When implemented well, outsourcing can boost your growth as an organization, regardless of your size. 

The rise of remote work has also given outsourcing a new face, where businesses can now tap into talent faraway.

This growth in outsourcing is reflected in how much the world is spending. 

In 2018, global market spending on outsourcing and shared services (OSS) amounted to approximately 688.4 billion U.S. dollars. By 2023, this market had spent an estimated 971.2 billion U.S. dollars, reflecting a 41.08% increase.

This is no different in the game development industry and other sectors. As we’ve observed at Arbonum, there has been an uptick in using outsourcing as a tool by digital agencies all over the world to achieve short-term, project-specific goals. 

This is evident in the 2024 Game Dev Report: Outsourcing vs Inhouse. As the report from 80LU noted “Although there’s a decline in reporting gross revenues of about 10% in the 1-5 million USD range, the segments of outsourcing companies with gross revenue exceeding 5 million USD significantly increased compared to 2022.” Shown in the figure below.

What does these figures say about the outsourcing industry?

  • Globally, spending on outsourcing grew by 41.08% from 2018 to 2023, reflecting its rapid industry-wide.
  • Outsourcing is a norm in game development, with 70% of companies using it for various tasks in 2021.

Benefits of Outsourcing

Why would you want to outsource some or all of your services as a software company, game development studio, or digital agency?

Probably to enjoy the benefits that come with it, right?

Well, it depends on your needs and objectives. However, on a general level, here are the benefits of outsourcing and why you might want to try it with your services as a firm.

  • A lot of firms outsource to save cost.

How? With outsourcing, you are able to eliminate or reduce expenses on certain administrative tasks such as hiring, training, and the cost of maintaining an in-house team. with cost savings being one of the most compelling. 

  • Also, when you outsource, you are able to tap into the vast talent spread around the world.

That way, you can use their expertise to handle certain tasks without needing to bring in a new employee.

  • Extra time for internal teams to focus on other important tasks

Once you outsource some of your tasks, you are giving internal teams more time to focus on the core business operations.

According to a Deloitte Global Outsourcing Survey for 2020, cost reduction is one of the main reasons firms outsource.

But it’s not the only factor based on the chart below. So while you may have different reasons, the end benefit should be a net-positive for your organization.

Challenges with outsourcing

  • There may be communication barriers, especially if you’re outsourcing to a remote team elsewhere
  • For companies outside your jurisdiction, say country or continent, time zone differences may also be a challenge
  • Without proper monitoring, there could also be a reduction in the quality of results

How do you identify which tasks to outsource?

In terms of possibilities, every task could probably be outsourced. But sure, it’s not every task that you would want to outsource as a business for various reasons. This is understandable, as some projects require an in-house team. 

So how do you determine which tasks to outsource? Here’s a criteria to help you.

  • Non-core business functions: Projects that may not be central to your business dealings could be outsourced. You don’t want a simple mistake from your outsourcing agency to cost your entire business. 
  • Tasks requiring specialized resources or skills: If you have projects or tasks that require specialized talent that you may not have in-house, then outsourcing could be a great option. This is especially good for projects that are one-time, which helps avoid hiring a full-time employee who may be redundant in the near future. 
  • Repetitive or time-consuming projects: Tasks and projects that take up a lot of in-house team’s time but may have little to no strategic impact on the company can also be outsourced.
  • Standard and measurable projects: You can also outsource projects and tasks that can easily be standardized and measured. This makes it easy to track progress with the outsourcing agency and also monitor and manage. 

Examples of tasks that are typically outsourced by an Arbonum client

Arbonum has lots of clients spanning multiple industries. We have clients in the game development industry, software engineering teams, digital marketing agencies, art studios, creative agencies, and more.

  1. Support (could be customer or technical): When you outsourcing customer support, you’re able to provide 24/7 service and support to customers. This reduces the work-load on your in-house support team.
  2. Data entry tasks: With the right processes in place, data entry can easily be outsourced. Sometimes, data entry can be time consuming as it’s mostly repetitive. It’s better to outsource. 
  3. Content creation and management: A lot of content creation tasks can be outsourced. These may include, but not limited to writing, content management, editing, video production, etc. 
  4. Graphic design: Graphic design is one of the easiest tasks to outsource. You’re able to access great outside talent that can augment your internal design team. 
  5. Software development and engineering: You can outsource software engineering tasks to professionals. It’s one of the industries or projects that is being outsourced all the time. You just need to right tools to monitor progress and manage delivery. 
  6. Accounting and bookkeeping tasks: Outsourcing accounting and bookkeeping tasks, including payroll is easy. 

What are some effective outsourcing strategies to follow

While you may have tasks you want to outsource, you don’t just get up and do it. You have to invest time and effort into everything, from finding the right agency to monitoring quality and delivery. Here are some strategies that work:

Researching and choosing the right agency

Your journey to outsourcing should start by identifying some good providers. You can do this through online research and referrals from colleague organizations. Some of the most important metrics when researching outsourcing agencies include pricing, location, communication channels, reputation, and experience. 

Draw out a clear communication and expectations roadmap

You would want to outline your communication strategies and what you expect from the outsourcing agency, including deliverables and timelines. This way, you can monitor updates and minimize misunderstandings.

Monitoring and quality assurance measures

As a business, you need to have in place measures to track quality. You should be constantly testing and monitoring progress and ensuring tasks align with your objectives. This works well to also identify any rising issues before they escalate into bigger ones.

Build strong relationships

You should never look at outsourcing as just a transactional contract. Rather, you should take it as a partnership, because once it works out well, you could have a long-term relationship that benefits both parties. To achieve this, you need to build trust over time. 

Conclusion

When implemented right, outsourcing can help you build on quality and increase your efficiency as a business. To achieve this, you need to carefully choose the tasks that can be outsourced while also monitoring quality to ensure you get the best out of your outsourcing agency.

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