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"In the ever-changing economy, organisations are looking to cut costs and drive innovation are turning to co-sourcing model as a cost-effective alternative - one that is less risky than outsourcing or offshoring."
Source: Allied Worldwide
Co-sourcing Helps Companies to Reduce Costs and Improve Efficiencies
Co Sourcing is also known as :
Partial Outsourcing,
Co-sourcing Solutions,
Outsourcing of Services,
Alternative to Outsourcing,
Introduction to Co-sourcing,
IT Management Outsourcing,
Co-sourcing Model,
Co-sourcing Provider,
Co-sourcing Approach, Co Sourcing Advantages, Experience in Co-sourcing, Co-sourcing Partner, Co Sourcing Benefit, Cosourcing, Co-sourcing Partnerships, New Approach in Outsourcing, Co-sourcing Evolution, Outsourcing vs Co-sourcing, Ethical Co-sourcing, Cost Advantages of Co-sourcing, IT Co Sourcing, Benefits of Co-sourcing, Internal Audit Co Sourcing, Internal Auditing, Example of Co-sourcing, Co-sourcing Opportunities, Outsourcing Scenario, Next Generation of Co-sourcing, Outsourcing Vendors.
Co-sourcing: The Winning Alternative to Outsourcing !!!
Today, innovative companies are learning from experience and employing a new approach in outsourcing some business functions and discovering enhanced business performance with Co-sourcing model.
Introduction to Co-sourcing
In today's business world, information technology is becoming increasingly complex, and organisations are relying even more heavily on the information produced by IT systems and processes.
Outsourcing of services has received increased attention in management literature and is often critical at moments of praxis. In many circles, outsourcing has become synonymous with information technology. Most companies are familiar with the concept of outsourcing, where the entire management & execution of a business function is carried out by a third-party service provider.
Many organisations have been trying an IT outsourcing model which is based on the most common model of relinquishing a function in its entirety to a third party. This approach has helped many companies reduce their costs, but also resulted in lot of failures. A recent study by Deloitte, found that 70 per cent of companies it surveyed had experienced significant problems outsourcing, with over a quarter subsequently reversing their decision. Due to the limitations of outsourcing and a number of damaging experiences, many companies are forced to re-evaluate their current outsourcing partners and will consider Co-sourcing as a more robust alternative.
Outsourcing can offer a satisfactory (but short-term solution) to implement new technology. But organisations remain wholly dependent on the external provider, with little in-house knowledge, being gained or utilised. The alternative is Co-sourcing model; a joint effort of both parties, within the decisionmaking process and during the ongoing relationship. The advantages are clear with ownership, knowledge and control of the process remaining within the company rather than being effectively lost at the point of turning over to the outsourcing provider.
Many companies now feel uncomfortable in implementing a full business outsourcing strategy. Partial outsourcing, or co-sourcing, may well offer a solution to them. It includes technical IT outsourcing and/ or IT management outsourcing with an external partner. It is always recommended that when choosing a partner, they should already have broad experience in co-sourcing, so that you can avoid the pitfalls inherent in the outsourcing scenario.
"According to Forrester Research, enterprises may rethink the outsourcing concept, making it more of a co-sourcing approach."
"Many CXO's expect to see more Co-sourcing deals, in the future as companies are seeking to pool their expertise in their search for new areas of growth and their efforts to save costs."
In ever-changing market scenarios, businesses need to accomplish more with fewer resources and smaller budget. Co-sourcing provides the answer.
What is Co-sourcing?
A Co-sourcing model can be defined as one where a business function is performed by both internal staff and external resources, such as outsourcing vendors or consultants; with specialised knowledge of the business function and industry.
Co-sourcing provides enterprises with flexible access to the most relevant expertise, without the risk of damaging internal controls and at minimal internal cost. This approach provides a well-balanced equilibrium, where organisations retain in-house knowledge and control, while gaining expert resources and efficiencies to help complete projects in a timely manner and lower fixed costs.
With many in-house operations and outsource models there is always an element of costly overstaffing, as businesses will have to take into account events such as holidays, sickness and unplanned projects. Co-sourcing provides a more efficient model, with agility and flexibility built in, so that an agreed minimum service level can always be achieved whilst ensuring the expensive overstaffing issues can be removed and the efficiencies can be returned to the business for cost saving or reinvestment.
Outsourcing Vs Co-sourcing
With outsourcing, employers aim to shift transactional, technological and administrative tasks to an outside vendor that is able to carry out those tasks more cost effectively. Co-sourcing differs in fundamentally important ways from outsourcing. Co-sourcing is designed to create a more robust and efficient business function by partnering with a service provider who is capable of managing resources as required. It allows for even greater efficiencies and most importantly allows for knowledge transfer and continued ownership and understanding within the company being served, allowing them to have a level of involvement with which they can feel comfortable.
Companies that form co-sourcing partnerships are able to rely on their partner's expertise and resources as a complement, or replacement for internal resources. Unlike outsourcing, which would simply move a specific task or process out of the organisation, co-sourcing brings in specialised resources that can be applied in a flexible way across the full responsibilities of the business function, from technology and transactions, to analysis and design.
The Benefits of Co-sourcing
The Co-sourcing model offers the following benefits:
Increased Quality & Productivity: With Co-sourcing, you can access experienced professionals with industry and specialised capabilities that will deploy new projects and programmes with ease. Company staff remains active and can be incorporated into the co-source model or can focus on other strategic priorities.
Huge Cost Savings: Reduced cost & obligations. Co-sourcing allows a company to save on long-term investment in staff and has no obligation to the staff supplied by the service provider. It also provides in-house flexibility and control, as projects can be planned and executed without adding the expense and additional administration of full time or contract staff.
Skilled Resources: Co-sourcing offers access to higher skill sets, without the need to develop internal resources, leading lower overall total costs.
On-Demand Flexibility: Co-sourcing allows companies, the on-demand flexibility of augmenting staffing during certain peak times of the year without having to incur the costs of a full-time or contract hiring.
More Control: Internal resources take part in each step of the process, ensuring that the organisation has the ability to support the final solution. As the owner of the process and function, companies can decide how much time and involvement they want, so that they are not removed from the services and can still apply as much or as little control as required.
Faster Implementation: Co-sourcing uses a more flexible consultative approach to benchmarking and identifying specific opportunities that can be quickly implemented depending on the needs of each location. As in many cases, current staff can be transferred to the co-sourcing provider, thereby avoiding any costly ramp up or handover period.
Outsourcing & In-sourcing: Co-sourcing combines the knowledge and control advantages of in-sourcing and the cost advantages of outsourcing. You can benefit from complete managed services from the outset and retain or access resources for operational projects, through either a flexible or a phased approach.
Trusted & Proven Partner: Co-sourcing provides the benefit of working with a single trusted and proven partner. Having a single partner can save time and money, and reduce liabilities compared to managing multiple partners and contractors.
Cost Analysis
Reports show that major enterprises are successfully using Co-sourcing models in the areas of Server Management, Web Management & Project Management and are benefiting significantly.
With savings around 50 – 100%, Co-sourcing is providing real cost efficiencies and savings whilst helping enterprises to achieve business transformation.
Conclusion
Co-sourcing is a proven solution that has served many organisations that don't have the resource ability to deploy new systems. Companies can also use a co-sourcing model to bring in needed expertise, in fields such as architecture and engineering, to be used for a temporary assignment or as and when required. At its most evolved level co-sourcing can provide a more advanced IT function than traditional outsourcing by, delivering cost advantages, with far greater flexibility and control.
To achieve greater flexibility and lower costs, successful firms will join forces with vendors for front office IT projects and business processes, and get a great level of business performance.
The main advantage for companies is that their internal employees and external skilled resources collaborate and work in tandem, to finish the task in a required time frame. When choosing a potential co-sourcing partner, organisations should make sure the organisation being engaged has the specific expertise needed and can provide a robust plan and references from established clients as proof of experience. This will make it possible to find a long term cost-effective solution to even the most specialised problems. Organisations, who manage co-sourcing opportunities well, should be able to cut costs and visibly enhance their quality and productivity.
"Co-sourcing provides a collaborative value enhanced, strategic business service, focusing on improving the customer's business performance."
IT plays an integral part of a business strategy and considerations for outsourcing should be taken with great care. Companies that don't take such care or make decisions too quickly are opening up avenues where they are prone to make mistakes that could eventually impact customers and shareholders. Cosourcing is generally a far more balanced option worth investigating, as an appropriate, cost-effective hybrid solution that provides transparency and sensible control measures. For these reasons it is becoming a significant element in the business strategy of most major enterprises.
Allied Worldwide Co-sourcing Solutions
Allied is a global leader in offering Co-sourcing services to companies around the globe. By Co-sourcing with Allied, Organisations can get flexible access to proficient expertise, specialised knowledge, technical skills, staffing flexibility and best practices at a lower cost without giving up control over their people and processes.
Allied can bring innovative solutions based on a co-sourcing approach. This is a partnership where all internal & external resources together are responsible for the success of the project. Outsourcing can suggest that a company is giving up control of processes to an external provider. By contrast Allied's co-sourcing emphasizes the involvement of both parties.
Many companies are facing shortages of critical staff or budgetary restrictions. We offer you, our high quality in-house professionals, carefully providing the right person for the right job, to compliment your current resource.
Whether you need a helpdesk professional to support your field team, a project management expert to develop the implementation plan or skilled resources to manage the network & storage concerns, Allied has the professional experience to meet your needs.
Our specialised professionals use processes and methods aligned with your business practices. You keep control of the entire process, leveraging our ability and support to complete Information Technology initiatives.
For almost two decades, Allied Worldwide Limited has provided co-sourced services. Whether you need to supplement your internal staff due to a resource shortage or require expert help to execute complete or specific areas of your program, we have a solution. Please contact us to learn more about our wide range of capabilities in this space.
Allied currently pioneer "Ethical Co-sourcing", as the latest evolution in co-sourcing design and culture. The next generation of co-sourcing demands greater consideration for the staff involved. This new business model allows the majority of current staff to remain in post, retaining knowledge, service consistency and goodwill across the business, whilst satisfying shareholder and business budget concerns. If you would like to know how we can achieve this then please contact us for an appointment and we will be happy to show you how.
To contact Allied Worldwide Limited please choose from the following options:
E-mail: marketing@alliedworldwide.com Web: http://www.alliedworldwide.com/
Phone: +44 (0) 1494 532751 or +44 (0) 8451 215211 Fax: +44 (0)1494 521174