A2X Consulting

Posted by Eric Cohen

I have been corresponding with a number of folks in Asia, trying to solicit contributions to this blog. I asked someone to make sure his post would address the top issues that American or European companies have when considering offshoring. Then he called me on it ‘“ he asked, what are those issues? Darn! Here is my take on what they are, a few days later.

1. What can I offshore if I am not in manufacturing?
2. How do I find good companies to work with?
3. How do I pay and assure my legal rights?
4. How will I deal with language issues?
5. What about cultural differences?
6. What about security and privacy?

I am pretty confident that #1 is the biggie. I think that offshoring is obvious for those in manufacturing. Or if the company is large. But smaller businesses tend to struggle to identify opportunities. Companies will outsource and work with vendors they never meet. But they are slow to also see these as opportunities to offshore.

I start the conversation with my clients by asking them, what tasks do they have now that can be done remotely? Most companies have consultants they never meet. Or things they’d like to get done but can’t afford. Here are some of the more popular items from my experience:

– graphic design (production). Cost savings of abour $30/hour
– financial modeling. Cost savings of $40/hour, and up
– administration, particularly research and data entry. Cost savings of $25/hour
– marketing of web sites, and search engine optimization
– coordination of vendor selection, and competitive bidding

Industries will have their specialties. I have a client looking to offshore construction estimating, which is a perfect opportunity. The blueprints get emailed, and an engineer in India ‘“ at 1/5 of the price ‘“ reviews the plan and details costs. A publisher is looking to use an offshore company to maintain and track their mailing lists.

What is your take on the most frequently asked questions on offshoring? And your answers to any of the above items?