Join Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures in one of his MBA Monday sessions, discussing the key differences between outsourcing and offshoring. http://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/26930571-mbamondays-mba-mondays-by-fred-wilson-post-34.mp3 ..read more

Once the domain of our biggest companies, offshoring is an increasingly attractive option for SMEs to reduce their wages bill and to fill skills gaps when local talent is short on the ground. Yet there are many questions and queries: How do you go about it? Is it expensive? Do you still have managerial control? My Business editor and co-owner of Momentum Media, Phil Tarrant, discusses his first-hand experience of taking on an offshore team of web and IT-skilled employees in a conversation with Thomas Cragg and Joe Curren of KMC Solutions, an offshore staff leasing and virtual employee provider ..read more

A recent survey identified Manila of the Philippines as a leading destination for Business Process Outsourcing and a coveted spot for global outsourcing ahead of India’s National Capital Region, Mumbai and Bangalore. The Philippines has quickly affirmed its place in the global map as the premiere destination for the Information Technology – Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector. Eight sub-sectors make up the composed of the country’s IT-BPO industry: knowledge process outsourcing & back offices, call centres, animation, game development, software development, medical transcription a ..read more

If you are looking to outsource, a service level agreement (SLA) is a perfect tool that will assist you and the service provider; improve communications, elucidate on responsibilities, manage expectations and establish the basis for a win-win relationship. Nonetheless, coming up with the perfect service level agreement is not as easy. Remember you are entering an agreement that will bind your business to a service provider for as long as you deem it worthy. For that reason, it is advisable to be keen on key aspects. Don’t miss out on these points when establishing an SLA for your outsourcing ..read more

If you have been running a business in the online market, you must know more than anyone how fast technology is pressing forward. One needs to keep up with the changes. The only way to do this is with the help of a team of qualified personnel to assist in the software development. Nevertheless, the cost of employing an in-house team of developers might be too high for the business. You might be going through the same and you’ve been planning to hand your technical work over to a third party. Well, that’s a great idea; however, there are a few things you need to know before outsourcing your sof ..read more

There are companies that have gone to the extent of closing some of their local branches in favour of offshore subsidiaries. The common myth that often drives businesses into offshoring various processes or services is the element of cost. I call it a myth because not all businesses manage to cut costs as predicted or as initially pictured – at least not right out of the bat. Fortunately though, a lot of these businesses manage to learn and adapt to the business dynamics overseas and are soon able to scale and save costs with desirable margins. Nonetheless, there are still a lot of misconcepti ..read more

Are you cautious about IT outsourcing because of the widespread security concerns; hacking, data leakages? Well, don’t be! Technological advancement is now coming up with tools and techniques that will provide solutions to such problems. Make sure you plan ahead of the IT outsourcing process. This involves choosing the right vendor whom you are willing to work with to meet your expectations. A good security policy is mandatory. You also need to come up with a plan of monitoring and controlling data housed at the outsourcing vendor. If poorly planned, IT outsourcing may not be as successful. Be ..read more

The following article is an excerpt or derived from Selling Outsourcing Services by Grant Lange. I am always asked if there is a “silver bullet” to being a successful negotiator. Unfortunately, there is no answer to this question. At a basic level, negotiation is a task of influence—trying to get someone to do or to stop doing something. Whether or not you realize it, you are in active negotiations with people around you throughout the day. Ultimately, your ability to be an effective negotiator in both your personal and professional lives depends on a number of variables, including your social ..read more

The following article is an excerpt or derived from Selling Outsourcing Services by Grant Lange. Procurement continues to play a critical role in the evaluation and selection process for outsourcing services, particularly when selling to Fortune 500 companies. To that end, procurement representatives engaged in the negotiation process should be treated as a legitimate stakeholders and their level of influence should not be understated. The Evolution of the Fortune 500 Procurement Organization Over the past few years, there has been a fundamental change in the way Fortune 500 companies procure ..read more

The following article is an excerpt or derived from Selling Outsourcing Services by Grant Lange. Before we can put our best foot forward with regard to governing terms and conditions, we need to be mindful of how outsourcing services are really sold and the importance of relationships in the sales process. This understanding is critical because overestimating the value of relationships can have a significant impact on the negotiation process and the likelihood of “getting ink” – achieving contract execution – when the dust settles. Just How Important Are Relationships? [pullquote align=”left ..read more