How to choose a bidder for Outsourcing your project?

You have taken the decision to outsource your writing job to a freelancer in a far away land. It seems that this freelancer can write in the language you prefer and the initial impression is favorable. The bidder has given a reasonable cost and time span within which you should receive the content. So far so good and you appear to be satisfied! Now you wait for the results to come back at the stipulated time span, thereby enabling you to implement your much cherished goal of having a web site that will become the envy of others!


Days go by, even a couple of weeks have passed and you have heard nothing from the bidder you so carefully chose to write your web content. You are frustrated and know that nothing can be done since the distance that separates you from your bidder is no easy deal. No replies to your desperate emails and no way you can find out what happened! You now wish that you had first learn how to choose a bidder in this business!

The Seven Steps to the top of the Outsourcing Ladder!

We all wish there was a fool proof method of doing business on the Internet but there is not! We have still to rely upon the "word of mouth" as a means of realizing an outsourced deal. There are many agencies dealing with outsourcing, bidding sites, and freelancers who strive to make it big in the business world. It is therefore good to think of the seven golden rules for choosing a bidder from the multitude of freelancers who reply to your project query. It is like climbing the 7 rungs of the ladder to success, knowing fully well that each rung could give way and you would fall all the way down like in the game of "snakes and ladders"! How do we keep climbing this proverbial Outsourcing Ladder?

* When you choose a bidder to your project, do look at the profile a bit more carefully than just a cursory glance. Read between the lines and try to get into the shoes of your bidder - and what you would do if you were the bidder in this project. In short - know your bidder as you would love to know your client!

* It is a very luring world in the outsourcing field as several bidders will give you attractive propositions. You must remember that it's the "meat" in their bids that is important and not the number of words they write to win your bid. Few words that say a lot is the cue to making a good deal with outsourcing bidders.

* India, Pakistan, China, The Philippines, and other South East Asian countries have made a mark in freelancing due to their lower overheads and cost of living. This is one of the reasons why outsourcing has become such an attractive alternative for the developed nations of the world. Understanding the criteria that guides these freelancers or companies can give you a more viable outsourcing of your project.

* English is a language spoken in many parts of the outsourcing world. If you are in the western hemisphere like US, Canada, or UK - or in Australia where English is the medium of conversation, it is necessary to hire or outsource to freelancers who are proficient in the language. Check out this point before you decide on the final bidder.

* The financial aspects are most important as a fallout in this context can lead to misunderstanding and breakdown of the outsourcing concept. Escrowing funds, PayPal, Moneybookers, fund transfer medium are points worth clarifying prior to sealing the outsourcing deal.

* Check out the credentials of the freelance bidders as that gives valuable information.

* Last but not the least; try to have a direct contact with the freelancers. This is now viable through Instant Messengers, Skype, Google Talk and other cheap communication means!

Nothing is more frustrating than a outsourced project collapse and we must all try to avoid this by taking the right steps in processing our projects.

Outsourcing brings Possibilities

Globalization has been brutal to midwestern manufacturers similar to the Paper Converting Machine Co. For decades, PCMC's Green Bay (Wis.) factory, its greased wooden factory flooring worn out smooth by work boots, thrived by making ever-more-intricate gear to plait, fold, and print packaging meant for everything from potato chips to infant wipes.

But PCMC has fallen on difficult times. Initially came the 2001 recession. Afterward, two years ago, one of the company's biggest customers advised it to cut down its machinery costs by 40% and asked it to move production to China. Previous year, a St. Louis holding company, Barry-Wehmiller Cos., earned the manufacturer and without delay cut recruits and nonunion pay. Within 5 years profits have plunged by 40%, to $170 million, and the staff has shrunk from 2,000 to 1,100. Employees have been distressed, pronounces operations manager Craig Compton, a powerfully built ex- hockey player. "All you hear about is China and all these companies closing or taking their operations overseas."

Nevertheless Compton states, he is "probably the most optimistic I've been in five years." Expectation is emerging from an unusual source. As a fraction of its turnaround tactic, Barry-Wehmiller plans to transfer some design work to its 160-engineer center in Chennai, India. By means of experiencing U.S. and Indian designers collaborate 24/7, explains Vasant Bennett, head of Barry-Wehmiller's engineering services unit, PCMC hopes to cut down development expenditure and time, acquire orders it repeatedly missed because of engineering pressures - and continue production in Green Bay. Barry-Wehmiller says the strategy already has boosted gains at some of the thirty two other midsize U.S. machinery manufacturers it has bought. "We can compete and create great American jobs," vows CEO Robert Chapman. "But not without offshoring."

Three years ago, ever since the offshore move of skilled work sparked extensive debate and a political firestorm it has been portrayed as the executioner of good quality paying American jobs. Highly educated tech and service experts have to compete against legions of hungry college grads in India, China, and the Philippines eager to work twice as hard for one-fifth the pay, this is a severe new risk that U.S. workers face.

In actual fact, the worries that these workers hold are not entirely baseless. The major motive of most corporate bean counters jumping on the offshoring bandwagon has been to benefit from such "workforce arbitrage" - the massive wage variance concerning industrialized and developing nations. And without doubt, large layoffs over and over again accompany big outsourcing deals.

The moves can be tough and deep. Other than that a more enlightened, crucial outlook of worldwide sourcing is commencing to emerge as managers get a better solution on its potential. "Transformational outsourcing" is the latest jargon. Many executives are discovering offshoring is actually about corporate expansion, making better usage of expert U.S. workforce, and even occupation formation in the U.S., not only inferior wages abroad. True, the labor cost savings from global sourcing can still be significant. But it's peanuts as opposed to the huge gains in proficiency, productivity, quality, and revenues that is usually accomplished by fully leveraging offshore talent.

Thus CEOs such as Chapman see a probability to spin failing businesses, speed up their tempo of innovation, or sponsor development campaigns that otherwise would have been unaffordable. More assertive outsourcers are steering to produce radical business types which may allot them a position and revolutionize the experience in their industries. High-tech multinationals see offshoring as a means for a broader plan to pass out-of-date office operations and train for fresh competitive battles.

Trends On Outsourcing Strategies

Contrary to what some naysayers of outsourcing are saying, the industry is alive and well, and it seems that it's going to stay for a long while yet. Competition in outsourcing is becoming very stiff now, what with the industry expanding, as is what professional services firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers surmised in its Jan, 2010 report. Everyone wants a piece of the cake, but when everyone's toting the same salver, it's a bit difficult to decide to whom to give a piece to.

Which then begs the question: What strategies are some of the outsourcing companies employing now in order to differentiate themselves from the competition? Well, taking a look at the recent outsourcing news, here's what we found:

They're Forming Partnerships

"Strategic partnership" is the term, and that's what these companies are doing now, take Fortify and Keypair Technologies, Liquent and TAKE Solutions (NSE:TAKE), Hexaware (NSE:HEXAWARE) and EBaoTech, or the most well known of the bunch, Wipro (NYSE:WIT) and Main Street America Group, who all announced new strategic partnerships on March 4. All of these companies forged their strategic partnerships to help them broaden their reach and improve their offerings.

They're Refocusing their Business

The very nature of outsourcing is that it allows you to focus on your business; outsourcing companies themselves should already be experts with this. Thus, it wasn't so surprising when the news came out on March 4 that Convergys (NYSE:CVG) had sold their HRM line of business to NorthgateArinso. With this move, Convergys will be able to focus on their business, and as their CEO, Jeff Fox put it, "[the move] provides an opportunity for Convergys to focus our investments and efforts on growing our Customer Management and Information Management businesses." And Convergys is not the only one who's refocusing their business. Infosys (NASDAQ:INFY), on March 5, made it known that they are now planning on having a third of their revenue come from new services such as cloud computing and platform-based offerings. This is in line with adopting a ‘pay-per-use business model' wherein customers will be paying only for what they use, and what results they achieve. As Infosys' CEO Senapathy Gopalakrishnan so ably put it, "It increases the risk, and the way we can make money is when the platform is shared. We can't make money on a single deal because competition will make sure that our margins are very less. And you have to remember that we need to share these revenues with other vendors." By focusing on less ventured waters, Infosys is ensuring that they'll get a nice foothold in that market.

They're Going Green

Going Green is now a big issue in many countries, including the United States and this doesn't just go for the big companies. Even right down to the home makers, people are finding the environment a big issue and a noteworthy cause. Which is why the move done by Xerox (NYSE:XRX) company, ACS, merits one for the books as an effective strategy, not to mention that they're also helping the environment. On March 4, ACS unveiled their newest green effort which is the state-of-the-art green data center at Telford in the UK. The center boasts of "the best-of-breed technology with the highest caliber of green credentials," and the ability to save up to 70% of energy costs while reducing the carbon footprint by approximately 4,200 metric tonnes annually. With this impressive data center, which was designed and built by IBM (NYSE:IBM), ACS is clearly showing the public their stance and support for becoming more environmentally friendly, ushering the company into the public's, or any potential clients, good graces.

They're Keeping Their Ear to the Ground

What about us you ask? Well our strategy is that we keep our ear to the ground. Information is essential and keeping up to date on your competitors and prospective clients is a must. Of course it's not always easy to do so when there are a million things to do, and another million things are happening in the world, not just in outsourcing. But it really does pay to be informed. With us, we offer email outsourcing news subscription service as a value added service, which is not only good for, well anyone who's interested in outsourcing since the service is free and open to anyone, but also with us because this allows us to go through the news on a daily basis and see what's up in the world of outsourcing.

These are only four, from a span of two days mind you, and I'm sure there are hundreds of different ways outsourcing companies can differentiate themselves from their competition. The only question now is do you use them?