Dedicated Offshore Staff
Offshore Outsourcing Models: Introduction | Outsourcing Road Map | Relationship Management | Staff Augmentation | Project-Based Deployment | Dedicated Offshore Staffing | Build Operate Transfer (BOT) | Managed Subsidiary | Captive Offshore Subsidiary | Joint Venture
Background
Often referred to as Offshore Delivery Centres or Offshore Development Centres - ODCs. These are managed facilities with fixed staffing levels. In many cases these include customer specific infrastructure, communications equipment, security arrangements and personnel functions. ODCs offer advantageous rates, but require longer-term contracts, typically with one to three year contract renewals.
ODCs frequently enable customers to be involved in the selection of resources and the supplier management team. Long-term engagement means that the resources gain a better understanding of the customers' requirements and business, and as a result provide a better return.
Having dedicated resources helps to protect customers' Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), and ensure that knowledge is retained within the company and always available to the customer.
When provided by a supplier that does not specialise wholly in this particular model, customers can find themselves paying a significant amount for premises, equipment and management overheads - although they will still be considerably cheaper than fixed price contract rates.
Advantages
- Continuity of resources
- Control over resource selection and management
- Retention of IPR and knowledge
- Cohesive and consistent understanding of products, corporate goals and working practices
- Improved communications by continual reinforcement and experience
- HR costs are inclusive
- Supplied infrastructure
- Cost savings.
Disadvantages
- Only suited to long-term and guaranteed on-going resource requirements
- Potential long wind down period, or financial penalties if requirement no longer needed
- Long term investment
- Lead-time before seeing return while centre beds in.
Criteria For Using Dedicated Offshore Staffing
Consider using dedicated offshore staffing when:
- There are guaranteed long-term requirements
- Continuity of resources is required
- On-going support and maintenance are required
- Growth and retraction is predictable
- A 'bench' needs to be maintained, where it is is significantly cheaper to do so onshore than off.
Points To Consider
- Will your supplier offer preferential terms for temporary resource assignments to meet peak demand?
- Exit strategy.
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