Whether you operate in the data science, AI or IT sphere, odds are that you’ve given outsourcing some thought. While you may trust your staff with any project that comes your way, the scale of work can sometimes become too much to handle. This is where outsourcing comes into play.
According to Fortunly, more than 37% of small businesses outsource to improve day-to-day efficiency while projections show an increase to 52% in 2020. Likewise, data by Small Biz Genius indicates that 59% of businesses outsource to reduce operational costs, with an average of 300.000 positions outsourced each year.
It’s worth noting that you can use a proxy to find the best talent for your business. Finding the right outstaffing or outsourcing partner thus becomes a priority as it can help manage the workflow. How should you choose the right technical outstaffing partner for your business in order to cover any form of project development needs in 2020?
Assess your Business’ Pipeline
In order to ask for the right kind of help from your outstaffing partner, you should assess your business’ needs first and foremost. What are the common issues your team is facing in regards to project development and daily workflow? Do you require developers, testers or project managers? You can get in touch with an expert consulting agency such as Brainberry in order to get a good audit of what your needs are.
Weigh Gains VS Expenses
Working with a technical outstaffing partner will inevitably lead to costs for their services. The business you collaborate with will effectively match you with the most viable talent for your needs – which is considered a service. As such, you should gauge your staff upkeep expenses against potential expenses and gains of hiring outsourcing talent for projects. Consider the simple question of “Does this action pay off?” before outsourcing.
Do Background Checks
There is a plethora of technical outstaffing agencies and businesses out there with different talent pools and niches. Some of them have been in business for a while; others might be new to the market. Take time to do proper background checks on each outstaffing business you consider partnering up with. Look for businesses they worked with in the past, check their online reviews as well as company history. Be certain that your choice of outstaffing partner is a legitimate business which will help your cause and not harm your own reputation.
Take Time to Interview Them
Once you make a shortlist of potential technical outstaffing partners, arrange online or offline meetings with them. You can treat the meeting as a mutual interview where both sides can ask each other questions about how to proceed. Don’t be afraid to inquire about their pricing model, potential bottlenecks and advice about what they’d do in your place. Talk to the outstaffing partners’ representatives and settle for the one which vibes well with your company culture and workflow needs.
Ask for Talent & Work Samples
Regardless of what type of staff you want to hire through a technical outstaffing partner, you will definitely want to see samples before you proceed. Samples in regards to outsourcing come in two varieties – work samples and talent samples. The former relates to case studies and overviews of projects which your outstaffing partner has worked on previously. These will give you a good indication of the agency’s work etiquette and level of quality. The talent pool samples will let you see what types of experts you can expect for your business’ project. Make sure that both of these items are verified and up to your standards before proceeding with a partnership collaboration.
Inquire About Confidentiality
Lastly, data confidentiality is an important point of contention in today’s digital world. How secure is your project data if you decide to work with this particular technical outstaffing partner? Are there any risks of data leaks to other companies or are there any back-end deals with marketing agencies you should be aware of? Do your best to get a feel for your partner’s handling of client data, especially when it comes to how their outsourced staff members. Work with agencies which can guarantee the safety and confidentiality of your project data so that you can continue operating as a legitimate corporate entity.
The Advantages of Relying on an Outstaffing Partner
Since we’ve discussed how you should choose your outstaffing partner, let’s also tackle why you should opt for this approach in the first place. According to Market Business News, the most common areas of outsourcing are software development (64%), software testing (51%) and data management (40%). Regardless of how well-trained and dedicated your staff is, there are only so many hours in a single day. Finding a good technical outstaffing partner which can cover your workflow’s bottlenecks can be extremely beneficial for the continued growth of your company. Some of the main advantages you can look forward to if you rely on an outstaffing partner include:
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Save time and resources which you would spend on personal hiring and outsourcing
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Filter and scale the most relevant talent for your projects quickly and efficiently
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Have access to consultation and advice on what kind of talent would best suit your needs
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Ability to work with niche experts from across the globe thanks to remote work conditions
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Improve your company’s day-to-day work management and subsequent quality of final product
In Summary
Once you settle for the right technical outstaffing partner fit for your business, your worries over staff capacity and workflow will effectively be nullified. Outstaffing agencies specialize in matching the right talent with the right businesses which need their services at that moment. You can easily rely on your permanent staff for more demanding tasks and delegate other elements of work to temporary team members. While such an approach to agile development may seem counterintuitive at first, you will quickly learn to love the scalability and flexibility options it provides.