Outsourcing: A Growing Trend

Outside resources are gaining appeal as companies consider the advantages of outsourcing projects.

Outsourcing: A Growing Trend

As the economy continues to slouch, more and more companies are turning to outsourcing to help improve their efficiency, maintain their productivity and reduce their costs. The outsourcing industry has shown strong growth where other industries are struggling.

Companies that outsource find a variety of advantages in the situation. They pay only for what they need and they can often afford a higher level of experience in a contract professional than they could in a full time employee. They also do not incur the costs associated with a full time employee-additional taxes and benefits are two examples. Outside resources also provide their own infrastructure and offer an additional, more objective perspective to projects.

Despite the advantages, many company executives still hesitate to outsource. The feeling of giving up project control can be an obstacle to outsourcing, as can internal company politics.

In the fields of marketing and information technology, these obstacles seem to be overcome more readily than in other industries. More and more companies are turning to an outside resource to provide their marketing tools and networking needs.

Though we still see companies struggling with their IT departments and their marketing departments when it comes to us taking over a project, its getting easier and easier," says Heather Robson, writing director for DragonFly Creative Media (http://www.dfcreative.com), a company that provides marketing and web design services to other business. Departments can feel like their toes are getting stepped on, but they really shouldnt. When a company turns to us, it is usually because their own departments dont have the resources to handle whats coming their way-not because they arent capable. We can give our whole focus to one project for a company, where its own department may have several things that need immediate attention. We strive to support these departments not compete with them," says Robson.

Although the trend toward outsourcing can seem a bit stressful for companies unfamiliar with the option, when properly used, it can provide a win-win situation for all the parties involved.