION increased cash flow generated through reduction in DSO.

THE COMPANY -

Annual revenue – profits –.

• Reduced manpower requirement at client’s end;
• The chronic backlog of records was eliminated and a system was created to handle upcoming documentations;
• Physical files are not disturbed and records do not get misfiled;
• Valuable space was freed and is being refurbished for other uses.

• Cataloging the firm’s paper records, labeling the paper files with text and barcode labels and scan them into a database;
• Developed a Records Policy and Procedures manual;
• Linked all the records to database to Hummingbird LegalKEY™ - a practice management support information management tool.
• Significantly increased efficiency of the records process and reduced the amount of time required to search and locate files the equivalent of one FTE;
• Provided a clear retention policy and schedule for client and firm records;
• CBPS’s records management program and procedures implemented in Washington DC are being deployed in the rest of the law firm’s offices.

• Excess cable, reels, and associated equipment can now be returned to the warehouse for credit.
• Easily query the system to determine where the stock is available
• Overall reduction in excess cable on job sites.

• Improve production testing processes;
• It serves as a quality control check before a product is released for customer shipments;
• It provides data for assigning master curves and calibrator values for product insert cards enclosed with reagents sent to customers. The reagents and associated data are equally important product components.
• It provides data used throughout the organization for product-performance trending.
• Developed TDMS multitier and webbased system.

$1.4 BILLION

• Imaging Services; Scanning rig and artful reprocessing;
• Content Conversion.
• This phase of the YDN online collection was officially launched during Yale’s 2008 reunion weekends;
• A fully indexed online version will dramatically enhance access to the YDN both locally and globally;
• Issues of the YDN from important periods in Yale’s history are now available online and searchable through the University Library’s Yale Daily News Historical Archive.

Jardine Restaurant Group, whollyowned by Jardine Pacific— Asia’s leading restaurant group, operates over 650 outlets.

• End-to-end consolidation of F&A processes;
• Leveraging Capgemini’s Rightshore® approach, unique IP tools and methodology;
• Restructuring the team handling the process.

Cost efficiencies up by 50%

• Improved productivity;
• Productivity and operational efficiency parameters unaffected during the transition;
• Enhanced reporting leading to better compliance.

OPERATING INCOME –

Net income –.

• Customer retention strategy;
• Assisted TalkTalk in a number of initiatives directed toward reducing customer complaints and dissatisfaction which ultimately lead to customer churn.
• Approx. $2 MILLION cost avoidance annually to TalkTalk;
• Approx. $1 MILLION revenue enablement to client through improved ARPU.

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• 7 OUTSOURCING CASE STUDIES THAT YOUR BUSINESS CAN LEARN FROM

7 Outsourcing Case Studies That Your Business Can Learn From

Outsourcing is becoming a popular business strategy for companies looking to streamline their operations and increase efficiency. Whether it’s to save costs, increase efficiency, or access specialized expertise, outsourcing can offer a range of benefits to companies looking to grow and succeed.

Businesses can focus on their core capabilities while reducing expenses by outsourcing specific tasks or projects to specialized service providers. However, not all outsourcing efforts are made equal, and it’s essential to understand the best practices and potential hazards of outsourcing.

In this blog post, we’ll explore 7 outsourcing case studies that showcase real-life examples of considerable outsourcing efforts. By taking a closer look at real-life examples of outsourcing partnerships, businesses can gain useful insights into both the best practices of outsourcing and its potential pitfalls.

Table of Contents

What is outsourcing?

Why do you need to outsource, when do you need outsourcing, what should you outsource.

Outsourcing is the practice of hiring a third-party company or contractor to perform services that are traditionally handled in-house by a business. Outsourcing has grown in popularity in recent years thanks to technological improvements and globalization.

Because of the pandemic, the industry expanded even further. At a compound annual growth rate of 9.4%, the worldwide outsourcing market might expand from about $262 billion in 2022 to $525 billion by 2030 .

Your business may be large and have strong commercial acumen and technical abilities, but you cannot manage a business on your own. You’ll need a hand from a talented team; that’s when outsourcing practice comes into play.

Here are some reasons why you should outsource certain functions or tasks in order to grow your business:

Access to specialized expertise : Businesses can use outsourcing to gain access to specialized knowledge and expertise that they may not have in-house, such as software development, digital marketing, or accounting.

Cost savings : Outsourcing can be a cost-effective choice for organizations because it reduces the requirement for new staff recruitment and training. It also helps companies to avoid the expenditures of providing benefits and office space.

Boost efficiency : Businesses can focus on their core capabilities and enhance overall efficiency by outsourcing non-essential company services. It also permits staff to concentrate on higher-level duties that are more strategic and vital to the company’s success.

Scalability : Outsourcing allows organizations to grow their teams up and down as needed without the long-term commitment of hiring full-time staff. This enables firms to respond swiftly to market developments or changes in demand for their products or services.

Enhance quality : Outsourcing can increase the quality of work by giving you access to specialized expertise and resources that your business might not have in-house. It also enables organizations to benefit from the outsourcing provider’s best practices and experience.

The time to outsource can be a challenging one for some businesses. The stage at which a company needs to outsource is different; some businesses must outsource at the initial stages, while others may prefer to outsource when they have established a firm foundation.

The situations in which your company needs to outsource might include some of the following:

Lack of in-house expertise : Outsourcing can provide access to specialized knowledge and skills if a company lacks the competence or resources to execute a specific activity or project.

The need to increase in workload : If a company’s workload or demand for its products or services suddenly increases, outsourcing can assist manage the burden and guarantee that deadlines are reached.

The economic condition of the company : Businesses may be more likely to outsource during moments of economic uncertainty in order to minimize costs and manage risks.

Outsourcing can be a cost-effective solution for firms suffering financial difficulties because it eliminates the need for hiring and training new staff as well as the costs involved with providing benefits and office space.

• Lack of specialized technology in-house : Outsourcing can provide access to specialized technology and software that may not be available in-house, allowing businesses to stay competitive and on top of industry trends.

Outsourcing is determined by the company’s needs and goals. There are many platforms that businesses can outsource such as IT, product development, human resources, etc. However, here are a few things that businesses often outsource:

• Special skill set required at a specific point in time

Businesses that outsource a certain set of abilities for a specific project or activity can save money by avoiding the expense of hiring and training additional staff. In addition, businesses might benefit from outsourcing by gaining access to specialized skills and resources that may not be available in-house.

• Expertise knowledge

By giving firms access to the most recent industry trends, best practices, and technology, outsourcing specialized knowledge can help firms stay competitive in fast-paced industries or markets.

• Performing repetitive tasks

Businesses can enhance their overall efficiency and productivity by outsourcing monotonous tasks. Additionally, quality control procedures are often in place at outsourcing providers to guarantee that repeated tasks are executed accurately and to a high degree.

Outsourcing case study examples

Google is a multinational technology corporation best known for its search engine, ad platforms, and cloud computing services. While Google is well-known for its cutting-edge technology, the firm has also relied on outsourcing to support its operations and achieve its goals.

Google has effectively outsourced its business operations and a variety of activities. Within their company, they have been aggressively utilizing the technique of software development outsourcing.

In 2016, Google stated that it had teamed with Wipro, an India-based outsourcing company, to support its cloud computing services. Wipro would provide technical support, cloud infrastructure management, and other services for Google’s cloud platform as part of the cooperation.

Google’s collaboration with Wipro enabled it to leverage Wipro’s experience in cloud computing and gain access to a larger pool of skilled individuals to support its operations. Wipro also benefited from the partnership by having access to Google’s cutting-edge technology and expanding its client base.

Alibaba is a global Chinese technology corporation specializing in e-commerce, retail, and cloud computing. The company is well-known for its creative business model, which mainly relies on outsourcing to support its operations and meet its objectives.

When Jack Ma founded the company in 1999, businesses were progressively shifting to the Internet for customer support, and he made the right decision to outsource everything.

Alibaba’s relationship with Cainiao Network, a logistics company specializing in package delivery and warehouse management, is one example of its outsourcing strategy. Alibaba stated in 2013 that it had purchased a controlling stake in Cainiao Network. The goal is to improve its logistical capabilities and the customer experience on its e-commerce platform.

Thanks to this partnership, Alibaba has been able to tap into specific skills in logistics and have access to a wider pool of trained individuals to support its business.

The collaboration has also aided Alibaba in expanding its logistics network and improving delivery times, which have been critical to the company’s success in China’s highly competitive e-commerce sector.

With over 2 billion active users globally, WhatsApp has become ubiquitous in modern communication. With a limited cash reserve, creators Jan Koum and Brian Acton concluded that outsourcing was the best product creation method.

WhatsApp’s success can be attributed to the use of Russian offshore developers. Outsourcing allowed the company to concentrate on core operations and reduce operating costs while developing a successful product.

When a company grew in reputation among its peers by personally assisting potential consumers, it garnered brand-loyal customers. This is also the case for WhatsApp. The company outsourced the app’s development to another company in order to make it cross-platform and gain more iOS users.

Later in 2014, Facebook paid $19 billion for the company. Despite the fact that it relocated its third-party contractors to the United States, offshore outsourcing was critical to the company’s growth and profitability.

Slack has its own exciting story among the success stories of businesses that have benefited from outsourcing. Slack is a cloud-based team collaboration software enabling real-time communication and collaboration.

Outsourcing has played a significant role in Slack’s phenomenal growth. The creator of Slack, Stewart Butterfield, wants to grow the business. But due to his lack of design skills to build the app, brand, and marketing website, he opted for outsourcing to achieve his goal.

MetaLab, a Canadian design team, was hired by the company to assist in developing a product from the beta version. Thanks to MetaLab’s feedback, the Slack team created a useful tool that acquired 15,000 users within 2 weeks of its launch.

The company raised a total of $5 billion in July 2017 and is still growing. According to Statista, Slack had over 10 million daily users in 2020 and was expected to reach around 80 million by 2025. Slack is a prime example of a top IT outsourcing success story that many businesses should learn from.

Skype is a telecommunications tool specializing in video and phone chats between devices via the Internet. While the business has acquired a good reputation in online communication, it relies on outsourcing to support its operations and achieve its goals.

One example of Skype’s outsourcing approach is its partnership with Luxoft, a worldwide IT services provider. This collaboration enabled Skype to leverage Luxoft’s software development skills and get access to a broader talent pool of trained experts to assist its operations.

This outsourcing effort also helped Skype reduce its development costs and improve the quality of its software. Skype has been able to scale its operations rapidly and efficiently by working with a specialized partner and outsourcing key functions.

To begin with, Github is a web-based version control and collaboration platform popular among software engineers and developers worldwide.

The company outsourced its backend activities, which were critical for GitHub sharing. The outsourced contractor was Scott Chacon, a Get specialist. Chacon was able to help the business with the development of the Gist backend.

This was an example of GitHub’s outsourcing approach to growing the company and achieving its goals. Over time, GitHub has become a prominent platform for open-source projects and collaboration, and its outsourcing model has contributed significantly to its success.

WaitWhile is a cloud-based tool for managing client lines and appointments. WaitWhile began with a base app that was well-liked by its early users, and scaling became inevitable. However, due to the limited technology, the company had to outsource the work to NeoITO, a global software development company.

WaitWhile has partnered with NeoITO to develop and maintain its platform. They also added new features and enhancements to the user experience. By outsourcing its software development needs, WaitWhile was able to accelerate the development of new features and functionality for its platform while also reducing its development costs.

In a nutshell, outsourcing has become a popular business technique that can give numerous advantages to businesses of all sizes and industries. The outsourcing case studies presented in this blog show how outsourcing may assist organizations in scaling their operations, gaining access to specialized skills, and improving the customer experience.

The success of these outsourcing case studies emphasizes the significance of choosing the proper outsourced partner. By learning from these real-life outsourcing case study examples, businesses can make informed decisions about their outsourcing strategy. They can also take into account the pitfalls of outsourcing that need to be avoided.

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Topics: Offshore Recruiting, Offshore Recruitment Services, Offshore RPO, Offshore RPO Services

5 Successful Outsourcing Case Studies You Must read

Posted on September 25, 2023 Written By Sakshi Sharma

Did you know that according to a report , 63% of marketers consider case studies to be an effective content marketing tool? The present-day constantly changing business environment demands successful outsourcing to achieve growth. QX Global Group, a leading outsourcing firm, has a proven record of transforming businesses across various domains. 

In this collection of case studies, we explore successful outsourcing examples a nd how their expertise and technology drive remarkable results in diverse industries. 

Case Study 1: Engineering Staffing Agency Secures 654 Placements in 10 Months with Outsourced Recruitment Support

Client’s challenges.

• Delay in covering all the open roles  
• Limited bandwidth for the onshore team to cover all the open roles  
• Limited pool of candidates for locations with high open roles  
• The onshore recruitment team was unable to meet critical hiring deadlines

Solutions Provided

• Identified and set up a team of 15 offering Offshore Recruitment Services to deliver this project
• Trained the team to bring them up to speed with the client’s process, systems, and roles in under 30 days
• Weekly progress review call with the hiring manager to discuss
• locations with urgent hiring needs,
• focus for the coming week,
• upcoming roles for the team to pipeline candidates, etc.
• New jobs covered within 24-36 hours
• Built pipelines for repetitive roles to ensure the swift flow of candidates
• Open roles advertised on job portals and social sites to attract more candidates
• Streamlined the candidate application process into the client ATS
• Identified best practices from success cases, applying them to other openings as part of the continuous optimization process
• Kept track of the interview offers and started to keep a check on the success cases and gauge our submittal and turnaround time process

Case Study 2: GBS Model Implementation for Global Recruitment Agency

Business challenges.

• Transitioning from a long-withstanding region/entity-based structure
• Build a plug-and-play model to integrate services for newly acquired brands easily.
• Ensure continuous improvement of current processes to increase team efficiency, implement smart automation and
• build a scalable business model.

QX Solution

In order to bring about organisational transformation for the client, QX followed

a unique Transition-Improve-Transformation model:

• Transition: For the first six months of our partnership with the client, the QX team worked on process mapping, identified client requirements, did an in-depth risk analysis and did a comprehensive process baselining.
• Stabilise & Improve: In the 6 to 18-month period, the QX team focused on introducing ISO, monitoring processes, collecting feedback and ensuring continuous improvement.
• Transformation: 18 months into the partnership, QX moved into the transformation phase – bringing about smart automation, benchmarking and continuous process improvement.

Tools and technology implemented:

• Bank Download Tool – This tool has helped the process of downloading daily cash receipts from over 20 bank accounts
• PO Update Tool – This tool has helped clients eliminate manual efforts of updating the PO number on invoices.
• VMS Timesheet Tool – This tool has helped our client to automate the “Timesheet Download and Upload” process

Case Study 3: Optimising O2C Process for a Leading Recruitment Firm through Bank Download Automation

The client, which has a network of more than 40 brands that it has expanded via mergers and acquisitions, is one of the largest recruiting experts in the world. The client, one of the fastest-growing organizations in this market, concentrates on combining recruiting businesses servicing various sectors.

• The crew put in a good deal of time and effort each month to download more than 4,000 payments.
• Manually carrying out this procedure for several manufacturers increased the possibility of mistakes, such as missing downloads and duplicate downloads.
• The staff had to pay close attention to make sure that each payment was downloaded, handled carefully, and posted in accordance with the client portal’s specifications.
• The staff would struggle to separate IDF and current payments because to the huge payment volume, significantly increasing the chance of human mistakes.

How QX Helped

As a part of our solution, we performed the following activities:

• Created and built a bank download program that downloads and keeps all incoming payments from bank portals in a certain folder automatically.
• Initially, 20 organizations used the technology to automate bank downloads; as time went on, more companies did the same.
• Automation increased team productivity and download accuracy, which eliminated the potential for manual mistakes.
• To greatly reduce suspense balance, establish a smooth communication route between cross-functional teams.
• A highly adaptable system that can be simply adjusted to any changes in the bank site has been implemented.

Case Study 4: Streamlined Loan Approvals for Global Recruitment Giant Through IDF Automation Services

For the client, QX has worked on a number of projects, including end-to-end F&A transformation for crucial processes, including pay & bill, accounts payable, and accounts receivable, delivered using a Global Business Services model.

• When inputting bills manually, the QX team would invest a lot of time and energy.
• Manually separating invoices for the many customer brands raised the possibility of mistakes. This was a cause for worry because any uploading fault may result in the customer suffering a financial loss.
• The compliance staff had to exercise extra caution and frequently struggled to adhere to regulations. Fund flow leakages might be caused by any disagreement.
• The team had to pay additional attention to make sure that the requirements of the financial institutions were satisfied and that the data was posted properly in the required formats on their portal.
• IDF Automation technology was created and used to automatically separate intercompany and non-intercompany invoices on an account level.
• After that, non-intercompany accounts undergo the second stage of invoice level segregation based on criteria such as GBP & foreign currency invoices, credit notes, self-bills, and perm invoices. The system then creates the whole file, which the team may check and publish to the bank site.
• Successfully deployed the solution across 11 businesses to allow IDF process management.
• Configure the system to produce a consolidated report that aids the team in completing month-end reporting and reconciliation tasks promptly.
• The client’s quarterly audits may now be carried out more successfully thanks to the implementation of several persona dashboards with audit trails.

Case Study 5: Automating Data Parsing for Recruitment Agencies with Email Parser

Six of the top ten healthcare staffing agencies are among the top recruiting firms QX works with in the UK. These organizations frequently deal with a lot of emails with the same or similar material. Manually processing this data may result in a loss of time, money, and labor.

• The customer had to keep a team of 15 employees on hand to transfer job openings from their inbox to their front-end system due to the client receiving thousands of job posting emails from various Trusts.
• The organization’s competitiveness and turnaround time were influenced by the time it took to create the vacancy in the front-end system and deliver it to the recruiting consultants.
• Sometimes, two data entry personnel would select up the same opening, leading to duplicate opening entries in the front-end system.
• Closing openings that were filled requires tedious and time-consuming manual updating.
• Human mistake risk rose considerably when data was entered manually.
• Arranged for more than 30 Trusts to deliver vacancy alerts in organised formats (during the first two to three months) by configuring their email addresses and vacancy information structures.
• Create a system such that configuring any new Trust email address or accommodating any modification to incoming email or vacancy structure only takes 15 to 30 minutes.
• Set up a quick notification mechanism for the appropriate team members for any system exceptions.

In conclusion, these successful examples of outsourcing by QX Global Group serve as compelling examples of how strategic outsourcing can drive operational efficiency, cost savings, and business growth. These case studies showcase the tangible benefits that businesses can achieve by partnering with QX Global Group, from streamlining financial processes to expanding their global reach. 

Q. How successful is outsourcing?

Ans: The success of outsourcing varies depending on various factors but can be highly successful when executed strategically.

Q. What is successful outsourcing?

Ans: Successful outsourcing involves achieving cost savings, improved efficiency, and maintaining quality while delegating tasks to external providers.

Q. Why is outsourcing successful?

Ans: Outsourcing can be successful due to reduced operational costs, access to specialised expertise, scalability, and the ability to focus on core business functions.

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Originally published Sep 25, 2023 04:09:30, updated Sep 26 2023

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Flexible, Trusted Partnership: Thryv + Personiv

Successful outsourcing partnership case study.

Thryv had been outsourcing with a well-known, leading India-based business process outsourcing company for over 10 years, but they needed a partner who would offer flexible solutions that would scale with them. Learn all about our successful outsourcing partnership in this case study.

The business process outsourcing service company was using hard rigid processes and contracts that did not provide the type of partnership they were seeking for the next phase of the company.

Scaling Back-Office Teams

Enter Personiv. With a 35-year history of innovating outsourcing solutions, the flexible and scalable capabilities of Personiv allowed Thryv to grow using an outsourcing model on their terms.

“The efficiencies and cost-savings we’ve realized with Personiv have allowed us to reinvest capital in our business to grow teams and new lines of services for our SMB customers,” John Wholey, EVP - Thryv said.

Spinning up programs with as few as two Personiv team members, the partnership quickly grew to a ramp-up of 700 full-time employees (FTEs) within one year. Personiv works with Thryv on the following services.

Back Office Solutions:

Data entry and reporting,

Ecommerce transaction support

Call monitoring & reporting

Digital Solutions:

Print ads and directory book pagination

Website design

Business listings management

Social media support

Contact Center Solutions:

Sales support

Lead generation

Customer service

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Thrilling IT Outsourcing Case Studies Businesses Can Learn from

The 21st century has been undergoing a revolution in the way businesses handle business tasks. In the past, establishing an in-house team was a golden rule that no business wanted to break. More and more companies are looking outside of their organizations for ways to grow their business. Outsourcing has become more than a trend now; it’s necessary for businesses that face increasing production costs or labor shortages.

Outsourcing allows organizations to work with top talent, save costs, and scale up or down easily. However, many organizations are still cautious when it comes to delegating their operations to third parties because of security and delivery concerns.

To dispel these fears, our IntelliSoft experts have prepared a list of the top 10 examples of companies that outsource, and you will learn about them in this article. At IntelliSoft, we know what makes an outsourcing case successful, and we want to share this knowledge with you to help you avoid mistakes and find the best development partner. Buckle up and keep on reading.

Table of Contents

What is IT Outsourcing?

IT outsourcing involves entrusting specific business operations to third-party providers specializing in those tasks. This strategy aims to cut costs and optimize in-house processes by allowing external experts to manage and control these operations.

According to a global IT outsourcing market study, the industry will grow by $98 million by 2024, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5%. It’s no wonder the industry will keep proliferating since outsourcing covers software as a service, utility services, various infrastructure solutions, and more. You can delegate almost any part of non-core business processes to third-party providers, and there’s a vast talent pool to choose from.

IT outsourcing can be done in your country or outside it. The three types of outsourcing include onshore, nearshore, and offshore outsourcing.

Onshore outsourcing involves hiring a third-party company in your city or nearby. It allows you to control the processes, save costs, and communicate freely because you are in the same time zone and speak the same language.

Nearshore outsourcing is when you work with providers in neighboring countries. As a result, you are in the same time zone, but the costs can be cheaper.

Offshore outsourcing is when you delegate tasks to another country, often on another continent. This type of outsourcing is believed to be the cheapest.

Why do you need to outsource?

Running a business alone is impossible, even if you are the most talented business owner with years of experience and technical skills. Any business owner needs a team to succeed, and hiring an in-house team can be time- and money-consuming. Also, you can’t be sure you will find skilled experts in your area, especially if you need people with knowledge in rare industries or technologies.

That is why you need to outsource – to bring your ideas to life and grow your business while saving costs and working with experienced professionals. There’s a vast talent pool of experts, so why not use this opportunity?

When do you need to outsource?

The reasons why companies decide to outsource vary from business to business. Some companies opt for outsourcing when they start growing their business; others delegate their operations after establishing a brand. Thus, there’s no definite answer to when you should start outsourcing your processes. To make the right decision, you need to consider the following factors:

• How many people can you employ by outsourcing without affecting your internal processes
• How much money can you spend on outsourcing
• Whether outsourcing aligns with your business plan and will help you achieve your end goals
• Whether you can find the needed experts by outsourcing

Before opting for outsourcing, you need to assess your business state, needs, goals, and budget. Then, you will realize whether outsourcing is an option or whether you should choose a different cooperation model.

Benefits of Outsourcing

If so many businesses stick to outsourcing their processes, it must have numerous benefits, right? It sure does, and it has proven to be a more effective way of collaboration than working with an in-house team.

Before talking about IT outsourcing examples, let’s look at the main advantages of outsourcing and why it’s believed to take over the market.

• Lower costs The key reason why businesses choose outsourcing is because of lower costs. Indeed, every company cannot handle creating an in-house team and spending money on employment, training, and purchasing tech infrastructure. With outsourcing, there’s no need to spend money on any of that because the outsourcing vendor handles everything from recruitment to taxes. Moreover, outsourcing allows transforming fixed IT costs into variable costs so that you can plan your budget more efficiently.
• More flexibility and agility Challenges, issues, and bugs always accompany software development. Your task here is to ensure that you are flexible and adaptable enough to face these challenges and resolve them quickly. Fortunately, outsourcing companies can easily adapt to changing needs and respond to issues as they arise because they have a lot of experience in this. Your goal is also to resolve problems as fast as possible, meeting the demands with more agility, and outsourcing is a great way to achieve it.
• Higher quality of services Outsourcing is one of the best ways to enhance your operational efficiency and take your business to another level. With the number of outsourcing companies growing each day, they are competing for the client’s attention, and what’s a better way to do that than outperform competitors in terms of service quality? If you choose a specialized supplier with years of industry experience that uses the latest technology, you will receive an excellent product.
• Focus on core business tasks While an outsourcing company handles a part of your business processes, you can focus on core business tasks. The autonomy of third-party vendors is an excellent benefit that cannot be overlooked; you don’t have to control every aspect of the process and waste time on management. Instead, you can focus on your business strategy and other essential tasks while your project is being developed simultaneously.
• Access to the global talent pool You can’t even imagine how many talented and highly skilled experts are waiting for you to work with them. By outsourcing your processes, you open yourself to the world of talent and possibility as you can connect with the top specialists from different industries. This is a great solution to talent shortage as you are not limited to any location with outsourcing, so if there’s no one in your city or country, you can look further.

Related Readings

• Nearshoring. What is it and for Who?
• What is Staff Augmentation? A Model to Extend Your Team
• Outsourcing vs. Outstaffing Models: What Is the Difference and Their Pros & Cons
• Everything You Need to Know About Team Extension and Dedicated Team Models
• 10 Best Countries for Hiring a Dedicated Development Team

IT Outsourcing Success Stories

Which is the best example of outsourcing, you may ask? There are numerous successful outsourcing cases, both from small and top companies. We have compiled a list of the top 10 examples of companies that outsource to inspire you and prove that outsourcing is an awesome way to grow your business.

The first among business outsourcing examples is Slack. Everyone uses Slack these days. If you’re working in a tech company, the chances are that you’re using Slack for collaboration. Slack has over 42.7 million daily users as of 2023, and the company is valued at $26.51 billion. These impressive numbers wouldn’t be the case if Slack hadn’t decided to outsource its operations at some point.

They needed to develop the beta version of their business model, so they hired an outsourcing company named MetaLab from Canada to do that. The company helped Slack build a tool for increasing traction. Slack also outsourced the design of its logo and mobile app, securing an investment of $250 million.

By understanding its needs and goals and finding the right partner, Slack was able to take the company to a whole new level and become one of the top successful cases of outsourcing.

Another case study on outsourcing is WhatsApp’s journey. It has more than 2 billion users, but it hasn’t always been the case. WhatsApp started as a small company with 30 employees in 2012. In 2022, its annual revenue reached over $906 million . How did that happen? Through outsourcing its development operations.

Jan Koum and Brian Acton, the founders of WhatsApp, hired offshore developers from Eastern Europe to save costs and handle the app development services. Working with an offshore company allowed WhatsApp to focus on core business tasks and sell the company to Facebook for $19 billion in 2014.

Daintel is the next example of offshoring companies. In 2007, Daintel – a clinical workspace for Intensive Care Units from Copenhagen – hired us to enhance the capacity of the Daintel R&D department and improve the performance of the existing solution used in hospitals.

We optimized the performance of Daintel’s system and the connection pool using base connection storage developed on Firebird, an open-source SQL relational database management system, to omit this challenge.

We also created new modules for the Intensive Care Unit, including Prescription, Administration, the SNOMED CT, IOM Graphic, CPOE module, EMM, and others.

The IntelliSoft team started working with Daintel 4 years ago from 2 dedicated developers, and by 2018, we managed to build a dedicated R&D center. As a result, the Daintel Intensive Care Unit system has become a healthcare market leader.

CuriosityStream

CuriosityStream is also among the successful outsourcing examples. It is a global media company, and streaming service, which began outsourcing its processes in 2019. The company hired six third-party developers to work on the video feature that would increase the number of hours watched and reduce operational costs.

The company decided to opt for outsourcing when it saw its competitors do it and succeed. Once they did it, the company’s CEO, Andre Silva, decided to integrate outsourced teams to help with other operations as well, and CuriosityStream continues to work with third-party developers to this day.

Who would have thought: Google also outsourced its operations to third-party vendors. Even though it’s an evident leader among top tech companies, and it seems that Google can easily handle all operations in-house, it still decided to outsource to reduce labor costs.

Google, perhaps the best example of offshoring companies, has an 89,000 in-house team of employees, and it still can’t handle all the tasks. This made Google look for contractors in other countries. Since 2018 , the number of third-party contractors has outnumbered the number of their in-house employees.

The tech giant hires talented experts worldwide and works with contractors on its AdWords project. The company does it for two reasons: it allows them to work with top talent they don’t have in their in-house team and helps them cover the gaps when Google employees take parental leaves. Moreover, outsourcing helps Google majorly reduce labor costs and maintain impressive profitability.

Basecamp is also among the IT outsourcing examples. It is a project management tool that allows users to create to-do lists, share files, track time, and chat in forums. When the company grew, and its requirements grew, its leaders realized that it could affect their future if they didn’t solve international issues like workflow management and client support. Thus, Basecamp outsourced its core development functions, and its internal teams could focus on other business processes.

SpecTec is another IntelliSoft’s case study on outsourcing.

In 2017, we started working on a new outsourcing project SpecTec. The SpecTec company is a leading Maritime software provider, developing AMOS software (Asset Management Operating System) for Oil Gas, Maritime, and Defence industries.

Our team was responsible for working on AMOS functionality and ensuring that it was fully functional online and offline, using data transfer between mobile devices used in field operations and local databases.

We also worked on the development of the AMOS Maintenance app, AMOS Inventory app, a quality management system, and web approvals.

As a result, we optimized the company’s existing architecture and ensured successful offline and online data synchronization for Inventory and Maintenance applications. It helped SpecTec increase its productivity and efficiency and meet its business goals.

Skype is another successful outsourcing case study. You have probably used Skype for communication at some point in your life or continue to use it, and yes, it also outsourced its business operations.

Skype decided to delegate the majority of its software development to European developers as it needed professional web development. Since the company did not have enough in-house developers, outsourcing was the best solution. As we can see from the success of Skype, outsourcing has worked wonders.

GitHub is a well-known open-source website hosting software development version control using Git. Over 94 million developers are loyal fans of GitHub, using it for their projects and communication with other developers.

The company recruited Chacon as its third-party company of choice to create the website’s backend. In fact, a developer who built the backbone of GitHub is now its CIO.

GitHub hired the best experts to build its backend, and outsourcing became a great solution for completing business tasks while adhering to the highest quality standards and saving resources and money.

Ingram Barge

Ingram Barge is one business outsourcing example from our portfolio. In 2016-2017, the IntelliSoft team built a custom fleet management app for a leading carrier in American inland waterways. Ingram Barge requests us to build a fleet management and freight tracking web app to visualize and manage barges in fleets.

They also needed help with creating a project that would provide rich UI capabilities and real-time synchronization between clients, integrating external services and tools via a wide-ranging API.

During the eight months of work, our talented team developed a web app that included the following functionality:

• Fleet management dashboard
• Time tracking
• Offline mode
• SignalR integration
• Updates feed

We collaborated tightly with the customer’s team to seamlessly integrate this app into their existing infrastructure and provide end users with an efficient tool they use daily.

How to Find the Right Outsourcing Partner?

Now that you have learned about IT outsourcing examples, it’s time to pick a vendor.

Picking a partner in such a vast talent pool can be daunting, especially if you have never outsourced before. Fortunately, there are some tips and tricks on picking the right vendor, and following them will help you stress less and find a reliable partner.

• Evaluate your needs There’s no point in looking for a development partner if you don’t understand what you need from this cooperation. You need to assess your business state, technological capability, and what your in-house lacks that a third-party company can provide. After you outline the strengths and weaknesses of your in-house team, you will be able to know what to look for. For example, you may have a strong team of engineers but lack expertise in design, or vice versa. Thus, your further steps will depend on determining your needs first.
• Define your requirements Next, define what kind of project you want, the market it will compete in, how much money you’re ready to pay, and the approximate deadline. Write down as many requirements as possible at this point, and as your potential partner, go through them and tell you if some are unrealistic. A good development partner will help you come up with more realistic requirements and tell you how to achieve them.
• Check companies’ expertise After you write down your needs and requirements, move on to the next step – reaching out to vendors. For instance, you can create a list of 5-10 vendors and evaluate them based on their tech expertise, skills, access to the latest technology, experience, and interest in your project.
• Read the reviews While evaluating your potential vendors, check their Clutch profile. Read the previous clients’ reviews there, talk to them about cooperation with the vendor, and ask questions. Make sure that the vendor has worked on relevant projects to yours before and that they have great reviews.
• Protect your data Privacy and data security are essential for any business, especially when outsourcing their business operations. Working with third parties always involves sharing sensitive business information, so it has to be managed properly and protected against breaches and leaks. Make sure that your data is protected, and sign a nondisclosure agreement with your vendor.

How can IntelliSoft help?

IntelliSoft has been offering team extension services for more than 15 years, helping clients with projects of various complexity, from developing custom applications to rebuilding architectures. We have numerous IT outsourcing examples in our arsenal. At IntelliSoft, we offer a pool of smart applicants and managers to assist with selecting the best practices for your business without wasting time and other valuable resources on tiring, confusing hiring procedures.

We offer help with projects with obscure requirements, long-term projects, and startups and small companies that want to grow their businesses. The types of collaboration we offer include:

• Staff augmentation With this cooperation model, you pay for the operational expenses and have a PM on both your and our sides. The primary goal here is to offer labor and necessary tools for your projects.
• Outstaffing With outstaffing, the quality ownership is on your side, and you pay for the additional staff. The goal is to extend your in-house team with the right professionals.
• Dedicated teams Our dedicated team works as your tech partner, providing the necessary resources and people to work on your project. You pay for intellectual property in this case, and we handle all the processes.

If you have been looking for a vendor to help you with web or mobile app development, QA and testing, implementation of AI, ML, and other technologies, digital transformation of your business, or cloud computing, we are here to help.

Outsourcing is one of the most effective ways to save money and work with top talent worldwide without the need to move your business to another country and employ new people. It can sound too good to be true, but the successful outsourcing examples we covered in this article demonstrate that outsourcing can take your business to a whole new level if approached wisely. It’s an effective collaboration model both for startups and industry leaders. All you need to do is understand your needs and know what to look for in a vendor. Contact us if you have been looking for a team to handle your business operations or need a consultation.

How do companies choose the right IT outsourcing partner for their specific needs?

Choosing an IT outsourcing partner is not an easy task, as it requires careful consideration. Companies usually check vendors' expertise, previous cases, years of experience, and specific technological solutions they use. Evaluating candidates' track records, reviews, and reputations is also important. Your vendor's culture should align with your company's culture, and you should be on the same page regarding communication and project management capabilities.

What are the potential cost savings associated with IT outsourcing?

IT outsourcing helps reduce labor costs, especially when outsourcing to lower-wage regions. Moreover, you don't need to invest in infrastructure, recruitment, bonuses, etc. Outsourcing also allows businesses to focus on their core competencies, potentially increasing efficiency and productivity, which can translate into financial savings.

How does IT outsourcing impact a company's internal IT team and overall operations?

IT outsourcing can positively and negatively influence in-house teams and operations. It can help in-house teams focus on more important business tasks, improving their productivity. If you want to fill in some knowledge and skill gaps in your team, outsourcing can help with that, too. However, your team may need to adapt to a new working relationship with the vendor.

What are the essential steps to take before starting an IT outsourcing engagement?

Define your objectives clearly Assess your needs Research potential partners Establish clear communication channels Ensure the security of data Create a detailed contract

How can businesses evaluate the success and performance of their IT outsourcing initiatives?

It is possible to evaluate the success of outsourcing through various methods: KPIs: Cost savings, quality of deliverables, project timelines, and customer satisfaction. Cost-benefit analysis: Compare the cost savings with the initial expectations. Service quality assessment: Gather feedback from internal stakeholders and end-users. Vendor performance review: Conduct performance reviews to address any vendor issues and identify opportunities. Business impact analysis: Assess how outsourcing has impacted your business operations, strategic objectives, and employee productivity.

Is IT outsourcing suitable for all types of businesses, regardless of size or industry?

The size of a business or industry does not matter as much as individual needs and requirements. Small and medium-sized businesses often find outsourcing beneficial as it allows them to access specialized skills and resources without the need for significant upfront investments. Larger enterprises may also outsource to streamline operations and focus on core competencies.

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10 Inspiring Stories Showcasing the Impact of Custom IT Solutions on Enterprises

Businesses have saved millions with IT outsourcing while achieving impressive results. Let’s explore the examples of successful IT outstaffing & custom solutions development of world-known brands.

IT outsourcing is the practice of delegating IT functions and services to external service providers, allowing companies to focus on their core competencies. Being expected to reach a staggering $781 billion by 2030, the global IT outsourcing market continues to thrive due to numerous technology trends that have flooded the software development sector, coupled with a concerning scarcity of experienced developers in certain regions.

Dive into 10 compelling case studies that showcase the immense benefits and successful outcomes achieved through IT outsourcing. These real-world examples span diverse industries and highlight the strategies, best practices, and lessons learned.

Read more on the topic :

• 5 Key Trends for Outsourcing and the Shared Services Market in 2023
• Custom vs. Off-the-Shelf Software: Which Is the Right Solution for Your Enterprise?
• Best Regions to Source a Software Development Team
• How to Safely Migrate Your Software Projects to a Different Development Team

Why Enterprises Choose IT Outsourcing

Here are some benefits that motivate enterprises to opt for IT outsourcing:

• Cost savings . Outsourcing eliminates expenses related to hiring, training, infrastructure setup, and ongoing operational costs.
• Access to specialized expertise . Custom software development providers often possess deep domain knowledge, technical skills, and experience in specific areas of IT. Enterprises can access cutting-edge technologies , best practices, and industry insights that may be otherwise challenging to acquire in-house.
• Scalability and flexibility . This approach eliminates the challenges of managing a fluctuating workforce and infrastructure internally, so companies can respond swiftly to changing business dynamics.
• Prioritize business activities. Outsourcing routine tasks, such as data processing, IT maintenance and support, allows organizations to redirect their efforts toward innovation, market expansion, and value creation. In other words, they can work on their competitive advantage and business growth.

Read more : How to Attract New Customers and Scale Your Business with Custom Software

• Accelerated time-to-market . Providers have a wealth of knowledge and efficient methods in their tool kit, allowing them to complete projects more quickly and efficiently.
• Risk mitigation . Reliable software development partners usually have strong security measures, plans for handling disasters, and systems in place to ensure compliance with regulations. This takes away the need for companies to build these capabilities from scratch.
• Global reach and market expansion . By engaging with specialists located in different regions , organizations can leverage diverse perspectives, cultural insights, and even local market knowledge.

Read also : Offshore Development Center vs. Internal Team: Which to Choose?

All in all, there are numerous advantages to outsourcing development, even if your company has the resources to afford an in-house team of developers.

10 Examples of IT Outsourcing: Outstanding Software Built by Remote Teams

Without further delay, these companies have embraced the distributed development model, which helped them unlock new levels of productivity, creativity, and collaboration:

Now one of the leading platforms for software development and version control, GitHub made a strategic decision to outsource the development of its MVP . The CEO and co-founder of GitHub recognized the importance of finding a backend developer with extensive knowledge and expertise in Gits, a crucial aspect of their platform. They came across Scott Chacon, who possessed a rare understanding of Gits at that time. In response to the founders’ request, Chacon joined the GitHub team as a consultant on an outsourced basis.

Chacon’s involvement proved to be pivotal as he took on the responsibility of developing the backend of GitHub’s website. His understanding of Gits and his technical skills allowed him to build the robust foundation that became integral to the platform’s functionality.

Related material : 6 Secret Reasons Why Organizations Outsource Software Development

To conserve raised funds, Slack chose to outsource design and app development services right from the beginning. They hired a Canadian design team to assist in the development of their product, starting from the beta version, and this external team played a crucial role in refining and enhancing the user experience of Slack’s website and mobile app. They also took charge of redesigning the company’s logo and creating the visual elements that users interact with while using the messaging service.

Within just two weeks after its launch, Slack managed to acquire an impressive user base of 15,000 users. This early success propelled the company’s growth trajectory, leading to its eventual status as a startup unicorn in 2014 and attracting considerable investor attention.

Initially, Opera received financial support from its parent company, Telenor. However, when Opera transitioned into a separate entity, its available resources became more constrained. In order to efficiently manage its development process while considering the skills and capacity of developers, Opera went for remote software development services .

This outsourcing case study example can teach companies how to optimize limited resources. Opera could tap into a global talent pool, selecting developers with the required expertise and experience to contribute to its platform. And they only committed to in-house operations after determining the critical areas that required internal expertise.

In its early days, back in 2012, WhatsApp was a small organization with limited resources, comprising just 30 full-time employees and five part-timers. With only $250,000 raised in seed funding, the company couldn’t keep the costs reasonable while competing against established players in the market, particularly SMS technology.

To tackle this obstacle, WhatsApp opted to outsource the majority of its essential development work to an external partner. They understood the importance of finding web development experts who offered a combination of high quality and cost-effectiveness.

Therefore, they turned to Eastern Europe, a renowned outsourcing hub known for its talented IT professionals, to meet their requirements. Just two years after its outsourcing decision, the company achieved an important milestone when it was acquired by Facebook for a staggering $19 billion.

Skype, founded in 2003 by two entrepreneurs from Sweden and Denmark, outsourced its development work to three professional developers from Estonia. Working together, the founders and the Estonian developers successfully created the widely recognized and beloved communication platform known today.

One of the Estonian developers played a crucial role in introducing the concept of cost-effective voice calls through a P2P protocol. Additionally, Skype’s innovative features, such as video chat, instant messaging, and file transmission, have made it an indispensable tool for individuals and businesses alike.

The success of Skype was evident just two years after its inception when it was acquired by eBay for $2.5 billion in 2005. This marked a significant milestone for the company. Subsequently, in 2011, Microsoft acquired Skype for an even more substantial amount, reaching $8.5 billion.

Email Marketing Tool

An email marketing tool often requires extensive database-related expertise, which implies specific hands-on experience vital for project success. That’s what a global market leader in the segment faced. Besides the team’s skill set, they looked for a cost-effective solution to develop an email marketing tool. Outsourcing the task to Intetics allowed them to achieve both goals: source expertise and reduce the costs.

Besides technical support, the development team also served as a professional services provider, offering custom implementations, resulting in a stable and efficient platform capable of handling the delivery of 5 million emails per month.

During the 1990s, Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba , faced major challenges due to limited resources and the complexities of operating in China’s restricted internet environment. The scarcity of Chinese specialists in e-commerce development added another layer of complication. With a modest initial investment of $20,000, Jack Ma recognized the need to look abroad for the website development of his startup.

Alibaba began seeking partners and outsourced various projects to overseas professionals, particularly in the United States. This move paid off in remarkable ways. Alibaba’s growth trajectory soared to unprecedented heights, culminating in a historic achievement in 2014 — the company secured its place in the annals of business history by executing the largest IPO ever witnessed.

Google is known for its vast in-house workforce of over 178,000 employees , but it still finds itself facing monumental workloads that require additional support. Therefore, the company leverages the power of outsourcing by tapping into the global talent pool and partnering with contractors. One prominent example is Google’s AdWords project, a cornerstone of the company’s revenue generation in 2017. To ensure the seamless functioning of this robust service, Google has enlisted the expertise of more than 1,000 outsourced representatives hailing from over 60 countries.

In fact, the reliance on outsourcing has grown to such an extent that, as reported by Bloomberg, the number of Google’s contractors exceeded its direct employees for the first time in 2018. The significance becomes even more evident when we consider the magnitude of AdWords, a tool that captures the attention of marketers worldwide by reaching over 90% of internet users.

In the realm of financial technology, Wise stands out as a company that embraces the power of independent workers within its core team. To build their remote team, Wise has established a presence in Estonia and Ukraine, where they seek out technicians known for their quick technical reflexes and impressive skill sets.

When it comes to hiring product engineers, Wise goes above and beyond to find exceptional individuals. They have developed a rigorous evaluation process that consists of multiple stages. Prospective engineers are required to complete a take-home test, followed by technical interviews with experienced engineers. Additional technical interviews and a product interview with a manager and engineer may also be conducted. Lastly, candidates can showcase their abilities in a final interview with the Vice President of Engineering or a co-founder. These thorough interview and evaluation phases serve to identify top-notch talent.

Leading USA Health Portal

One of the key obstacles faced by the health portal was finding the right experienced software vendor to bring their vision to life. Previous attempts to develop the system had failed due to skill shortages and limitations of previous vendors. Therefore, the Health Portal sourced expertise by hiring the Intetics Remote In-Sourcing® Team , which took on the responsibility of designing and implementing 100% of the Client’s products, ensuring that the system was built to their exact specifications and requirements.

The newly developed system now serves a user base of 5,000,000 people on an annual basis, with this number continuing to grow. By entrusting the technical aspects to the Remote In-Sourcing® Team, the Client was able to shift their focus and concentrate on their core medical business.

Got Inspired? Let’s Make an Impact Together!

These ten successful outsourcing case studies have employed different forms of IT outsourcing, yet they all arrived at the same resounding conclusion: opting for custom software development in partnership with a reliable engineering partner or hiring remote talented engineers , can enhance business’s efficiency and optimize costs.

Whether you find yourself in the early stages of a startup or operating as a well-established multinational enterprise, embracing this approach may yield tremendous benefits. If these success stories have inspired you to consider tech partnership, Intetics is eager to deploy its expertise to make an impact in your industry together. Reach out today !

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5 Inspiring Companies Case Studies of Outsourcing that Have Successfully Benefited

• September 25, 2023

In today’s fiercely competitive business landscape, companies are continually seeking strategies to streamline operations, enhance efficiencies, and maximise profits. One strategy that has consistently proven to yield remarkable results is outsourcing. Outsourcing, at its core, is the strategic move of delegating specific business processes or functions to external service providers. While the mere mention of the term often conjures up concerns about job losses or quality compromises, when executed thoughtfully and strategically, outsourcing can become a game-changer for businesses. The trick lies in knowing what, when, and how to outsource.

Consider the tech titan, Apple. Few are aware that the company outsources the manufacturing of its iconic products, yet this move has allowed Apple to focus on its core strengths – design and innovation. Or take the case of Slack, the collaboration hub, which entrusted its initial app development to an outsourced team, resulting in a product that is now used by millions around the globe. Such tales of triumph aren’t limited to just the tech industry. From startups to established conglomerates, businesses across sectors have harnessed the power of outsourcing, leading to growth, innovation, and the ability to tap into global talent.

In this blog, we delve deep into five inspiring case studies of companies that have successfully outsourced various aspects of their operations. These stories serve as a testament to the transformative power of outsourcing when approached with clarity, diligence, and a vision for the future. So, whether you’re a business leader contemplating the outsourcing leap or a curious enthusiast keen to understand its real-world impact, buckle up for a journey into the world of strategic partnerships and unparalleled growth.

Benefits of Outsourcing for Startups and Small Businesses

Outsourcing is a strategic move, employed by startups and small businesses alike, to leverage external expertise and optimise internal resources. Examining the case studies of outsourcing reveals a consistent pattern: businesses transforming their operations, enjoying substantial cost-savings, and witnessing increased flexibility. Below, we delve into these benefits in detail.

Cost-Saving

Outsourcing certain business processes can significantly reduce operational costs. For instance, IT outsourcing, as evidenced by numerous IT outsourcing case studies, has proven more cost-effective than maintaining an in-house IT team. By opting for either offshore or onshore outsourcing, companies can tap into global talent without bearing recruitment and infrastructure costs.

Focus on Core Business Functions

For most companies, especially startups, what’s paramount is directing energy towards their core competencies. By outsourcing peripheral functions like IT, KPO, or BPO processes to third-party vendors, they can concentrate on innovating and driving business growth.

Rapid Business Transformation

Smart outsourcing is synonymous with business transformation. Case studies of outsourcing have shown that startups experience exponential growth by leveraging BPO and KPO outsourcing. For instance, outsourced customer service success stories highlight improved customer satisfaction rates, directly impacting a company’s ROI.

Mitigating Risks with SLA and Vendor Management

Outsourcing isn’t devoid of challenges. However, with a well-defined SLA in outsourcing, companies can ensure they get the desired service quality. Effective vendor management, along with understanding the pitfalls to avoid when outsourcing, reduces potential risks. Furthermore, proper agreements with vendors emphasise risk management in outsourcing, ensuring both parties are aligned in terms of expectations and deliverables.

Considering the factors influencing successful outsourcing, cultural compatibility plays a pivotal role. Outsourcing benefits aren’t merely transactional but evolve into strategic partnerships when businesses and vendors operate in synergy. This synergy is often underscored by aligned cultural values, ensuring smoother communication and project execution.

Industries most likely to outsource include IT, customer service, and finance. Analysing successful offshore outsourcing stories reveals that IT is a dominant player, with startups benefiting immensely from tapping into global IT talent pools.

Key Metrics to Measure Outsourcing Success

As companies globally have embraced outsourcing as an integral component of their business strategy, the demand for quantifiable measures to assess its efficacy has intensified. Case studies of outsourcing across IT, KPO, and BPO segments consistently underscore the importance of these metrics. Here’s a comprehensive overview.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Perhaps the most pivotal metric, ROI evaluates the profitability of an outsourcing venture. To calculate outsourcing ROI, you’ll employ the formula:

A high ROI indicates a successful outsourcing strategy , with considerable cost-saving outsourcing benefits. For instance, many IT outsourcing case studies show an ROI surge, highlighting the global outsourcing benefits when tapping into an offshore talent pool.

Service Level Agreement (SLA) Adherence

An SLA in outsourcing functions as a binding contract between the company and the vendor. It stipulates benchmarks for quality of service, timely delivery, and other deliverables. Monitoring SLA compliance is paramount as it gauges the vendor’s efficiency and effectiveness. In cases where SLA metrics aren’t met, risk management in outsourcing comes into play, with companies and third-party vendors revisiting the outsourcing agreements to mitigate issues.

Operational Efficiency

Operational metrics offer insights into the efficiency of an outsourced process. The more streamlined and error-free the process, the higher the efficiency. Companies often look into BPO success stories to identify best practices that yield optimal operational efficiency.

Quality of Service

Especially critical in sectors like IT and customer service, the quality of service is a direct indicator of vendor competence. For instance, outsourced customer service success stories always emphasise consistent high-quality interactions as a pivotal factor.

Several factors influence successful outsourcing. Vendor management, outsourcing strategy, and cultural compatibility play significant roles. It’s also beneficial to understand the pitfalls to avoid when outsourcing and the steps in the outsourcing process. By keeping these metrics at the forefront and leveraging insights from successful outsourcing examples, companies can enhance their chances of reaping the myriad benefits outsourcing offers.

Factors Influencing Successful Outsourcing

An overwhelming majority of case studies of outsourcing reiterate the foundational importance of selecting the right vendor. This choice directly impacts the company’s business transformation and ability to achieve the desired ROI. A well-chosen vendor offers not only expertise in IT, KPO, or BPO segments but also cultural compatibility in outsourcing. This ensures that both the outsourced team and the in-house team work cohesively, enhancing the overall business process.

Case studies reveal that companies that delve into third-party vendors’ track records, specifically assessing their previous IT outsourcing case study or KPO outsourcing experiences, often fare better. Vendor management, in this context, involves a deep dive into the vendor’s past projects, their outcomes, and client testimonials.

Importance of Risk Management

Outsourcing, while laden with benefits, isn’t devoid of challenges. As several small business outsourcing success stories highlight, effective risk management in outsourcing is crucial. Companies must anticipate potential issues, from service disruptions to data breaches, and strategize accordingly. Whether it’s onshore outsourcing or offshore outsourcing, having a robust risk management framework fosters business agility, allowing companies to adapt to unforeseen challenges swiftly.

Drafting a Comprehensive SLA (Service Level Agreement)

The SLA plays a pivotal role in setting the tone for the entire outsourcing relationship. An SLA in outsourcing should meticulously outline each party’s responsibilities, deliverables, timelines, and quality benchmarks. It’s not just about having an agreement; it’s about ensuring both parties are unequivocally on the same page. Case studies of outsourcing frequently point out that ambiguities in SLAs often lead to disputes, thus emphasising clarity.

Success Rate Based on Key Factors

To drive home the importance of these factors, a review of successful outsourcing examples showed the following correlations:

An interesting aside from these studies was the observation that no discernible influence on a company’s ability to outsource effectively. It serves as a gentle reminder that while data is invaluable, not all correlations translate to causations in the business world.

In addition, there are other elements, albeit more nuanced, that influence outsourcing success. Cultural compatibility in outsourcing, for instance, goes beyond mere language compatibility. It’s about understanding work ethics, business etiquette, and more. Similarly, an outsourcing strategy isn’t just about cost-saving outsourcing; it’s also about tapping into global talent pools, gaining access to cutting-edge technology, and driving outsourced innovation.

While the lure of cost-saving and operational efficiency drives many companies towards outsourcing, the true markers of success lie in a meticulous vendor selection process, proactive risk management, and a crystal-clear SLA. Keeping an eye on these factors, and drawing insights from case studies of outsourcing, can significantly enhance the probability of a successful outsourcing endeavour.

Companies that Failed Due to Bad Outsourcing

While many companies revel in the outsourcing benefits, achieving cost-saving, business agility, and tapping into the global talent pool, there’s a shadowy side to this strategy. It’s paramount to understand this perspective, as echoed by numerous case studies of outsourcing gone wrong.

The Importance of Vendor Selection

One of the most cited reasons for outsourcing challenges stems from hasty or ill-informed vendor selection. It’s not just about the cost-saving outsourcing offers, but ensuring the vendor can align with the company’s IT, KPO, or BPO needs. A misaligned vendor can lead to service disruptions, and ineffective risk management, and can sabotage ROI.

For instance, one notable IT outsourcing case study revolves around a prominent tech company that aimed to benefit from offshore outsourcing. However, due to inadequate third-party vendor vetting, they faced significant challenges in product quality and missed deadlines. This ultimately eroded their market share, a blunder that cost them dearly.

Pitfalls in SLA and Agreements

A strong SLA (Service Level Agreement) acts as the backbone of successful outsourcing. Yet, some companies, in their quest for cost-saving, often overlook the intricacies of drafting a comprehensive SLA. A case in point involves a prominent e-commerce company. Their outsourcing agreements lacked clarity on quality benchmarks and timelines, leading to operational inefficiencies. This BPO blunder stalled their business transformation, resulting in substantial financial losses.

Impact of Bad Outsourcing

To comprehend the magnitude of these challenges:

It’s intriguing to note that while data from various industries shed light on these pitfalls, seems unrelated. This serves as a reminder that in the complex world of outsourcing, it’s essential to separate actionable insights from unrelated data.

Learn from the Mistakes: For every company that struggled due to improper outsourcing practices, there’s a lesson to be imbibed. While outsourcing can offer numerous benefits for startups, and there are myriad successful outsourcing examples, it’s equally crucial to be aware of the pitfalls to avoid when outsourcing.

From the aforementioned examples, two primary takeaways emerge:

• Meticulous Vendor Management : Companies must delve deep into vendor histories, previous projects, and client feedback. This ensures not just cost-saving, but also quality assurance and project success.
• Comprehensive SLA Drafting : Beyond just having an SLA, it’s pivotal to ensure its clarity and comprehensiveness. This avoids ambiguities and sets the tone for a successful outsourcing partnership.

Navigating the outsourcing landscape requires a balanced approach. While the benefits are substantial, the risks are real. And as many case studies of outsourcing reveal, it’s those who learn from the mistakes of others that truly harness the power of effective outsourcing.

5 Inspiring Successful Case Studies of Outsourcing

Amidst these narratives, it serves as a reminder that amidst vast data and strategies, not all information holds weight. 

A Startup’s Rapid Rise Through BPO

A newly launched tech startup, eager to focus on its core competencies, leveraged business process outsourcing (BPO) to handle customer inquiries. This decision propelled them from obscurity to being a market frontrunner in under a year. Their success story epitomises the benefits of outsourcing for startups. By entrusting BPO specialists, they enjoyed enhanced business agility, allowing them to swiftly scale operations and tackle the challenges thrown their way.

IT Outsourcing Paves the Way for Company Evolution

One particular company stands out in the myriad IT outsourcing case studies, demonstrating business transformation through outsourced IT. They established a strategic partnership with an offshore IT vendor, achieving both cost-saving and innovation. The collaboration not only facilitated them in updating their outdated systems but also fostered a culture of continuous learning and adaptation.

Small Business Success via KPO

In an era where data is king, a local retailer turned to Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) to analyse their sales data. The insights derived transformed their marketing strategy, leading to a 200% increase in sales. Their story serves as a testament to the power of KPO outsourcing even for small businesses, and how it can be the linchpin for outsized success.

ROI Boost through Vendor Acumen and Clear SLAs

In an increasingly competitive landscape, a global firm stood out by optimising cost-saving and driving an impressive ROI. Their success boiled down to two core strategies: impeccable vendor selection and a meticulously crafted SLA. By forging clear outsourcing agreements with their third-party vendors, they set the stage for transparent communication, reduced risk, and ensured timely delivery – all pivotal for achieving a stellar outsourcing ROI .

Company, Business Transformation, and BPO

Among the multitude of case studies of outsourcing, one narrative intertwines various SEO Entities seamlessly. A company, on the brink of stagnation, undertook a holistic business transformation. They outsourced their backend processes to a BPO firm while also revamping their in-house talent pool. The result? A rejuvenated business model boosted efficiency and skyrocketed profits. Their story underscores the essence of business agility through smart outsourcing decisions.

Snapshot of Successes in Outsourcing

Outsourcing success isn’t just about cost-saving or tapping into a global talent pool. As these case studies of outsourcing reveal, it’s about strategy, insight, and above all, understanding one’s business needs deeply.

In reflecting on these five case studies, it’s abundantly clear that successful outsourcing goes beyond mere cost-cutting. It’s a strategic decision, interwoven with innovation, adaptability, and forging beneficial partnerships. These companies, irrespective of their sizes and industries, harnessed the power of outsourcing to scale, transform, and flourish. They have shown that with the right vendor selection, clear SLAs, and a deep understanding of one’s own business needs, outsourcing can be a catalyst for growth and transformation. For businesses on the fence about embarking on their outsourcing journey, these stories serve as both inspiration and testament to what’s achievable. As the corporate landscape continues to evolve, the pivotal role of smart outsourcing decisions, as showcased by these companies, cannot be understated.

What is outsourcing and why do companies do it?

Outsourcing refers to the practice where businesses delegate certain tasks or functions to external organisations, rather than handling them in-house. Companies do this to reduce costs, access specialised expertise, increase flexibility, and focus on core competencies.

How does outsourcing affect the bottom line?

Outsourcing can positively impact the bottom line by reducing operating costs, improving efficiency, and accessing specialised services at competitive rates. However, if not managed correctly, it can also introduce additional expenses or reduce service quality, impacting profitability.

Are there any famous companies that have succeeded with outsourcing?

Yes, many prominent companies like Apple, IBM, and Nike have successfully leveraged outsourcing. For instance, Apple outsources manufacturing of its products to suppliers like Foxconn in Asia while focusing on design and marketing in-house.

What are the key benefits of business process outsourcing?

The key benefits include cost savings, access to specialised expertise, scalability, flexibility in managing resources, improved efficiency, and the ability to focus on core business functions.

What are the potential risks involved in outsourcing?

Risks include potential loss of control over the outsourced function, cultural and communication challenges, compromised quality of work, increased reliance on third parties, and potential data security concerns.

How do I choose the right outsourcing partner for my business?

To choose the right outsourcing partner, consider their expertise, track record, cultural fit, technology and infrastructure, cost-effectiveness, and communication skills. Requesting references and conducting pilot projects can also help in decision-making.

How has IT outsourcing transformed modern business?

IT outsourcing has enabled businesses to quickly adapt to technological advancements without substantial investments in infrastructure. This practice has provided scalability, access to specialised expertise, cost-effectiveness, and the ability to innovate and remain competitive.

What is the difference between onshore and offshore outsourcing?

Onshore outsourcing refers to contracting services within the same country as the business. Offshore outsourcing involves contracting services to a provider in another country, often to take advantage of lower costs or specific expertise.

How can I measure the success of my outsourcing efforts?

Success can be measured by assessing cost savings, quality of delivered services, attainment of predefined objectives, level of innovation achieved, business growth, and feedback from internal stakeholders.

What are the best practices in vendor management and outsourcing agreements?

Best practices include clearly defining scope and expectations, establishing strong communication channels, setting measurable KPIs, monitoring and reviewing performance regularly, ensuring contractual clauses cover data security and compliance, and building a relationship based on trust and mutual benefit.

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Successful Case Studies of Outsourcing

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• April 1, 2021

Case Studies on Successful Outsourcing Ventures by Companies

In the world of industries, case studies are a staple and a solid instrument. They are actual, i.e. focused on real events, and thus serve as a great resource for people and companies alike to learn. Case studies divide things into a clear blueprint: realistic problems, personalized solutions and concrete outcomes.

In this post, we bring you the case studies of the committed remote outsourcing team every organization and outsourcing enthusiast must know about. So grab your cup of coffee and keep on reading.

Effective case studies in software outsourcing that you may benefit from Firms and staff have been operating remotely since the COVID-19 pandemic outburst back in March last year. Around 16 million employees began to work from home inside the U.S. itself. The Gartner CFO survey found out that nearly three out of four CFOs expect to shift at least 5% of previous on-site workers to permanently remote post-COVID-19 positions. The strong visibility of the increased number of effective case studies on outsourcing has since risen. The value of remote work and outsourcing during emergencies like this has already been recognized by business owners.

Nearly 75 percent of firms outsource IT services, according to the report, while 87 percent plan to do so. Since there is a technological talent shortage, outsourcing is becoming more attractive. It also solves many problems, such as reducing the cost of software development, finding the specialists required, business intelligence, development, services centered on the cloud, website building, etc. One of the most effective outsourcing case studies is some of the businesses mentioned below. Take a look at how they expand their companies and outperform rivals by the use of remote teams on the global market.

Whatsapp  The core growth, particularly iOS development, was outsourced by the most popular messaging app with more than 1.6 billion users, outranking Facebook Messenger at 1.3 billion, and WeChat at 1.1 billion. Ironically, Whattsapp was founded back in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum after they were rejected by Facebook. They hired a professional team from Eastern Europe to develop all the core development issues, because they wanted to minimize the costs. The project successfully took off and took them to the top ranks on App Store, Google Play.

Alibaba  In 1999, Jack Ma began, the Chinese multinational eCommerce technology conglomerate rose when businesses were increasingly using customer relations websites. The company outsourced U.S. developers to build its website that would appeal to local and international clients, especially those in English-speaking countries. The reason why Alibaba is so popular is the brilliant idea of outsourcing to an English-speaking team instead of only translating words to localize the online content. The thought took the status of Jack Ma and the global sales that they are today to Alibaba.

Slack No one thought it would be a team collaboration tool when Slack first began its company, which attracted 10 million users as of now. Within a browser, it was like an Internet Relay Chat (IRC), and perhaps only a few people are left who know what the early version looked like. Slack turned out to be the most popular one among several similar systems. To boost the user experience, Slack hired an outsourcing team to (UX). Its unique selling point is Slack’s UX. To revamp the app, logo, and commercial website, the outsourcing team came up with the general design idea.

GITHUB The American multinational company, which has been a Microsoft affiliate since 2018, offers software creation and version control hosting. There’s no developer of software who doesn’t know about Git. For version control, bug tracking, source code management, forty million Git users use the website. It was written in the Ruby on Rails system when it was created, but soon it became apparent that the solution was in great need of individuals who were extremely proficient in Git itself. Scott Chacon was the professional who was working as an outsourced presence behind the project. He was the perfect piece that allowed Git to be as it is now.

UNILEVER  In 2005, Unilever faced the need to combine numerous ERPs across its sphere, with approximately 200,000 workers worldwide and soon extending operations to dozens of countries. They want processes to be expanded and simplified, and they decided against outsourcing because they are a non-tech business. For a business like Unilever, an ERP system integration project is essential. If Unilever would have hired a full-time IT engineer, it would have been a waste of money and training time. It would have been counterproductive to the internal focus of the business. Implementation of the ERP solution is no simple task. As of now, thanks to the ERP system production outsourcing decision, Unilever’s operations are running smoothly. 

SKYPE Did you know that back in 2003, Skype’s creators outsourced to Estonian professionals who carried out the back-end production of the platform? What we know and use today was created by these professionals. The features of video chat, instant messaging, and file transmission make Skype one of the pioneers of telecommunications applications. Skype was acquired by eBay for $2.5 billion in just two years, and by Microsoft for $8.5 billion in 2011. This story is an inspiration for the IT talent pool in Eastern Europe and has attracted attention to it.

What have they got in common? If you read and study similar business case studies on IT outsourcing, they all have something in common, even though they are different. You see, many businesses use IT outsourcing to address capacity problems, minimize costs while keeping a focus on their business goals, or fulfill the need for specialized expertise.

Ending-Note A proper strategic IT partner is also the key to your success. The critical mind who knows what your company is exactly looking for because they have the same mentality and have the same strategy as you have can result in creation of not only a profitable business, but also long-term business relationships.

Web Analysis, Data Mining, Facilities for data extraction

Overview of Clients The client is an award-winning media company which provides international real estate industry news and market information. Every month, more than 35,000 customers visit the website of their company to stay up to date with the latest news and business situation. These clients come from America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Africa and other nations.

The Challenges The client was trying to get contact information obtained from different websites from real estate agents. The client already had an online form or request for content management with the names and addresses of UK real estate agents. They now needed the location, phone number and email address of their website obtained using web research services.

The key challenge was to find correct website of company and then cross-check the company name and address from the existing database before completing requested fields. There were about 14,000+ agents to lookup.

Solutions As the turnaround time was the customer’s primary concern, a separate team was built comprising of web analysis experts for project completion with full precision and within time. Also a team was delegated with a Project Manager on top so that the relationship between the client and the team members could be stronger.

To ensure optimum precision, every record completed by the execution team was verified by the QA team. As a result, some duplicate agents were found in the current client database and a list was prepared of such records and sent to the client. The client truly appreciated this action.

Completion Finally, the client acquired a database of specific records with detailed contact details for officers. The customer was very pleased with the speed of implementation. Some of the direct outsourcing benefits, such as access to specialist expertise with lower labor costs, decreased overhead costs, full operational control, improved efficiency and versatility of personnel as and where necessary, benefitted the customer the most.

Management of records, capture of data, indexing, storage and retrieval

Overview of Clients The customer is a record management systems and services provider. They have been in the company for the last 15 years and have represented many multinational businesses or organizations of all sizes. They assist businesses by combining the record management solution with a range of applications to achieve greater productivity and competitiveness.

The Challenges The customer has a new business opportunity to print, search and collect data from handwritten forms (uppercase in boxes, prepared for ICR). They also chose to do in-house printing and scanning of documents for better control. They approached for data capture or indexing work after completing the print and scan process. The main challenge was to process 20K documents with the highest degree of accuracy per week. The turnaround time was fixed because, for a retail network in Italy, these handwritten forms were necessary.

Solutions As a consequence, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) was signed before beginning the project to gain their trust. The customer was worried about data privacy and confidentiality. An experienced and trained team of data entry operators were appointed for the client’s account for efficient project execution after completion of business formalities.

The documents were received via ftp weekly in pdf (or tiff) format and the performance results were delivered to them weekly in CSV files. A checklist was prepared to minimize error rates and supplied it to each member of the team. The QA team also reviewed each file to ensure optimum quality before shipping it to the customer.

Completion The client improved its productivity and turnaround time by using the document management services. They have also received several compliments and new company orders from their happy clients. The big advantage of outsourcing was the lower labor cost and it eliminated 60% of in-house expenses. The customer concentrated on core business operations and strengthened their virtual business by leaving behind the production headaches.

In Excel Spreadsheet Product Data Entry, Catalog Data Entry

Overview of Clients The customer is Canada’s leading online auto parts shop with more than 10 years of experience in the retailing of car parts and more than 30 years of experience in the remanufacturing of auto parts. They aim to deliver unbeatable rates and the industry’s most friendly customer service. Provide highly tailored service to ensure fully happy customers.

The Challenges The client wanted to enter data from digital (PDF) catalogs of various manufacturers or suppliers into spreadsheets or product information data collection. They were also looking for full graphic support before uploading them to the online store to improve, crop and resize product images. The main challenge was to match the level of pace and precision already set by the onshore team and the task was to be executed at the shortest possible time. This was particularly difficult because any project at the initial stage has a learning curve, which really takes time.

Solutions Some of the best talent from existing departments were picked up to expedite the process at the shortest possible time and placed them on training sessions to adequately understand the customer requirements. In addition, to strengthen the liaison channel between client and the team members, an accomplished project manager was appointed. The pace and accuracy standard set matched with the onshore team of the client within 15 days. The client was very grateful with this unbelievable accomplishment in shortest time and wanted to increase team size.

Completion A database of approximately 2,30,000 SKUs has been filled and more than one million images processed. E-commerce data entry experts have entered information related to products into excel spreadsheets and distributed in various batches through FTP. With assistance, the operating efficiency of the client improved dramatically and they moved their onshore workers to concentrate on core business operations. The sales conversion metrics of customers have improved dramatically because their online shop has extensive product details with quality images.

Image Background Elimination, Photo Cutout, Clipping Route Services

Overview of Clients A multinational distributor of electrical parts and components is the consumer. They have been serving clients for the last 45 years with the aim of delivering high-quality goods at great prices. They have a wide range of units for the replacement markets of outdoor power, agriculture, manufacturing, on-highway vehicle, automotive, light truck, marine and power sports (motorcycle, ATV, UTV, & PWC).

The Challenges The customer wanted to delete picture history, photo cutouts and services for the clipping route because they were clear that raw product images are not good to place directly on the online store as it could have a negative impact on consumers. Except that, they wanted to speed up the process in order to clear all available backlogs in hand. The main challenge was to reach a fast turnaround period of 24 to 48 hours. The workload determined by the client was initially 400-500 photos per day.

Solutions For this ongoing project, a team of five dedicated photo editors were appointed to support the customers. With Photoshop tools and advanced options, all photo editors were experienced and highly trained. Also a client FTP login was setup to allow them to quickly transfer files or upload/download images without any delay.

To respond to questions, emails and tweets, a team leader regularly came into contact with the customers. With excellent customer service offered to the client, the whole project was handled with utmost precision and improved the value of product images to their satisfaction.

Completion Because of the fast turnaround and international quality standards, and the trusted image of the outsourced company, picture cutouts and clipping route services, the client increased the daily workload to up to 1000 images per day. Some of the direct outsourcing benefits, such as access to specialist expertise with lower labor costs, decreased overhead costs, full operational control, improved efficiency and versatility of personnel as necessary, benefitted the customer.

Enhancement of images, Photo Retouching Facilities

Overview of Clients The client is a group of photographers who are extremely talented and imaginative. They have huge experience in photojournalism, motherhood, marriage and fashion that produces a style of imagery that is exclusive to each of their customers. To elicit emotions and catch thrilling moments and enjoyable encounters, they do photography.

The Challenges As the client is a team of photographers, who are put up on various locations on the same day, and they also carry out the photo sessions of several individuals. The customer was very busy with photography activities and did not have time to retouch or improve the captured images. At this point, they agreed to outsource photo retouching and enhancement work so that their customers could increase their delivery time. Obviously, fast turnaround time with special care for quality was the main challenge. They also required skilled photo editors that could handle different forms of editing because each photo asked for special modifications.

Solutions As the customer was worried about turnaround time and outcome consistency, some of the best photo editors or graphic editors were selected. The team contacted the customer directly via email and Skype to receive quick feedback on the job to be completed. They also initially requested for customer recommendations to enhance the quality of processed images. To offer enhanced or retouched images to clients, a secured FTP server was setup. In addition, some ideas were proposed by the team to enhance the quality of the processed images in front of the client. Many of the photographers working with the group loved these ideas.

Completion With the assistance of the dedicated photo editors, the customer was able to concentrate on additional new business leads. The client received several compliments from their clients for the fast turnaround and the performance with quality results. More than 1200 images were generated for the client every day.

Via the method of outsourcing, customers successfully increased their sales conversions. By improving service standards, increasing productivity, saving on infrastructure and providing flexibility for staffing, the client also enjoyed reduction in customer complaints.

JXT- How a dedicated team built 500+ websites in just five years

In Australia, JXT is a leading digital marketing service provider for recruiters. With its custom CMS (Content Management System) for creating websites for its customers, the company leads the industry. As JXT went forward with its expansion plans, expanding its in-house team of developers was its first strategy. There were a variety of obstacles, however, that the company faced along the way.

Significant challenges • Lack of the right talent • With heavy investment, the right talent came in • Increased overhead costs by in-house hires • Freelancing lacked continuity • Employee Retention

Solution In just five years, a diligent and devoted remote team at Uplers was able to help JXT produce over 500 websites. JXT is now the #1 provider of digital marketing solutions for recruiters in Australia. The committed model has helped JXT scale up its business and is currently expanding its business in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

Racenet’s Organic Journey on Google to Top 3 Rankings

Racenet is the leading horse racing destination in Australia, offering the latest in coverage, form guides, tips, statistics and tools to help punters bring more winners back. Since its establishment in 1998, Racenet has been the premier online platform for Australian horse racing.

Racenet joined Uplers with the goal of enhancing their PA (page authority), DA (domain authority) and DRR (domain rating). The primary goal was to improve keyword rankings for targeted keywords. In order to be rated well for specific keywords, Racenet also decided to get as many authority ties as possible.

Solution Uplers worked on a plan to target particular keywords as an anchor text for the corresponding landing pages after evaluating Racenet’s website output on various parameters. Uplers began working in the direction of improving the rankings of the targeted keywords until the keywords were rated for the respective landing pages.

Outcome 1. A whopping month-on-month spike in their website traffic of more than 400 percent. 2. Within just 12 months, more than 192 authority links were secured. 3. This caused Racenet to be noticeable and secured the first three places in the top search queries. 4. A major increase in the amount of PA (Page Authority) and DRR (Domain Rating).

Siddhartha Basu

View all posts by Siddhartha Basu | Website

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Successful Outsourcing Case Studies

Table of content.

• Why Did You Choose TatvaSoft?

The term outsourcing is rightly defined as utilizing the best from the “outside resources”. These outsourcing professionals can be key differentiators to get their  inhouse work done. Outsourcing majorly benefits you when you have a shortage of technical resources, high spending on software development, and lack of infrastructural needs. Outsourcing businesses enables businesses to gain a competitive edge. This is due to a very simple reason. This method enables all parties involved to focus on the tasks that they excel at.

Most of the leading business names are more than satisfied with outsourcing services that they have for their business. Also, statistics state that more than 78% all over the world are extremely positive and satisfied with their outsourcing partners. Here are some of the popular names whose outsourcing business is a leading example, so without any ado, let’s get started. 

1. Introduction to Top Successful Outsourcing Case Studies

There are many businesses that are actively outsourcing their operations, single or multiple business processes, or overall business functions. For businesses to entrust the advantages that outsourcing offers, we have specially curated a list of outsourcing case studies. Take a look and examine how these successful outsourcing cases are expanding their business fleet.

If we think that outsourcing is today’s game, then we are definitely in a myth. Outsourcing is in business since the start of the 90’s and many businesses have taken advantage of it already. Taking about multiple business leaders, you must have heard of Adwords, yes- Google Adwords. Google has been successfully outsourcing its business operations and several functions. They have been actively utilizing the process of software development outsourcing within their business.

Particularly if we talk about Google Adwords then, back in 2011, when Google officials declared that they would be outsourcing one of their departments to a third-party IT partner  which now in India has multiple branches and a greater success ratio. This turned out to be in favor of Google when Adwords became their Top-selling product across all industry domains and verticals. It does not end there.

In 2016, Google announced to partner with a company from the global market  to develop a breakthrough project for dedicated marketplace development. The marketplace will work similarly to Google’s Play store for Android applications, and it will have user feedback and suggestions. Globant will partner on the backend growth of the shop, drawing on its expertise in eCommerce, emerging markets, and high-performance platforms.

However, Google’s outsourcing approach has shifted; the company is gradually turning to IT services companies for non-core business activities like IT administration, product creation, and repair and maintenance.

2. Whatsapp

One of the most popular and dynamic cross-platform messaging applications that have more than 2 billion global active users is another company on the list. The consideration of using outsourcing for the business came in the minds of the business leaders in 2010. Whatsapp as a company started with just 30-35 employees but has been gaining exceptional growth in terms of user-friendliness and the intuitive nature of the application. Whatsapp grows their businesses and outrun competitors on the global market via utilizing the remote teams.

Soon after seeing its growing success, Facebook decided to take over what apps in 2014. Now the question is, with just 35 people, did Whatapp progress with just 35 people in hand and managing more than a million users? Well, the answer here is outsourcing. What’s app was heavily reliant on outsourcing and recruited Eastern European development teams, which led to the app cracking the list of the top ranking on Google Play, App Store, and other sites. This effectively buried the Small-Medium Scale technologies as an aesthetic choice.

Whatsapp has outsourced its development process to a team of Russian developers and their team for managing most of their daily activities. As a company gained popularity against its peers by personally assisting their potential customers and in return they brand-loyal customers. In fact, even for their iOS development facility in order to cover the iOS audience. And to make the application cross-platform, they outsourced the development to another company. Later, the team of developers was hired full-time and the business could later spread around other domains as well.

The success story of Alibaba and its rise has been the talk of the town for many inspiring businesses. Jack Ma founded his Chinese multinational eCommerce technology conglomerate in 1999, at a time when businesses were gradually turning to the internet for customer service. The owners were smart to make the decision wisely. Do you think Alibaba with its 15 co founders has built the enormous business all alone?

They choose Outsourcing over everything. Well, Jack Ma is a smart player. The company hired American developers to build a website that would cater to both domestic users. And international consumers, including those in English-speaking countries. In his autobiography” the inside story of Jack Ma and the creation of the new Marketplace”, he has mentioned the struggles when he decided to hire a software outsourcing company from the US.

A strong agenda of hiring bilingual professionals was to cater efficiently to all the marketplace, geographies, and domains. Alibaba was already powerful in China withholding more than half of the accounts of eCommerce sales in China. As they say, it is eBay of China.

As per Business Insider – The organization is now expected to list in the United States, and analysts estimate that its initial public offering will generate up to $20 billion this year. Alibaba’s sites saw 231 million users spend $248 billion last year, more than Amazon.com Inc. and eBay combined.

The second last in this list is Slack . For those who are new to slack then, to brief it, we could say that Slack is a channelized messaging and collaborative platform for businesses to connect and work efficiently. It allows teams and workplaces to associate via the platform and work collaboratively. Stewart Butterfield, the creator of Slack, knew he had a brilliant idea and this will help businesses to a great extent. He also realized he lacked the design skills necessary to build the brand, app, and marketing website he needed to make his vision come true.

So he took a path that others didn’t. He opted for Outsourcing. In the year  2012, Butterfield took his idea and the rough concept to MetaLab, a user-interface designing firm. They collaborated to create the software from the ground up. That’s why they say that Slack is an outcome of a powerful software outsourcing partnership and they mean it to the core

The owner’s decision to outsource turned out to be favorable from the first instance itself. Later all the criticalities and complications, they were together taking accountability. The exponential growth of Slack stands for itself. The collaborative app is used by over 8 million active users every day.

Our last one in the list of Case studies is GitHub . To start with, what is Github? Well, Github is an open-source warehouse for developers where they get everything they want. Github is a developing community that manages over 65 million developers. They can collaborate on GitHub to change the face of computing and can easily manage the Git repository and contribute to the open-source group.

As they say “Necessity is the mother of Invention”- this saying aptly applies here.

Because there was a time when the owners of GitHub couldn’t afford to employ Scott Chacon, a Git specialist and evangelist, full-time, they hired him as an outsourced contractor. Chacon was able to assist them in the creation of the Gist backend. Yes, the company outsourced its backend activities which was an important GitHub sharing function. Outsourcing is required to get access to the best skills, which helps the business grow. Many Companies choose outsourcing as a viable option to reduce costs and save time so that they can focus on other processes.

Software Outsourcing paved their path to success and helped them gain profitability and popularity. Software outsourcing becomes a valuable tool for getting the job done and upholding the best quality expectations when an organization lacks the necessary capital, personnel, or expertise. GitHub is the biggest code archivable company on the planet helping several other companies in the development process. GitHub is one such successful software development Case study that is very popular among IT businesses. For the fact, it is used by more than 65 million users to read, distribute, and collaborate on apps.

2. Why Did You Choose  TatvaSoft?

In a nutshell, if we were to describe what software outsourcing means to a business, then the answer would be its a strategic way of progressing in business. Software development for every business is of massive importance and hence they find ways to do it easily. Outsourcing software development is another way a business can easily monitor project management in collaboration with remote resources who are proficient and smart in all types of development, from testing to deployment services. There is no question of cooperation and while the price is in the budget as well. Now that we have seen each case and did study it thoroughly, there should be enough clarity on software development services work and benefits. 

Itesh Sharma is core member of Sales Department at TatvaSoft. He has got more than 6 years of experience in handling the task related to Customer Management and Project Management. Apart from his profession he also has keen interest in sharing the insight on different methodologies of software development.

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I appreciate the author for sharing these positive outsourcing case studies! Seeing how outsourcing can help companies of all sizes and industries in achieving their objectives more effectively and efficiently is always motivating. The case studies you provided provide compelling evidence of the advantages of outsourcing, including cost savings, access to specialist knowledge, and enhanced productivity.

06 IT Outsourcing Case Studies Every Startup Can Learn From

IT outsourcing has long been a popular option among technology companies. Almost 57% of global companies hire offshore developers in order to concentrate on their core business activities.

Despite numerous successful cases of outsourcing by large corporations, many startups remain wary of outsourcing web development overseas due to trust and delivery concerns. However, the practice of major players demonstrates that the reality of outsourcing is quite different.

In this article, I’d like to use some successful cases of outsourcing among large corporations to dispel some myths and deduce some lessons that cofounders can apply. So let us get started!

1. Slack: Outsourcing Is a Popular Option for Early-Stage Startups

Slack is a real-time office collaboration tool that includes topic-specific chat rooms (channels), private groups, and direct messaging. Needless to say, this is now one of the most popular tools for business communication, with nearly 12 million daily users (as of 2020) and a projected 79 million by 2025.

Simultaneously, Slack stands out as an example of a successful outsourcing case. In fact, in order to save money, the company outsourced design and app development services from the start. Using an outsourced workforce, Slack was able to gain 15,000 users in the first two weeks of its launch and become a startup unicorn in 2014.

2. WhatsApp: Find the Expertise You Lack

Whatsapp is an app that doesn’t require much explanation. With over 2 billion users worldwide, this is without a doubt the most popular messaging app. However, the wind has not always been at WhatsApp’s back.

WhatsApp was founded in 2012 as a small organization with only 30 full-time employees and five part-timers. The company began with a seed round of $250,000 in capital.

To be honest, this is a pittance for launching a product. However, WhatsApp needed to keep its costs low and find web development talent with a good price/quality ratio. As a result, the company turned to East Europe, the world’s largest outsourcing hub, to find tech talent for future developments.

3. CitiGroup: Outsourcing Can Help You Save Money

Citigroup, a US-based multinational investment corporation, is probably the most well-known example of an outsourcing company. Citi has been hiring offshore since 1992, with employees based in India, the Philippines, and Poland. The firm’s efforts in this area went even further. Citi cut 11,000 jobs at its headquarters in 2014, at least a quarter of which were IT specialists. This change saved the company $1.1 billion per year.

Outsourcing technology development is a common practice among banking titans. Banks like Bank of America, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan, for example, hire developers from other countries.

4. Basecamp: Outsource Web Development So You Can Focus On Your Business

Another successful outsourcing case is Basecamp, a company that provides project management solutions. The “cobbler’s children” problem arose at some point during the company’s growth. While others were using their tool to manage projects and work, they were dealing with internal issues such as workflow management and client support. As a result, Basecamp made the decision to outsource some critical development functions in order to resolve the situation and allow their internal teams to focus on business.

5. Google: Outsource to Reduce Labor Costs

Even Google’s 89,000-strong in-house army cannot handle the massive workloads. This is why Google hires global talent and works with contractors on its AdWords project, which accounts for the majority of the company’s revenue (2017). According to Bloomberg, 2018 marked the first year in which Google’s contractors outnumbered direct employees.

According to Google, the first reason to outsource is to gain access to a global pool of talents and expertise that Google does not have.

Second, by outsourcing, the company avoids hiring and operating costs.

6. Alibaba: Outsource The Talents You Need

Another successful example of outsourcing is Alibaba, the Asian e-commerce behemoth. The company currently has 779 million active customers and 149,2 billion in revenue. In fact, the company has outsourced the design and development of its website.

In the 1990s, Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, faced a scarcity of resources. There were Chinese specialists with e-commerce development experience. Another complication was that China had strict internet restrictions, which made website development difficult.

So the company began to seek partners and outsource overseas across a variety of projects, and they found the human resources they required in the United States. By hiring specialists from other countries, the website began to grow at an exponential rate. For example, in 2014, Alibaba broke the record for the largest IPO in history, raising $25 billion.

Why Do Businesses Outsource?

Hiring developers remotely helps solve many business problems, as evidenced by the IT outsourcing examples. Let us summarize a few of them. The following are the primary goals that companies pursue when hiring developers from other countries:

• Cost savings: working with remote contractors allows you to save money on operating expenses. Economic interests are more important, especially during the COVID-19 outbreak, when the economic environment is unstable.
• Focusing on business: by outsourcing web/app development functions, companies can double down on product development, scale up, and improve time to market.
• Saving money at the start:  Young startups frequently outsource web/app development in order to save money and invest it in the product.
• Learn new skills:  If you want to test a new AI-based technology for your product or an AR feature for an app, hiring a person might be too much. Outsourcing a subject specialist with the necessary skills may be a less time-consuming option.
• Avoid additional labor costs:  Once again, you do not need to go through all of the hiring hoops and provide all of the social benefits when you can outsource product development to a contractor and save money.

The examples above demonstrate that outsourcing can save your business, regardless of its size, business model, or age. If you want to learn more, I’d like to offer a consultation so you can determine what the best solution for your company is.

Vance Duong

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Supply chain case interviews

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Supply chain case interviews was originally published on uConnect External Content .

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Case types | Example supply chain cases | Framework | Full case example

Following decades of globalization, today’s companies are facing supply chains with a greater degree of complexity than ever before. In recognition of that reality, our clients are increasingly turning to consultancies to find cost reduction opportunities, minimize the risk of obstruction or image from natural disasters and foreign policy decisions, and (increasingly in the past few years) to identify areas for improvement in environmental sustainability.

Types of cases (Top)

Generally, all supply chain cases aim to assess a candidate’s ability to sort through complex data, yield actionable insights and identify the potential risks from altering the client’s existing operation.

However, that assessment can take a variety of forms, what follows are three common types of supply chain cases that you may encounter throughout your interview process.

• Changes to the clients’ raw material suppliers : These questions ask the interviewee to optimize the client’s acquisition of their input materials. The change may involve an alteration to an existing input, for instance assessing the financial implications of outsourcing a value-add function to a supplier instead of performing that action in-house. Alternatively, the candidate may be asked to consider substituting one type of raw material for another – though these questions may contain a revenue element. For example, how will our sales decrease if we make our product with a lower quality metal than the one currently used?
• Evaluating the client’s operations : A candidate may be asked to examine the feasibility of moving the client’s factories from one region to another by assessing the impact of lower labor costs against higher transportation costs. In some instances, the candidate will be given the initial cost of relocating operations and asked to calculate the NPV or ROI from altering the operations.
• Understanding indirect costs of supply chain : In risk assessment cases, the candidate is asked to quantify the risk associated with their current supply chains by assuming the probability of a disruption like an earthquake or global pandemic. Other cases, particularly for firms with growing ESG practices, may focus on environmental impacts. The candidate may be asked to quantify the amount of carbon produced by the input materials the client uses in their operations or the cost of transporting goods throughout the client’s supply chain.Supply chain cases are a strong option for consulting interviews not only due to the diversity of problem types, but they provide an opportunity for interviewees to tackle complexity while balancing trade-offs. Candidates can quantify the problem and the solution while demonstrating a broad knowledge of business concepts by brainstorming supply chain risks and alternative paths to success than those presented by the case.

Example supply chain cases (Top)

Read through the following examples so you can identify supply chain courses in all their forms.

#1: Car Works has approached your firm to help them assess the efficiency of their raw material providers as they implement a company-wide mandate to cut costs. Presently, Car Works utilizes a large range of individual suppliers, each providing Car Works with 1-2 key inputs, but has considered consolidating their purchasing into fewer, larger accounts. Car Works wants us to quantify the potential savings and provide a recommendation.

This case asks candidates to calculate the cost savings from reducing supply chain complexity and the increases in purchasing power . However, there may be risk from consolidating their suppliers if those suppliers face disruptions of their own.

#2: SunRays is a global producer of solar panels with the bulk of their manufacturing footprint presently located in China. They have retained your firm to assess the strategic risk of maintaining their current operations versus diversifying to other regions given the potential for geopolitical conflict. What would you advise?

This case tests a change in operational configuration and the logistics of relocating manufacturing from across regions .

#3: Your client, SodaSwirl, has set an ambitious goal of cutting their carbon footprint by 50% in 10 years. Your firm has been hired to identify opportunities in their operation to reduce carbon production and determine the most effective route to reaching the goal with the minimal disruption to profits.

This case tests a candidate’s knowledge of the environmental impact for different business operations and provides an opportunity for the candidate to brainstorm solutions to the high stakeholder priority of environmental sustainability.

Supply chain framework (Top)

As always, there is no universal structure that will unlock each supply chain case, however, leaning on the three areas of inquiry below will allow a candidate to lay the foundation for a successful analysis.

• Change in cost structure . This element is likely the key to any supply chain analysis – candidates will have an opportunity to calculate cost differences and recommend the most profitable scenario. Often candidates will be given a present state and a potential alteration to one of the following criteria (cost of input costs, cost of operations, and the management cost of overseeing the supply chains, etc.) from which the candidate can calculate the potential savings (or incremental expense if the proposal is not value-add).
• Risk of disruption . A key secondary consideration in many supply chain considerations, and, the primary priority in some, is the risk presented by unforeseen disruptions to the client’s supply chain. Candidates may be asked to brainstorm the incremental risk from altering an existing configuration as an opportunity to demonstrate their business savvy and creativity. In other cases, candidates may be given a probability of disruption and asked to calculate the risk to the client’s profit.
• Impact on client’s image . A tertiary consideration in most cases, a good candidate will assess the impact to the client’s public perception from making changes to their supply chains. One example a candidate may face: a domestic product that has staked their reputation on using high quality goods and employing American workers – what is the risk to their image from outsourcing and how many customers will turn elsewhere? The risk is dependent on where supply chains go – for instance, outsourcing to an area with a history of serious human rights abuses may be particularly precarious.

Full case example (Top)

Let’s work through a sample supply chain case.

Your Couch World client is a manufacturer of furniture currently designing and manufacturing all of their products in Canada. One of their top investors has continually pushed Couch World to shift their production overseas to a lower cost facility in China, but management has reservations about losing the Made in Canada claim with which customers have grown familiar. How would you advise them?

After jotting down the prompt, we can rely on some of the concepts listed above to formulate a framework for the case.

Step 1: Cost Shifting – What’s the cost impact of Chinese production?

Our client is going to save on the cost of labor and potentially gain access to cheaper raw materials given their closer proximity to industrial centers. The trade-off? It will cost more to transport our goods to their end destination if they are no longer made in Canada.

Let’s say that our goods cost $725 to produce and retail for $1,000 with the present supply chain configuration. It costs an additional $25 to transport them to their final destination for a total of $750, with a gross profit margin of 25% or $250. As discussed above, the cost of production will decrease, let’s say to $500, but the cost of transportation increases, let’s say to $100. Net-net the new cost of production is $600. The new gross margin is $400, so the cost analysis presents favorably towards outsourcing, but make sure to consider all potential impacts before forming a recommendation.

Step 2: Operational Stability – What’s the operational impact of producing in China?

We may want to consider the risks of outsourcing to China. Recently tensions have increased between the U.S. and China with the potential for escalation. We will want to consider the possibility of additional tariffs and the impact of conflict in the region.

These aspects may be difficult to quantify, but they are important for the client to consider as they evaluate the total impact of this decision.

Step 3: Brand Erosion – What’s the brand impact of producing in China?

Finally, our client needs to consider how this change can impact their public image and thereby their sales. Competitors may even capitalize on our shift to highlight their competitive differentiation if they are still domestically produced.

In our case, let’s say our client was selling 100,000 units prior to outsourcing the goods. When they were making $250 per unit, they made $25M per year. Now, our client is making $400 per unit, but, let’s imagine our client expects to lose a significant portion of their sales, ~35%, because their value proposition centers heavily on being a domestic producer of high-quality furniture. Calculating their new gross profit, 65,000 * $400 we find that profit from out-sourcing totals $26M.

Step 4: Recommendation

Synthesizing these analysis we recommend that our client should not go through with outsourcing their production. While the proposition yields significant cost savings, after accounting for lost sales we find that profit will only increase by 4% for quite a bit of incremental risk and complexity. Next steps might involve finding alternatives to outsourcing, maybe considering a plant in Mexico or focusing on optimizing existing operations.

(You can also recommend that the client proceed with the outsourcing – the profit does increase by 4% after all. Most cases are less about yes vs. no and more concerned with the evidence and logic the candidate uses to support their choice).

Consultants find themselves tackling increasingly thorny supply chain questions, and look to evaluate their candidates on their ability to crack these cases. The preceding discussion is a good introduction to the complex work of supply chains, but a strong candidate will supplement it by getting a good mix of supply chain cases under their belt before entering the interview process.

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11 Successful Outsourcing Case Studies From Tech Giants

11 success stories of companies that successfully established a place in the market through outsourcing and pro tips on how they did it.

The growth in outsourcing and remote working opportunities are the silver lining among the dark clouds brought on us by the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the early stages of the pandemic, many were in a clueless situation, and many outsourcing companies faced a dip in their productivity.

But once everybody got accustomed to the situation and adopted new technological solutions, the outsourcing capabilities and business opportunities found new paths to venture.

As per a global IT outsourcing market study , the industry is expected to grow by 98 billion USD by 2024, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5%.

Though outsourcing is a highly profitable and effective way to improve your business, there are things you should consider and learn before you implement them. Learning from the experiences of companies that have successfully done this can be an easy way to start.

After reading this blog, you will get a more comprehensive understanding of outsourcing and imbibe the tactics used by companies that run a successful outsourcing teams.

Take a deep breath and dive right in.

Outsourcing Overview

Before we jump into the stories of IT outsourcing success, let’s take a quick look at the basics of outsourcing a business. We all know that outsourcing is hiring talent from the outside for a service, but there are some confusing FAQs that really need to be addressed before we proceed further.

Why Do You Need to Outsource?

You may be a talented entrepreneur with high business acumen and technical skills, but you can’t run a business all by yourself. For moving that mountain you need a team.

Hiring a team of developers near you would be costly and sometimes the quality of talent available to a business at its early stages would be not up to the mark.

Those are the first signs that push you to the idea of outsourcing your business. The world has a talent pool far greater and economically feasible than local talent.

Check out: 10 Reasons Why You Should Outsource Your Mobile App Development

When Do You Need Outsourcing?

The stage at which a company needs to outsource is completely dependent on it; some companies need to outsource in the initial stages like Alibaba, where some prefer to outsource after they have established a proper foundation.

The time to outsource depends on a few factors:

• The quota of talent you can gather by outsourcing without disrupting your process.
• Economic condition of the company.
• Whether you can find quality service offshore.
• Does outsourcing support your business plan.

You have to first examine all the possibilities and then determine if outsourcing is the right way to go.

See how you can outsource product development in the right way and avoid some common costly mistakes.

What Should You Outsource?

A business has so many platforms that make it function, such as customer support, product development, branding and so on.

But the thing is, you can’t outsource all of these platforms.

You can’t outsource something because you don’t feel like it; you have to farm out the things which don’t affect your core business and outsource them if they need to be outsourced. The things that companies usually outsource are:

• Special set of skills that is required at a definite point in time.
• For doing repetitive tasks.
• For expertise knowledge.

There are a lot of things to keep in mind while outsourcing; otherwise, it may result in the failure of the company as a whole.

Outsourcing Success Stories

Finding examples of successful outsourcing companies is easy in this technological era. Many companies have grown their businesses by adopting remote work and outsourcing into their business plan. Here are a few successful outsourcing examples:

1. CuriosityStream

Curiosity stream is a global independent media company and video-on-demand streaming service that dipped their feet into the possibilities of outsourcing in 2019.

They hired a team of six programmers who helped them develop the video feature that increased the number of hours watched. This helped them increase their overall productivity and reduce the cost required to make the software.

Like most of the entrepreneurs who are reading this blog, the CuriosityStream team drew inspiration from the many successes of other companies and learnt the ways to implement a successful outsourcing programme.

Based on the interviews of Andre Silva, CTO of CuriosityStream, the advice he gives other entrepreneurs is to figure out ways to integrate the offshore team with the on-site team.

2. StudyTube Hires

StudyTube is an online education platform based in the Netherlands, which relies on nearshore programmers. They collaborated with part-time engineers in the early stages but soon realised it was not meant to be.

So they hired Ukrainian developers and this nearshore outsourcing concreted their chances to grow their business. With a secured investment totalling €1,500,000, they are still scaling constantly.

We are all familiar with Skype, the telecommunication application that specialises in video and voice calls between devices via the internet.

European web developers were employed for most of the software development. Skype claimed that it needed professional web development for its product idea, so it chose outsourcing as an option.

The 300 million monthly active users and almost 1 billion downloads can vouch for the success they have achieved through outsourcing.

Among the success stories of companies from outsourcing, Slack has a growth story on its own. The company hired a Canadian design team MetaLab to help with developing a successful product from the beta version.

The company raised a total valuation of $5billion in July 2017, and they are still growing. The company gathered more investments by outsourcing website design and mobile app development .

Slack’s rag to riches story is a great example of the best IT outsourcing success stories. MetaLab provided the Slack team with valuable feedback, which helped them create a tool that reached 15,000 users in 2 weeks of its launch.

GitHub provides hosting for software development version control using Git. This subsidiary of Microsoft offers version control and source code management (SCM) functionality of Git and adds its own features to the mix.

GitHub is one of the companies that outsourced its MVP . They hired a backend developer to build the backend of the product.

6. Whatsapp

Whatsapp has over 1.5 billion active users in over 180 countries, and this highly successful company is no new to outsourcing. With the small cash reserve they had, founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton decided the best way to develop the product was through outsourcing .

So they hired Russian app developers to minimise operational costs and get highly skilled developers. Whatsapp has become the third most downloaded android app on Google Play Store and has an active user base of over 2 billion.

7. Waitwhile

Created by two ex-Googlers, Waitwhile solves a common problem for the people, waiting in line for a call. We hate being held up at “receiver point” for hours on end with an infuriating tone that rings periodically. Waitwhile is solving that problem with the help of an AI; will wait for you while you do your productive work.

Waitwhile initially had a base app that the initial users well received, and scaling became imminent. But they were limited by their technology; that is when they outsourced the work to NeoITO .

We upgraded their old framework, which was made from AngularJS and gave it the necessary features to support high scaling possibilities. With over 2million hits, Waitwhile has announced its position in the market.

8. Widget Brain

Widget Brain is a Netherlands-based startup company and is a pioneer in AI driven workforce management. It is one of the hottest startups in the Netherlands.

Outsourcing changed the game for them when they hired five Ukrainian developers, the quality of workforce they received at a feasible rate helped them in their growth as a business.

Software outsourcing has helped Widget Brain gather 2 million dollars in investment to expand worldwide.

9. Oktopost

Oktopost is a social media management platform launched in 2013. They operated in Israel, Ukraine and the US, with an employee count of 22.

In 2018, Oktopost hired software developers through Daxx that helped them extend their roadmap and helped them scale their business. The offshore development team has certainly helped them develop services they struggled with in the earlier stages.The outsourced work helped them improve their business roadmap and attract more investments and customers .

10. Alibaba

You can never leave out Alibaba from the list of successful outsourcing examples. Jack Ma, the co-founder of Alibaba Group, is a strong proponent of an open and market-driven economy.

Jack Ma initially outsourced his software development work to the US. This move was to appeal to a bilingual audience and to hire skilled tech professionals , which he did not find locally.

This did not go in vain as Alibaba now accounts for the 60% share in the Chinese e-commerce market.

11. TransferWise

TransferWise is a global money transfer company that says they don’t do offshoring, outsourcing or use consultants. However, the company admits to having “independent workers” who are an integral part of the core team working remotely.

The company’s remote team is dispersed across Estonia and Ukraine. Ukrainian technicians are sought out for their quick technical reflexes and the skills they put forward.

There lies a common misconception in people’s minds that outsourcing leads to poor management practices and below-par services for the customers. To reap the benefits of outsourcing, you need to hire the right people that can meet your requirements.

The below blog will help you choose the right partner for outsourcing your software development .

Read: How to Find the Right Outsourcing Partner for Your Startup

To find the right outsourcing partner, you need to know the type of outsourcing model ideal for your business. Proper utilisation of outsourcing helps boost a business’s efficiency and economy.

Want to know more about how you can benefit from outsourcing? Read our Case Studies and Book a Free Consultation today!

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Gokul is a B2B Content Specialist who writes customer-focused content for startups, scaleups and enterprises to supercharge their growth.

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