{"id":30815,"date":"2020-12-06T09:15:17","date_gmt":"2020-12-06T03:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/?p=30815"},"modified":"2020-12-06T09:15:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-06T03:45:44","slug":"how-to-screw-up-it-outsourcing-in-10-easy-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/business\/how-to-screw-up-it-outsourcing-in-10-easy-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Screw up IT Outsourcing in 10 Easy Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2020 has definitely changed the course of actions in all industries, and there is no denying that. Companies cut their staff and started looking for an alternative, cheaper workforce that could save the day. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">28% of the UK-based companies<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.information-age.com\/businesses-outsourcing-covid-19-survival-strategy-123490150\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">reported<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> their attempt to look for <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IT outsourcing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> opportunities; in the US, 19.4% of companies<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">have already <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/1165910\/outsourcing-marketing-coronavirus-unites-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">increased<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> their outsourcing cooperation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With relatively high numbers, small and mid-size businesses begin considering the idea while staying cautious of the consequences. This article focuses on the bad practices of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IT staff outsourcing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to help with a more seamless and painless transition for businesses of all sizes.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_Consider_IT_Staff_Outsourcing\"><\/span>Why Consider IT Staff Outsourcing?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IT outsourcing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> bears multiple benefits, and some of them you will find below. But among those, there is a great opportunity to find the perfect candidates across the world and begin working with them without the need to reinvent your whole processes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Considering that due to the pandemic, about<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurofound.europa.eu\/publications\/report\/2020\/living-working-and-covid-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">40% of full-time workers switched to telework permanently<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, you will not have a problem with one more ordinary team, regardless of their location. Besides that, most often, outsourcing helps to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lower operational and labor costs<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Focus on the core processes while getting <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">outsourced IT support services<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Free up internal talents<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Get access to specialists in the niche services<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Reorganize and leverage buffer fund<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Delegate complex processes that are difficult and expensive to manage<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mitigate risks<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Expand in the new markets<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Speed up all IT processes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cover more time zones, for instance, hiring <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IT outsourcing companies in Singapore<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> while working from the UK<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Top_10_Mistakes_in_IT_Outsourcing\"><\/span>Top 10 Mistakes in IT Outsourcing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Every new skill (and outsourcing is one of them) needs a number of mistakes to be made before it could be perfected. One of the top mistakes that can screw up everything is the lack of proper questions because asking the right question means having half of the answer. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Below you can find the most common mistakes companies make with <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IT staff outsourcing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and the questions that will help you avoid them.<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"seethis_lik\"><span>Also read:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/top-10\/top-10-best-software-companies-in-india\/\">Top 10 Best Software Companies in India<\/a><\/span>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Setting_no_goals\"><\/span>1. Setting no goals<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A business cannot expand if it doesn\u2019t ask the question \u2018how\u2019; a business cannot get a new client without deciding to do so. Goals turn into plans, and plans turn into reality. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">So first and foremost in the efficient<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IT staff outsourcing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is to set the goal to outsource and understand why you need to. Here are a couple of questions to help you grasp the idea of \u2018why you need to outsource\u2019:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you have an overloaded team?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Have you just caught a new client in a need to develop a new feature?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Will you integrate the external team into your daily operations? Or do you want to give them a separate task?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you want to save time and money on hiring an in-house expert?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Without a goal(s) you risk hiring a completely wrong team who cannot fulfill your expectations.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Ignoring_the_Partners_Retention_Rate\"><\/span>2. Ignoring the Partner&#8217;s Retention Rate<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">High turnaround of the outsourcing staff is always a mess. They need to constantly re-train their team and will eventually fall behind on the schedule, failing your projects. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most often, companies with a smaller retainer would have lower retention rates. To check it, you read about the company and check reviews from their previous customers, or you can ask them directly:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Will the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IT outsourcing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> company provide a fixed team for your business?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Will the vendor inform you if the team working on your project changes?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Will you have to re-train the new members should they occur?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a perfect world, you should hire a company that would guarantee a fixed group of people for your project. In reality, try at least to ensure that the vendor takes care of any further onboarding procedures for the new members and guarantees no impact on the deliverables.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Forgetting_about_the_Rules\"><\/span>3. Forgetting about the Rules<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Once your goals are set, and a candidate is selected, you need to set up your expectations and a clear way of communication. Failure to define instructions, processes, results, and overall rules of cooperation will lead to no results at all. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For instance, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IT outsourcing companies in Singapore<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> may have a different set of preferred tools than your office in the US which might result in different time frames, inconsistency of the code, missed deadlines, and low delivered results.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Here are a few questions to consider:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How often will you communicate with the outsourcing company?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What channel of communication is preferable (software, format, timing)?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How and how often will the outsourced team report on the progress?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How will you share your feedback?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What are the deadlines and schedule of services?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How will the billing be processed?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Hiding_Essential_Information\"><\/span>4. Hiding Essential Information<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yes, you cannot disclose sensitive data or give your outsourcing team an unlimited access to all systems in your business. This is too much of a risk. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But at the same time, you cannot make the outsourcers get back to you to approve every action they make; you also cannot hide the bigger picture from them. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Failure to provide essential information about their tasks will definitely cost you a lot of time and much headache when the time for real work comes. To avoid it, set the following questions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you need any further information?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Were all internal processes and accesses related to this task shared with the outsourced team?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Who is in charge to ensure all accesses are safe yet shared?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Remember to always have an internal in-house person following on the security of the outsourced operations. Caution is the parent of safety.<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"seethis_lik\"><span>Also read:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/review\/sites-like-artists-and-clients\/\">7 Best Sites Like Artists And Clients To Inspire<\/a><\/span>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Playing_Hard_on_Terms_and_Conditions\"><\/span>5. Playing Hard on Terms and Conditions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You do need to be cautious and careful when sharing your internal information outside of the company. However, extremely restricted terms of cooperation can scare away a great team. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Terms and conditions of any cooperation must protect both sides from any scams, but this does not mean that they need to strictly define every step of the outsourcers and threaten with huge fines. Be nice, and the partner will be nice back.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What exactly do you need to protect in this cooperation?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What harm can be done, and how to avoid it?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_Overlooking_the_Mismatches\"><\/span>6. Overlooking the Mismatches<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mismatches can be of different nature: personal, cultural, technical, or procedural. The external team might be using a different programming language, has an alternative understanding of communication, or simply work in a mismatching time zone. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of course, some <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IT outsourcing companies in Singapore<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> can extend your working hours and hence let your business work almost 24\/7; however, consider that you might have to stay awake late at night for a meeting with this vendor. Ask yourself:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Is this a reliable team or I will have to control them during their shift?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do we have a matching set of technical tools and skills?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How much time will we spend to adapt?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are there cultural differences that do not suit my team?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7_Neglecting_Transition_Procedures\"><\/span>7. Neglecting Transition Procedures<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The exact moment when you hand over accesses, provide training on your processes, and generally onboard<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fpt-software.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IT outsourcing services<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is the most important in the whole cooperation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It takes careful training, planning, and step-by-step procedures. Without an efficient mechanism, a business is likely to suffer delays and even loss of benefits, time, and stakeholders besides major workflow disruption.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did you plan overlapping staff from both sides for the transitional period?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you have a guide on knowledge transferring?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are there contingency plans ready?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Is there an incident management team for emergencies?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"8_Overlooking_Management_for_Outsourced_IT_Support_Services\"><\/span>8. Overlooking Management for Outsourced IT Support Services<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Outsourcing providers join your teams to help with daily processes, but they still need to have guidance and management coming from your company. Outsourcing forces are hands, but you remain the brain of the operations. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of course, vendors will have their own hierarchy in place, but they cannot replace your supervision. Failure to control and regulate the cooperation from within bears risks of missed goals and defocusing of all the processes. Two questions in this respect:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Were new supervisors assigned to control the transition and day-to-day cooperation with the vendor?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Are your current managers prepared for the increased number of staff under their charge?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let the outsourcing teamwork on the day-to-day tasks but always leave larger decisions determined by your own managers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"9_Micromanaging_After_Transition\"><\/span>9. Micromanaging After Transition<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">All <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">outsourced IT support services<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> do need supervision, as stated above, but you cannot keep controlling every single step of your IT processes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you cannot stop it, then outsourcing makes no sense since your team will continue to spend lots of time to double-check every element of the vendor\u2019s help. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It is better to spend more time finding the right<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/searchitchannel.techtarget.com\/definition\/managed-service-provider\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">MSP<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> than to continue controlling everything all the time. And there are no questions that can help you overcome this temptation, just stop it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"10_Outsourcing_the_Wrong_Processes\"><\/span>10. Outsourcing the Wrong Processes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are particular sets of data and processes that need to stay in-house in order to avoid security breaches, reputational losses, legal problems, and even complete collapse of the systems. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It is highly beneficial to outsource part of your internal process but not to share a whole piece of business with the vendor. Here are questions to avoid outsourcing the wrong processes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Is this a customer-facing process?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If a vendor fails to deliver its part, will there be a direct impact on end-customers?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Is sensitive personal data handled by the outsourcing company? (tip: it should not)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do you have an internal supervisor for the outsourcing staff?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And to close up the failing strategies, there are two more crucial elements that will screw up your whole experience of delegating processes: an <\/span>abundance of providers<span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and <\/span>lack of exit strategy<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IT outsourcing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> bears the great relief of not having to perform every minor task in-house; but if you outsource most of your processes, it might be a challenge to synchronize all the vendors and set them up on the right track. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Do not also neglect the recruiting process for every new external team while getting your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IT outsourcing companies in Singapore<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, India, Ukraine, Brazil, etc. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">All this may add up to more troubles and complications than the bearing benefits, so it is better to stick to 2-3 vendors coming at least from the same region.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">No matter how great the process might go, there will be time to let go of the external team. In this case, the lack of a procedural, legal, and agreed-upon system of existing cooperation can turn into a nightmare. You have to ensure that you close all accounts, take away all their accesses, etc. Always plan a way out before things go south.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"seethis_lik\"><span>Also read:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/health\/how-to-calculate-your-body-temperature-with-an-iphone\/\">How To Calculate Your Body Temperature With An iPhone Using Smart Thermometer<\/a><\/span>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IT staff outsourcing<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> bears multiple<a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/top-10\/top-7-financial-wordpress-themes-for-an-online-credit-consulting-company\/\"> benefits for any IT company<\/a>. It can significantly relieve the workload of a team and introduce additional benefits to the day-to-day operation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But all this is possible only with proper planning and careful approach. Remember that you will make mistakes while hiring a new IT outsourcing team since flaws are inevitable in every process. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But a small slip is different from a major security breach. So profit from the mistakes mentioned in this article, and get a smoother transition for your business.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2020 has definitely changed the course of actions in all industries, and there is no denying that. Companies cut their<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1255,"featured_media":30951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[211,2717,426,168],"class_list":["post-30815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-app-developers","tag-mobile-app-developer","tag-outsourced-development-team","tag-outsourcing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/1255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/30951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-next-tech.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}