Hidden Benefits of Outsourcing

When most organizations consider outsourcing, Mike Smith of SourceCorp says the most obvious benefits come to mind:

... Cost containment through labor savings
... Increased accountability
... Leveraging the provider's extensive investment in technology, methodologies and people
... Reassignment and better management of in-house labor

Smith says more savvy organizations recognize that there are a myriad of less obvious, but just as vital, benefits, including:

... Reduction of overall management burden
... Access to specialized skills and industry best practices
... Improved credibility and images by associating with superior providers
... Increased flexibility to meet changing business requirements
... Improved internal management
... Increased security

"Given the capabilities present in today's marketplace, major outsourcing firms offer extremely high levels of security that oftentimes outperform those of the organizations seeking to engage their services," Smith says, adding that usually security is a perceived risk to outsourcing, but is not in actuality.

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Service Bureaus Tout Labor Savings

By Mark Brousseau

In light of the weakening economy, service bureaus need to change their sales message to emphasize their ability to reduce a company’s headcount and help them avoid capital expenditures, says Mario G. Duckett, CDIA (Mario@metasource.com), senior director, business development, for Bristol, PA-based metasource.

Duckett spoke during AIIM's 33rd Annual Document Management Service Providers Executive Forum in Austin last week.

“Down markets are great for soft dollars and Software as a Service (SaaS) is an excellent way for someone who has had their capital budget way taken away to still solve their business problems,” says Duckett. “In this economic environment, a company that can’t afford a $100,000 capital expenditure will be interested in a $2,000 a month fee for SaaS. The key is to stress labor savings.”

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