“Non-critical business functions” are common tasks of the business that do not need to be performed internally. Externalizing these tasks won’t cause the business to suffer, and the business can continue to operate. Such functions include – but are not limited to – graphic arts for marketing, web hosting and data backup… to name a few.
Outsourcing is Cost Effective, Most of the Time
When the economy is on a downturn, businesses must aggressively find ways to create and maintain positive cash flow.
Unfortunately, labour is one of the highest costs that a company endures. In attempting to cut the cost of labour, many companies are outsourcing and automating anything that doesn’t need to be done in-house.
Naturally, these companies save money by maximizing the output of their current staff while reducing the need to hire more people. In addition to this, outsourced labour often doesn’t require pay benefits such as insurance, 401-k plans and workers compensation fees. Those alone present a huge cost/risk-savings for the organization.
Non-critical positions – such as telephone receptionists – can be automated or outsourced to a third-party call-center where a human being will answer the phone on behalf of your company.
In the past this might not have seemed feasible. However, with technology and the now-worldwide availability of the Internet, an administrative assistant can be on hand as needed.
Documents can also be shared via the Internet, and payments made on an “as needed” basis.
This type of outsourcing is becoming more and more prevalent as companies seek to minimize payroll growth yet remain functional in all aspects.
Not too long ago, every company needed to have someone on-staff who was literate in HTML if they wanted to regularly maintain a web site. Sometimes, they would even host the web site themselves! That scenario is hard to imagine with today’s dirt-cheap web hosting options, and the popularity of free high-quality content management systems like Joomla and WordPress.
Just as those roles were all automated or outsourced during the tech bubble burst, so will many other non-critical business functions in this crisis.
If you’re already providing technology services, you may want to consider adding other process automation and outsourced services that could complement your services portfolio.
For example, many companies that purchase web hosting services also make great customers for online backup.
As the economy continues to tighten, the demand for these types of services is bound to go up. And as Internet entrepreneurs, we are in a great position to leverage this trend to our advantage.
About The Author:
Storagepipe Solutions is an online backup provider that offers a wide range of partner options that allow technology consultants to provide their own web-based online backup solutions.