Predictions in Outsourcing –

Caitlin Stuart – Head of Financial Services Sector

Outsourcing to a VAhas remained in strong demand by Brokers during 2022, due to the cost effectiveness. Here is my predictions in outsourcing for 2023:

Data Security and CyberAttacks:

In the wake of multiple high profile cyber-attacks and data breaches in 2022, Brokers andAggregators alike are paying careful attention to Offshore Outsourcing VirtualAssistant (VA) providers to ensure they can do everything to keep client sensitive data safe and secure.

Best practise in this space is often created as a result of the company working within ISO 27001 guidelines, however there are some key areas that Brokers should ask about when considering working with an outsourcing provider:

Storage of Client Sensitive Date: This must remain onshore to comply with Australian Privacy Principles 8.1. Understanding how data is handled to avoid incorrect storage is important.

Personal Device Policies: Best practice is to ensure that your VAis not able to access or use their personal devices at any time while working.

Multi FactorAuthentication: Should be always enabled for systems access.Avoid the use of mobile numbers, as it may be easy to port an international number without authorisation.Authentication apps are best used in this Instance.

Working in an Office: Although the world has adapted to WFH, it can be fraught with compliance risks when outsourcing.The only way to be confident is to use a provider who runs all operations from an office environment, with appropriate security measures in place.

Brokers are looking carefully at process and workflow to build more efficient Businesses:

Many Brokers are aware that to get the most efficiencies out of their day, they need to establish processes and workflows. Not only will this help them understand where time is being spent, it may also create the opportunity to improve processes to get more time back for business development or personal time.

Solo brokers who don’t have the time to create processes are turning to VAproviders like Affordable Staff more often, due to their experience in hiring high quality staff, but also to have additional resources in the business to document processes.This is a trend that will continue strongly in 2023 as business owners focus on operational excellence as a growth strategy.