Written by Jill Manty · November 1, 2010
In a comment on our article about starting a new website, Trevor Harris wrote:
I myself would not hire a whole company to build my websites. I would outsource from the Phillipines, from a quality outsourcing site. But if you do decide to outsource you could pay them monthly, to also do all that other stuff you don’t like to do; like getting backlinks. And people from the Phillipines are very reliable and efficient, and make sure they finish the job. But you could also just hire them for the one job, and be done. It would also be much cheaper as well.
That got me to thinking. Offshore outsourcing for small businesses (especially internet marketing related ones) has been a growing area. Personally, we don’t participate in offshore outsourcing, although we do outsource within the United States. But as I was looking for information to reply to Trevor, I found it difficult to find unbiased information on outsourcing to another country, such as India or the Philipines. So, I decided to gather some links on the sites that I found that offered some of the pros and cons, so that if you are considering this path, you’ll have some resources to read.
Here they are, in no particular order:
Outsource2India.com— a good list of advantages and disadvantages. One advantage listed: Outsourcing can help your organization to free up its cash flow. One disadvantage listed: In outsourcing, you may lose your control over the process that is outsourced.
Lovetoknow.com—a lot of the same information as the above list but expanded a bit with more examples.
Outsourcingprosandcons.net— over 70 articles on the topic, including ones about specific industries or process. Some of my favorites: Pros and Cons of Help Desk Outsourcing, Outsourcing Human Resources – Pros and Cons, and Outsourcing Help: Pros And Cons Of Outsourcing. Please note that while many of the articles are listed under pros and cons, they neglect to mention the cons. Also, many are written by people who own, operate or promote outsourcing services.
Entrepreneur.com— a slightly older article, it still contains good information about what, when and why to outsource.
WebProWorld.com— a good forum discussion on the topic.
I’m sure there are other articles and websites that do a good job of addressing the question of offshore outsourcing from a neutral perspective. If you know of any, please be sure to post them in the comments.
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