In case you can’t have an outsource SEO staff…

Let’s face it: A good number of start-up and small-scale companies cannot really afford to get the services of top-notch outsource SEO staff. For one thing, some of these professionals charge exorbitant professional fees. More often than not, high cost of services from expert consultants usually mean reducing employee hours. In worse cases, laying people off becomes an option for many entrepreneurs in order to be able to accommodate new employees who could render the much needed expertise.

An outsource SEO staff may mean investing in yet another expertise. For the entrepreneur, it could mean allocating an even greater amount as payment for the service because hired consultants tend to be pricier as compared to the usually hired labor force. But then again, a professional from one of the countless SEO consultation services providers are experts in the field and can be relied on to give you the best quality of work.

In case you cannot possibly hire individuals from targeted SEO consultation services providers, here’s another option for you: work-sharing. Work-sharing is an approach that will help you save jobs of your existing workforce and will also help you figure out your corporate goals. Under this solution, employees agree to a small cut on their wages so that none of the employees are fired. This system encourages business owners to retain employees that they would be forced to let go. Certainly, work-sharing is a lot better than layoffs that are common to economically-challenged enterprises.

Communicate with your Outsource SEO Staff

Lack of communication is seen as one of the biggest threats to outsourcing. A study spearheaded by one of the world’s most popular outsourcing SEO services providers revealed that countless firms end up not getting the best from leveraging competencies simply because of communication gap between the entrepreneurs and the service provider.

Here’s what normally happens when a firm closes an engagement with a third party provider: When outsourcing deals are made, a lot of people does not seem to know and could not even track progress of such deal. Stakeholders from both parties, the service provider and the entrepreneur, tend to have no idea how the project started. For instance, it is usually the corporate head that sees the feasibility of leveraging competencies; the CEO would later disclose the idea to the CIO who might eventually divulge the prospect to the human resource department of the company. In a sense, the idea of delegating tasks to any onshore or offshore location actually goes through a lot of people who understands and translates the idea differently. And more often than not, such pattern results in not getting the kind of service and benefits that a company head actually has in mind.

In view of this, a company who delegates tasks to third party providers has to see to it that there is open communications from all stakeholders concerned. On-shoring or offshoring deals should not be viewed and treated as a hand-off where ideas are passed on to others. Instead, it should be seen as an endeavor of the entire firm. As an outsourcing analyst puts it, leveraging business competencies should not be a private exchange between two corporate heads but a team dialogue of all concerned parties.

The executive who initiated an outsourcing deal may not at all be active in the project itself. But just the same, such professional has to be kept in the communication loop. Top executives need to be well-informed about the day-to-day progress of the project and has to have access to updated documents. It is also essential that both parties keep good documentation of the deal.

A study conducted by a top notch SEO consultation services provider reveals that well documented deals tend to produce better results. Good and high level documentation enhances strategic value of the business engagement. This is primarily because essential goals like cost-savings are well-appropriated without looking past other concerns such as time-to-market issues.

Reality bites, though. Several researches on leveraging competencies reveal that a large chunk of firms who delegate their tasks are focused on reducing expenditures. The study further disclosed that only a handful of these outsourcing companies keep good communication lines with their hired outsource SEO staff.

Fortunately, there have been several changes on the attitudes of many companies these days. A survey involving 1,900 entrepreneurs showed that while many companies turn to third party movers for cost savings, more business owners now outsource to further improve their overall business strategy.

Top 10 Risks of Offshore Outsourcing

1. Cost-reduction expectations.
Many entrepreneurs tend to assume that labor arbitrage will yield savings comparable to person-to-person comparison. In reality, companies can only expect to save at least 15-25% during the first year; 35-40% by the third year is the company decodes to “go up the learning curve” and modify strategies to align to an offshore model.

2. Data security protection.
Vendors should have sufficiently robust security practices. Apparently, not all BPO offshore outsourcing firms offer impressive security practices. In this case, it is essential that privacy concerns are raised and addressed before you eventually make a deal with any vendor.

3. Capability Maturity Model (CMM)
The CMM helps measure the readiness of a company to adopt an offshore model.

4. Loss of business knowledge.
Business owners need to identify which business knowledge may be moved to either outside the company or an offshore location in order not to compromise the company practices.

5. Vendor failure to deliver.
Failure to deliver products and services occur at times. If your targeted company is at high-risk of vendor failure, perhaps you should try to shift your outsourcing strategy. For example, you can move from one single vendor to multiple vendors.

6. Scope creep.
Fixed-price contracts in outsourcing do not really exist. Rates of offshore outsource solutions tend to change by at least 10-15% throughout the development cycle.

7. Government oversight/ regulation
Some companies are subject to various degrees of government oversight. Ensure that you choose an offshore outsource solution provider that is sensitive to industry-specific requirements. It is also important that you select a vendor that provides sufficient “transparency”.

8. Culture.
Most vendors require and provide their dedicated outsource staff to undergo cultural education programs. Call center agents, for instance, are usually provided accent training so they can communicate better. However, these trainings are not always enough. In that sense, settle with an outsourced staff that who understands fully your own culture.

9. Turnover of key personnel.
The impact of high turnover causes indirect loss to an outsourcing firm. In this case, find a provider who would be liable for every hired dedicated outsource staff that needs to be replaced.

10. Knowledge transfer.
Technical and business knowledge transfer from the vendor to the outsourcing company needs to be accounted for. Entrepreneurs can do this by using innovative solutions such as deploying video conferencing. Video conferencing eliminates the need to travel and creating one-to-many transfers. This also helps business owners save money on BPO offshore outsourcing.

Outsourcing and its Implication

Outsourcing remains a phenomenon, continually evolving at a very fast pace and is expected to maneuver many more businesses across the globe. To some analysts, this is largely because of the promising growth of information technology – a key factor in globalization. Outsourcing non-core activities like back office jobs to an outsource SEO staff, for instance, helps multinational companies keep their edge in the cut throat competition. Most companies turn to outsourcing to cut costs and improve services at the same time. But then again, there are also companies who outsource simply because that is what their rival companies are doing.

To put it simply, outsourcing is not always a win-win strategy. Ask several business owners who have tried outsourcing and you will soon discover that the business strategy has many downsides, many of which tend to go unnoticed. An example of the downsides of outsourcing lies on the policies of first world nations like the US and the United Kingdom. As we all might know it, these nations have nothing but sloppy policies on outsourcing. A large number of companies from these nations tend to outsource simply because they are forced to believe that outsourcing is their only alternative. Many of these companies are made to believe that leveraging their competencies will help them reduce expenses. This is where fair playing ground for both outsourcing companies and outsource destinations is at risk.

Leveraging competencies to outsourcing SEO services providers that are usually located in third world countries certainly benefits many, but what about the first world nations? First world nations are not at all spared from unrest and they also need assurance of better services and improved businesses. Any outsourcing company has to see to it that they select an offshore destination that features good governance, excellent communication facilities, great culture, and a vast knowledge and expertise. Companies that outsource also need to ensure that they deal with a provider that guarantees better products and services at affordable rates.

Other drawbacks of outsourcing include reduced motivation and decline in services. Employees who work in an organization that is already outsourcing tend to fear job losses. Why not, the thought of a company closing deals with an outsource SEO consultant increases the risk of an employee being sacked in favor of an outsource SEO staff who can possibly provide the same services at a much lower price.

Captive Centers in Focus

Several business analysts thought that offshore destinations or simply
captive centers would vanish soon. Why not? World-renowned companies like
the Citigroup, Unilever, Deutsche Bank, Dell and other Fortune 500
companies have already shut down their own offshore service centers last
year.

Research claims that many at least 60% of all companies that maintain
offshore locations or is into outsourcing decided to cut their ties with
an offshore outsource SEO provider because these outsourced providers have
failed some expectations.

On a different view, other companies remained unthreatened. Many
entrepreneurs decided to get in touch with firms that offer high quality
SEO consultation services at affordable rates. On the fourth quarter of
2009, for instance, 40 new wholly-owned captive centers or offshore
outsourcing locations were launched and up until this time, many other
companies have already set up new ones.

But what really is an outsourced captive center or offshore outsourcing
destination? A captive center is one of the many outsourcing models
available these days. Like other outsourcing SEO services, this model has
its own advantages and disadvantages, and should be carefully chosen
depending on the needs and requirements of the outsourcing company.

Today, offshore outsourcing is expected to last a long time even with the
maturation of the offshore IT services industry.