Outsourcing IT Functions: The Importance of Staying Competitive
When you think of outsourcing functions, those related to IT usually first spring to mind. Some would even say that the BPO industry overall gained traction because of the breadth of outsourced IT functions. In recent years, it has gone beyond just providing in-office support to companies they collaborate with.
Properly fitting your business for IT functions is not an easy task. It is something that must be done regularly, resulting in a costly endeavor. This is often why businesses turn to outsourcing. If no one in locally has the IT expertise a business needs, they are likely to get results through outsourcing. They save money while also meeting their different IT-related needs.
Essential IT Functions to Outsource
Indeed, the IT industry has the biggest range of functions companies can send to outsource. It is also true that the business climate has continued to evolve. What were once perceived as simple tasks can now be called challenging. At the rapid rate businesses work today, it is inevitable for certain functions to be outsourced.
Here are five IT functions that your business should consider sending to an outsourcing provider.
Software Development
Perhaps the most common IT function outsourced is software development. Not only is it a more cost and time saving approach for companies, it allows them to work with experienced professionals while mitigating risks. There may be a lack of local or in-house experience, but outsourcing software development allows flexibility and a focused strategy.
Web Design and Development
We’ve discussed at length before the importance of web development to companies today. In an increasingly online environment, it’s important that companies stand out with their online presence. Companies that do not have a defined presence online and just rely on social media reach are at a major disadvantage. An outsourced web designer not only makes sure you stand out, but can do so at a reduced cost.
However, while a website’s presentation is important, so is the overall functionality. A business’ website may have all the content and branding it needs to win people over. If it is constantly plagued by errors or does not properly display on mobile devices, potential customers and clients will react negatively.
Email management
Managing an entire email account may not be the first role you consider when outsourcing IT functions. As stated earlier however, the rapid rate of operations means a high volume stream of emails daily.
By outsourcing your email management, you not only address this but a well-equipped outsourced IT team offers protection common digital attacks. They can organize cluttered inboxes and can also provide regular reporting of messages that are of high priority.
Managed hosting
Experienced outsourcing providers are able to scale any IT infrastructure required of them. For businesses on the cusp of growing, they may need dedicated servers beyond their local office. As their business grows, so should the IT infrastructure that scales along with them.
Outsourcing IT functions lets companies access dedicated and secure servers.
You can also access and use a shared server in order to exclusively use a protected server of your own. By outsourcing managed hosting functions, your providers can adjust their infrastructure based on particular conditions at any time. You anticipate when massive influxes are coming in to your website, then scaling back to a more manageable approach.
Data center outsourcing
Most third-party outsourcing providers offer data processing and resources for companies. This is often the case when the company’s own IT department is not equipped for it. From data collection to data storage and backup, maintenance and updates, having a trained staff on-hand can help ease the processes that come with data center outsourcing.
Keeping Your Business Competitive
The track record of outsourced IT functions continues to develop as technology gets better. As a cost saving approach, outsourcing is second to none, especially when it comes to IT functions. More than that, companies that outsourced will be collaborating with an experienced provider that can meet their goals.
HGS is fully equipped to handle IT functions ready to be outsourced with teams that can take on these responsibilities. Contact us today to get started.
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Outsourcing Marketing: Five Functions to Consider
With the online landscape constantly changing, outsourcing marketing roles requires a very set of special skills. Traditional methods are becoming harder to apply in today’s day an age. That is why marketing in the digital age involves specialised knowledge and understanding of the online landscape that continues to get technical each day.
Outsourcing Marketing Functions
Indeed, many companies today recognize the need for a strong marketing team. However, a few today are finding further success by outsourcing marketing functions. Not only do they see the advantages of collaborating with outsourcing companies in the Philippines, they reap the benefits of outsourcing in general.
Marketing roles are very divisive, with each serving a critical role in the development of any company. Here are some functions that companies are able to outsource.
Digital Marketing Specialist
Navigating the current online landscape is a daunting task, especially from a marketing perspective. What’s clear however is that the once reliable, traditional approaches of marketing are no longer viable strategies in the 21st century. A digital marketing specialist understands how companies can increase brand awareness, engage new prospects and promote a company effectively online.
Digital Marketers are often the backbone of a company’s strategy online. With the right outsourcing provider, you can find the right digital marketer who can take your company to the next level globally.
Business Development Consultant
Market research and analysis are important to any company if they want to stay competitive. That is what a business development consultant brings to any marketing team. With their knowledge of industry sectors, market trends and customer habits, they are able to craft proposals and presentation while also implementing campaigns and managing end-to-end client relationships.
Business Development Consultants collaborate with top management to deliver key outcomes.
It might be hard to imagine such a complex role is able to be outsourced. With the advancements in technology and real time communication, outsourcing a business development consultant is now easier than ever. Through your outsourcing provider, they will work closely with your different managers to deliver key outcomes for the marketing side of business.
Content Creation
If you want to get the most out of search engine optimization, your company needs to produce top quality content. Not only that, the content has to be produced on a regular basis. Through an outsourced content creator, they will be able to deliver these through thoughtful discussions and regular posts that keep everyone updated. Doing this shapes your company’s reputation as an industry thought leader and authority. In turn, it helps attracts the attention of leads, prospects and even potential employees.
Content is also not restricted to just what is produced on a company’s official site. This also covers what your respective social media pages produce as well. As the old saying goes, content is king but engagement is the queen.
Social Media Management
As discussed above, online content creation also involves also bolstering your social media pages. Many companies fail to capitalize on the importance of maintaining a presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other platforms.
Making companies thrive on social media is not an easy task. It requires creativity, patience and a keen eye on the comments or reactions from people who visit your page daily. It goes without saying that having someone dedicated social media on your marketing team will help maximize your presence on different platforms. By outsourcing a versatile role, you can boost your presence on the platform you choose without compromise.
Graphic Designer
So you may be wondering why graphic design is considered a marketing role instead of a creative one. As it is also considered a form content creation, graphic design requires regular output at a consistently high level. In today’s online landscape, it’s all about standing out and great graphic designers will help you accomplish this. They are in charge of maintaining your brand image and defining aspects – from color scheme down to font used – that will make people remember your company better.
Consider these important functions but from a more cost effective approach. Hiring a graphic designer locally can be costly even if it means getting high quality work from them. When partnered with an outsourcing provider, you can get the same work done at the same level without any extra cost.
Staying Competitive Globally
Outsourcing key marketing functions will benefit companies in the short and long run. While it does involve collaborating with a provider in another country, it also means reaping all the advantages of a great marketing team at a fraction of local costs. Through due diligence checks, the right outsourcing provider can help fill out the functions that you require.
HGS is fully equipped to handle all your outsourcing marketing needs and is ready to provide a team that can take on key functions. Contact us today to get started.
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The Benefits of A Happy, Motivated Workforce
One of the core values that HGS lives by is “family.” We believe that our success would not be what it is today without the people who come in each day. For that to happen, it means having a work culture that feels like being part of a second family. This creates a happy and motivated workforce.
Most businesses will tell you that a happy workforce lead to better output around the office. While this is true, we want to focus more on the other, not often mentioned benefits of a happy workforce. Yes, when employees are satisfied, the atmosphere becomes more positive and more productive. But there’s absolutely more to it than that.
Developing Creative Energies
When a company’s employees are happy, the creative spirit also flourishes. Cultivating a positive workplace lets people flex their mental muscles more and explore their imagination. This may seem ideal for creative industries, but even the more technical ones can benefit from it as well.
Consider for a moment how creativity helps businesses. By keeping employees motivated and happy, they are able to come up with practical solutions that less positive ones may have thought of. Fostering creative energies also often means thinking outside the box. Doing so allows businesses to stand out in their field by taking a more unique, less-travelled approach fueled by the creative spirit.
The Spirit of Collaboration
One way that employees stay positive and creative is through collaboration. It’s no secret that having a highly collaborative workforce is the goal of many leaders and CEOs. While many leaders look to employee performance management tools to help in this endeavour, the key to effective collaboration might be far simpler than all that.
According to research, having to work towards common goals with colleagues make employees more collaborative and determined. By establishing a solid working relationship, employees can become more sociable, therefore more relaxed around one another. This allows them to share their different ideas and opinions without feeling tense or anxious.
At the same time, positive employees are able to make better decisions. According to Alexander Kjerulf, chief happiness officer for Woohoo Inc., happy employees make better decisions, are better at time management, work better with others, and possess a number of other critical leadership skills.
People are no stranger to difficulties that happen during work that often cause stress and anxiety. However, a positive office environment with happy employees can turn the mood upside down after overcoming some workplace challenges.
Happiness and Loyalty
HGS prides itself with having an attrition rate that is below the industry standard. We want everyone that works for us to love coming in each day, be comfortable with their colleagues and enjoy what they do. We believe in our employees and invest in their career direction and satisfaction with the company. HGS believed this since day one and continues to do so today.
From our own experiences, a happy workforce not only means a lower attrition rate. In an article from the Harvard Business Review, strong work friendships boost employee satisfaction by 50%. They saw also that employees who had good friends at work were more likely to engage fully in their work. It also means developing long-term, loyal employees who can showcase their talents to the fullest extent. We want our clients to work with some of the best talents from the Philippines.
Promoting Better Productivity
A company’s employees are its greatest asset. They strive to create an environment that allows its employees to feel accomplished, productive and motivated. You can have the most accomplished team under your belt, but they may not show their full potential in a less than appealing work environment.
It certainly can be said that emotions help influence the workplace, and overall happiness can steer any company in the right direction. This is what we want from our staff here in HGS and why we prioritize developing a positive environment where everyone can flourish.
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Surprising Roles The Retail Industry Can Offshore
The retail industry is experiencing a beneficial yet challenging transition. With more retailers going digital, online shopping has become more competitive. This means knowing a little bit about everything in the digital space and going beyond what it traditionally means to be a retailer. Some of the most successful companies today see what it means to adapt current business trends to their advantage. They know how to make the most of their business without spending too much.
This is where offshoring comes into play. With more retailers looking at a bigger global presence in today’s online landscape, staying with the trend has become more important than ever.
What Retailers Need To Know
Many retailers may be thinking that offshoring roles are the typical ones that appear in the news. It’s true that retailers can benefit from offshoring their customer service and administrative tasks. Delegating these functions will certainly contribute to further productivity and efficiency in their operations.
However, offshoring is now not just limited to these roles. With the ever-changing business landscape, the need for more specialized, highly trained roles has become a priority. This has resulted in wider markets, better brand awareness, and a stronger presence online for many retailers. Through proper implementation, many in the retail industry have become aware of the potential offshoring teams have as they take on important roles and collaborate with their local teams.
In other words, if you still haven’t considered offshoring to help your retail business, there’s no better time to start than now. Let’s look at some of the roles that you will be able to offshore.
Finance Roles
More and more finance roles are being sent to offshore teams. These roles have ranged from accountants, analysts, bookkeeping and overall financial administration. Whether they’re a medium, large or listed business, the retail industry can take advantage of offshored financial roles. The cost savings incurred would be significant compared to what they would hire locally. The most experienced retail companies today see where the current business trends are going, including offshoring.
The very idea of offshoring such vital roles would have been unheard of only a few years ago. Letting an offshore team handle a company’s financial responsibilities might have even been seen as taboo. However, offshoring has shown that any of the roles listed can be handled at very high levels. Today’s technology has made it easier for people to communicate and collaborate better regardless of where they are in the world. That is to say, if you haven’t thought about hiring an offshore accountant, your competitors may already have.
IT Roles
When you think about the retail industry, you don’t normally associate it with IT roles right away. In fact, many retailers would probably say that handling the backend of their website isn’t in their priority. However, this line of thinking needs to be changed, especially in the current business environment.
A strong back office is vital for any retail business to succeed online.
Part of the success of retailers like Amazon and Loblaws is their understanding of ecommerce’s impact in today’s society. They see the real value of establishing a strong online presence that allowed them to scale their businesses based on consumer demands. In order to do this, they needed a strong back office support from an IT team to handle different channels of their businesses. Through regular maintenance and data handling, an offshored IT team allowed them to stay competitive at a lowered cost.
Marketing Roles
With your website in place, your retail business will no doubt need leads and traffic that will direct people to it. This is where a smart marketing team becomes effective. Their understanding of trends and consumer behavior shapes the strategy and direction your business should take. This is especially important in the retail industry, where there are numerous specialized interests that can be catered to. Through smart content distribution, your marketing team can be a dedicated source of asset creation that ranges from blogs, research papers, infographics and even short video presentations. In turn, you retailers can turn browsers into potential buyers.
The content and direction online that a marketing team can create are vital to any retail business. Working with them also does not need to be a costly endeavor. Many industries have espoused their satisfaction of working with an offshore marketing team, and these benefits can also be carried over into the retail industry.
Working With The Right Provider
It’s certainly an exciting time to be in the retail industry. With more tools and technology in place, businesses can reach more customers than they previously could. We’ve seen already how major companies have utilized offshore teams to their advantage by assigning them mid to high-level functions they can manage.
HGS continues to work closely with clients in the retail industry and we understand their different needs. Through a collaborative process with us, our clients have produced strong results and have been able to free up resources for further ventures. Drop us a line today to start your offshoring journey.
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Five Finance Functions You Can Effectively Outsource
Outsourcing has made it easier for companies to turn over finance functions to a third-party provider at a reduced cost. The work that an outsourced accountant has produced in recent years has increased in both quality and quantity. As outsourcing evolved, so did technologies that made it easier for companies to communicate with providers and their teams.
Today, we hear about outsourced teams handling all sorts of functions in different industries, not just in finance. These industries have ranged from healthcare, manufacturing, and even construction industries just to name a few. A few well-known startups relied on outsourcing when they first started out, and have gone on to find even greater success. No longer relegated to just customer service roles, outsourcing providers have teams capable of taking on any function at any level.
Finance Functions to Outsource
It’s exciting to think about how far outsourcing has come, especially when it comes to handling finance functions. Years ago, it was unheard of – often impossible – to consider various finance functions being sent to outsourcing providers. Because of its confidential nature, some companies believe it these roles should be kept locally to mitigate security risks and data loss.
Here are just some key financial roles your company can outsource.
Bookkeeping
Bookkeepers perform general accounting duties. They keep track of financial records and accounts, while also verifying the accuracy of procedures used for recording financial transactions. When companies outsource bookkeepers, the savings can be quite considerable. When teamed up with the right provider, you will be given access to many skilled bookkeepers who are able to address your company’s financial objectives.
Payroll Processing
Together with an outsourcing provider, you will be able to get quality payroll services at a fraction of what you would pay locally. Through constant coordination with banks, they are responsible for calculating salaries, overtimes, and leaves of your employees.
Part of payroll processors’ responsibilities is collaborating closely with banks daily.
As they are also responsible for preparing reports promptly, payroll processors continuously can hone their skills to stay competitive in your industry. This helps ensure your company is turning over key financial responsibilities to knowledgeable, reliable, and forward-thinking people. Through outsourcing, you can hire people with the level of expertise you need and at an affordable price.
Accounts Payable Specialist
Those working in accounts payable are well-equipped to address tasks that suit their skills. As they are responsible for company liabilities, they help maintain ledgers, secure financial information, and prepare all the needed financial reports. Doing these tasks often requires a high level of accuracy. By assigning this role through your outsourced provider, you can ensure better management of your back-office functions.
Accounts Receivable Specialist
Working as accounts receivable means processing payments that sync with your financial policies. Because they manage what your company has a right to collect, it requires daily transactions from them. They are responsible for computing, posting, and verifying all accounts receivable data whether it be from assets or debit. It’s a very specialized role that would need people with the right knowledge to fill out. Luckily, working with an outsourcing provider will give you access to experienced professionals who can take on these tasks. By working with an outsourcing model, you can put more focus and resources on core business objectives that will increase your profitability.
Financial Administration
Finance administrators are in charge of maintaining financial records and processing income and expenditure. They often work in a group environment, thus ensuring collaboration with fellow team members and their managers. By outsourcing a very labor-intensive role like this, it becomes possible to prioritize more revenue-producing activities. Through modern technologies given by most service providers, businesses can take advantage of accounting services that previously would have taken longer to complete.
A Beneficial Endeavor
Outsourcing has shown that, with the right provider, companies can effectively outsource key financial roles they may have. This helps them maintain a high level of work at a reduced cost than hiring locally. More than that, the outsourcing approach helps them stay much more competitive in today’s fast-paced business environment. If a company is only thinking about outsourcing now, chances are their competitors are thinking the same thing, or already have an outsourcing model in place.
Looking to get started on crafting an outsourcing strategy of your own? Get in touch with us today and we can help you take that crucial first step.
