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Smart Outsourcing
Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.
You don’t need me to tell you how popular outsourcing has become, but is it growing for the right reasons? The decision about when and what to outsource should be a complex one. It can be a quick and easy solution to an immediate problem, but if you aren’t careful you may end up regretting the decision, or being unable to end an arrangement when you need to.
Why do we outsource?
There are a lot of different reasons why companies outsource, and I could spend the rest of this article identifying them, but most can be grouped into two distinct categories:
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To engage expertise that does not exist within the company
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To increase efficiency (reduced costs, shorter timeline, accessibility to additional resources, etc.)
In most cases, the decision to outsource is a tactical one: A current initiative needs assistance, and that can be delivered through some form of outsourcing. That’s okay, but rarely is an outsourcing engagement a short-term deal. Even if the work is completed within a few weeks, the ramifications can last for years, and that needs to be planned for!
I’m not suggesting that outsourcing is a bad thing; it is a vital tool in today’s business reality. But companies need to enter into outsourcing arrangements with their eyes fully open, and all too often that isn’t happening.
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"Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win." - Bernadette Devlin |