As a company with a hybrid onshore-offshore SAP services model, we sometimes stumble across companies that refuse point-blank to entertain the idea of having any offshore element included in their SAP service arrangements. These are usually companies that have either been caught by (or been scared by) the ‘dark side’ of the offshoring game.
Many of the bad offshore experiences I hear about have one common denominator – and that’s that the companies concerned simply outsourced work to the lowest bidder (losing sight of everything but the finances). In these scenarios, the winning contractor typically has to eke out a marginal profit by slashing costs in the management of the venture, abandoning any skills development initiatives and hiring low cost, inexperienced or unskilled personnel. This leads to staff attrition, multiple quality issues and account neglect/mismanagement – with a worst case scenario of a complete project breakdown. No wonder then that these companies are completely disillusioned with the practice of offshoring and refuse to consider it for future projects.
That said, companies who are faced with the consequences of the current economic downturn and experiencing rising (and global) competition will find themselves in need of a strategy to control costs – thus making the practice of offshoring a very attractive strategy. Leading strategic advisory firm Hackett recently said "Globalization of work is no longer a leading-edge strategy, it should be considered a best practice for any company." This view is not something which everyone will agree with – but it certainly makes sense for companies to review their operations within the context of the benefits provided by offshoring.
To Invenio, we see offshoring as a positive activity which makes good business sense. For us, it means we can provide the same quality of services to our clients at lower prices than if the work were completed onshore. And we can draw upon the best skills and talents from a far larger pool of qualified consultants. Fortunately, these views are certainly echoed by our customers, most of whom cite the benefits of offshoring as being:
- project costs - which are far lower
- speed – projects are skilled up more quickly; and
- consistency – recruitment problems cease to exist thanks to an abundance of talent that is at least equal to those
Of course, the benefits of onshoring should not be overlooked. Invenio employ a community of onshore staff whose job it is to manage projects, undertake on-site activities and act as a conduit between our customers and the offshore operations wherever necessary. There are the arguments that we should ‘buy local and support our communities’ – a position that is particularly emotive as the jobless figures rise and, of course cultural, language and time zone issues cease to exist
Whatever your preference - whether it be on, off or near shore (or a little bit of all three) - the key is getting the right blend of skills to support your business and help it to achieve its goals. With careful research, and by giving full consideration to the pros and cons of each possible scenario, you’ll be sure to secure the right working practices for your business.
Laura, Marketing Director and Chief Blogger
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