Business Process Outsourcing: The Pros and Cons

Business Process Outsourcing: The Pros and Cons

In the age of paper and pencil, doing things the long-handed way was acceptable and expected. Today however, this is just not the case. In fact, it is a challenge to find business tasks to complete that do not require some kind of electronic device. As our technology has changed and progressed, so has our need to do more, faster and more efficiently. As a result, your clients expect you to be highly productive in a shorter amount of time.

Over the last decade, the business segment of working America has increasingly chosen to outsource some or a portion of their IT and more redundant internal processing tasks to outside providers who specialize in such areas. These highly specialized businesses have streamlined their processes in a way the average business cannot. Simply based on volume, specialty businesses are far more likely to be up to date on the ever-changing technologies of their specialty and do it more productivity than one individual business is able to do. Business process outsourcing, like a majority of business decisions, offer both pros and cons.

The Pros of Business Process Outsourcing

Business process outsourcing benefits smaller to mid-sized businesses most when it comes to contracting with a third party for IT support and/or internal processing needs, such as check printing, check writing, third party billing, rebate fulfillment, EDI, barcode labels, payroll, etc.

Although there are several reasons why this happens. The primary reason why business process outsourcing is highly beneficial for small to medium-size businesses is that the cost of employing the right number of IT and internal resources to effectively support and process a business with 20-250 employees plus customers, is generally more than these size businesses are able to invest in IT and many internal procedures (check printing, check writing, third party billing, rebate fulfillment, EDI, barcode labels, payroll, etc.).

Other benefits include:

• Quickly scalable resources – should issues arise, outsourcing allows you to solve problems simultaneously. This holds especially true for payroll, check printing, check writing, third party billing, rebate fulfillment, EDI, barcode labels, and more.
• Your business is better able to focus on what it specializes in, while your business process outsourcing company focuses on its specialty.
• Implement proactive measure to guarantee things continue to work how they are supposed to.
• Increase internal productivity by freeing employees up for other internal tasks.

The Cons of Business Process Outsourcing

Although there are few, some drawbacks of business process outsourcing are less about business cost and productivity and more about employee environment. Some drawbacks of business process outsourcing include:

• By adding outsourced IT support and internal process providers, your organization could potentially be eliminating some employees from their internal workforce.
• Not having IT support staff or internal processing staff on the premises of the organization can take some adjusting for employees.
• Hiring a third-party business process outsourcing business to manage your IT, check printing, check writing, third party billing, rebate fulfillment, EDI, barcode labels, payroll, etc., may mean shifting control.
• Outsourcing creates change, which can be difficult for some employees
• Structuring an ideal agreement with a business process outsourcing company is important in order to make certain your business costs stay in check.

The decision to use a third-party business process outsourcing business to manage some or all of your IT and/or internal operations is an enormous business decision. The primarily important thing to remember is to perform your due diligence and choose an outsourcing partner you can trust.

Contact Integration, Inc. today for more information regarding outsourcing services: www.integrationinc.com

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