The outsourcing of back office processes has come in and out of fashion over the years. But just like your favourite pair of jeans it has never completely fallen out of favour. Like your trusty denim its popularity has sometimes been threatened, with the most recent threat being from Software as a Service (SaaS). With the SaaS promise of simplicity, scalability and automation why consider outsourcing if a modern software platform can do it all for you? There is a very simple answer. Outsourcing remains popular today because it has evolved. In fact, it has evolved so far beyond the scope of ‘traditional’ outsourcing that it has become disruptive!
Old versus new.
Traditional outsourcing has always had its feet planted in the cost reduction & improved efficiency camp. It has never really ventured too far outside these boundaries. It is because of this lack of movement that we are seeing traditional outsourcing models under threat and in serious decline. On the flip side those providers that are taking advantage of cloud scalability, automation and analytics (just like the SaaS providers) are quickly gaining market share and seeing massive growth.
By harnessing this modern technology, providers are delivering enhanced customer value that efficient outsourced processes and cost reduction alone could never achieve. The focus of these providers has moved from a simple lift and shift of traditional processes, to delivering upfront transformation of business processes through automation. Automation frees up the outsourcers to add additional value to customers and tackle the hard to fix issues that businesses never get time to fix alone. Businesses looking to outsource are starting to recognise that modern technology solutions can revolutionise the way they receive their outsourced service. No longer is outsourcing just about getting rid of a problem while saving some cash. Customers still expect this but they now expect a whole lot more.
Is cost saving enough?
Take the area of backup and recovery. Many businesses will outsource this as it is often the most cost-effective way for them to protect their data. Why go through the hassle and expense of hiring and training people up in complex tools and processes when businesses can simply chuck this over the fence to people who do this day in and day out?
Sure, they will save on money, stress and some of the responsibility but is that enough? If the outsourcer simply picks up where their teams left off, how do they know their backup success rates are as good as they can possibly be?
How do they know if they are making best use of their infrastructure and costly storage pools? How do they ensure their data protection spend and effort is apportioned correctly between their most and least valuable data sets?
How do they ensure that if they have a disaster they are 100% guaranteed to get their data back?
It is these sorts of challenges that a disruptive outsourcer will solve. In fact a good disruptive outsourcer will thrive on doing this and not see it as a hardship. This is that extra value that business will struggle to get from traditional outsourcing. It is possible because disruptive outsourcers know how to blend great SaaS-style technology with great people for maximum impact at a competitive price point.
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Don’t be threatened. Innovate.
This is happening everywhere. In the Accounting, Payroll and Recruitment industries, it’s clear disruptive outsourcing is driving extraordinary change.. Businesses expect more than cost reduction from from outsourcing. They will turn to service providers who can help them innovate.
You could argue that SaaS has threatened Outsourcing. Or  like your best pair of jeans you could argue that the latest fashion trends drive the denim industry to continually innovate.
