Outsourcing Research
A lot research on outsourcing has been conducted in the past few
years. The topic of outsourcing has been scrutinized from a variety
of different point of view. Outsourcing research has been
carried out for instance on the different types of outsourcing, on
both the negative and positive effects of outsourcing,
characteristics of different market areas, outsourcing projects and
companies as well as on the geographical and economic implications.
Yet more outsourcing research is continuously needed, as the
outsourcing industry is rapidly growing and more and more companies
are outsourcing. Reliable information is continuously needed on
outsourcing and BPO markets, vendors and their capabilities, varying
needs of different vertical segments, benchmarking of costs and
capability of service providers, assessment and evaluation of
different locations and much more. This is information that
constantly changes as the outsourcing market grows.
Outsourcing research aims to satisfy some of the research and
information needed by buyers, sellers, analysts, investors and all
those interested in outsourcing. Research companies seek to provide
in-depth analysis and reliable primary information on the
outsourcing market. According to outsourcing research, companies are
giving good reviews on offshore outsourcing, despite concerns about
quality, cultural barriers and hidden expenses. Business process
outsourcing is considered the fastest growing segment within IT
services and that rapid growth in offshore outsourcing is occurring.
Outsourcing research shows that the largest percentage of
jobs being outsourced is in Information Technology, by around 28%.
The next largest field is human resources taking 15% of the
outsourcing market, followed closely by sales and marketing
outsourcing with 14% and financial services outsourcing at 11%. The
remaining 32% is made up of other different processes such as
administrative outsourcing. Most of the outsourcing is done by
multinational companies and the most popular destinations are India,
China and the Philippines. Of course these figures slightly differ
depending on the study and the point of view, but this division
gives an idea of the outsourcing market.
There are several important reasons for conducting outsourcing
research. Firstly the best way to learn about a certain type
business strategy or operation is to analyze the experiences of
others. All companies do not have to learn things the hard way,
instead they can analyze the actions of other and then make
decisions concerning their own needs. Outsourcing as an operation
has several risks that have to taken into consideration. This is
also where outsourcing research steps in. Through acquiring and
analyzing data collected by professionals, a company can decide
whether the risks of outsourcing are worth taking for them. In
addition, outsourcing research is often needed in order to find out
that a company should be outsourcing. It is easy to maintain things
as they have always been, but if the research and information is
provided, decision-making becomes much easier. Thus Outsourcing
research is required at every stage of the outsourcing venture.

