HOW The Indians are beating the Cowboys by Mirraculin

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Armando R. Osdaña, MM, RN

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

ABOUT THIS BOOK

This book explains the value of outsourcing the business processes that an organization has. Subsequently, you will find along the way while you are reading this book, a number of effective ways to efficiently outsource your business process requirements and tasks

to “non-organic” personnel thru the

internet in an online setting .

A number of outsourcing sites have been identified in this book and a comparative analysis has been presented to help gu ide the readers in their outsourcing efforts.

Conclusively, the author has identified a site which is outstanding in its dealing with freelance contractors; and employer clients

terms

service,

system

integration,

system

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

maintenance,

financial

schem e,

professionalism

and

responsiveness.

The readers will also find a comparative analysis between that identified

outstanding

outsourcing

site and

the current

Australian market. Finally, the step by step process on how to manage your outsourced online staff can be found nearing the end of this book.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

PROLOGUE Ian knew that the company he is trying to build would need a web site. He spent three months trying to figure out how to set up this website. The complication of having the domain and hosting stuck Ian even more â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in order to publish the website in the internet, he has to have a domain and hosting capability. Ian started to ask his friends and was told that Word Press is the best solution because they are free and starter friendly , not to mention the promise of being famous that his new company can . So, in the process he spent another couple of months figuring out DNS, installation, Web plugins, and advertising widgets. After all those, he was not satisfied with the format and he ended up messing with his website for another month. Ian spent several months and a considerable amount of money even before his business can star t earning. Ian knew that time is money; and in truest sense, time is priceless because it cannot be bought back. He felt remorse for messing up what could have outsourced to talented specialists who are aces in their own rights.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works Table of Contents About this book 2 Prologue

Section 1 | Introduction

Section 2 | The Business Process and The Workforce Section 3 | Outsourcing: A Business Solution

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barrier Section 5 | oDesk: An Outsourcing Paradise

Section 6 | oDesk Rates And Australian Workforce Market Rates 38 Section 7 | Taking The oDesk Advantage: A definite way to successful outsourcing

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 1 | Introduction

Introduction

T he

best

company

asset

could

have

that is

its

workforce. Over time, it has been

shown

several

arguments by a number of authority figures in managing; and has been an accepted fact in the corporate world. Although, it is undeniable that a company will not survive without financial capital, the money invested in a company’s operation will go to drain without the utilization of proper workforce; who is fit to do the job properly – capital equity will not generate the aspired profits and for the worst of it, money spent might not come back at all. Fiction themes that we see in the movies have sometimes portrayed computers doing the work

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 1 | Introduction

that man should have been doing. You can name the movie theme and you have it – Bicentennial Man; Terminator; and many more. However, thinking properly would lead a person to deduce that these are not possible without human efforts. Yes, its true… the automation that computers we see everyday perhaps don’t fail to amaze us but; even automation that various computers offer requires

human

efforts

–

computer

programming.

So,

who

deserves the honor and admiration then, - the computer running amazingly or the workforce who made and programmed it to run amazingly?

In an effort to efficiently manage workforce, human societies developed the art and science of managing people we call in the present day situation as Human Resources Management or simply HR Management. It can be remembered that in the 50’s scientific management was formulated by people, who represent the general desire of society to develop and live conveniently.

It has then

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 1 | Introduction

been

evident

how

business

organizations

have

adopted

the

concept of scientific administration and supervision; which has been applied to the general workforce of the human society regardless of national boundaries.

Several

studies

have

been

conducted

improve

the

management of the workforce which eventually has one common denominator – improved production, and financial profits. There then, the concept of 8 to 5 work- going to the work site, has been the acceptable norms of the society as a measurement of productivity that an adult is expected of. Those days from the fifties to the eighties regarded routine tasks and routine personnel to be outstanding. The society perceived that if you don’t have an 8 to 5 job, you are jobless thence, not productive. In the eighties, salesmen were scorned and looked down, because of the simple fact that they are not bound to an 8 to 5 job that has a basic salary; and they are not work site bound – they go anywhere. So,

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 1 | Introduction

basing on this concept, the workforce has been managed and supervised for several decades under the guidance of Theory X and Theory Y (rewards and punishment, respectively). That is the way

the

human

resources

management

organization

administer the workforce; and such is a result of the prevailing socio-cultural perspective at that time.

Those were the days, but time changes and along with the changes of time, societies also do. Respective indigenous cultures are also modified in response to the challenges of time. In this regard, the manner by which a member of the society would manage a company (or the workforce) would be reflected also. The desire of the general population to get more and more quality from the services they get makes the service delivery system more competitive and as a result, constant development programs were adopted by more and more companies to impr ove the soft skills or skill sets of the workforce behind their service delivery.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 1 | Introduction

As the cost of development and continuous quality effort rises, business processes also react to the changes in time. Such situation in many business entities worldwide ope ned a door of opportunities for outsourced personnel in physical form – freelance people who do the job for a company but required to report in the physical set-up. Freelance operations gain reputation then; so, from being few in the eighties it continuall y increased in the nineties.

However,

communication,

with

the

continuous

advent

improvement

internet, of

improved

services

and

virtualization; the once physical based “freelancing” evolved into virtual form where the provider of services need not to be present in the physical office anymore but can work at home or anywhere for as long as the job gets done. To a sense, this is a realization of the management concept called “performance - based”.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 2 | The Business Process and The Workforce

The Business Process and The Workforce

P rocesses of

are the results

operating

business;

and the ultimate means of Business processes are to produce

the

expected

targets and objectives to be

met

attaining

business goals. Nowadays, the dictates of customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tastes opened windows of competition among companies. In addressing these competitive challenges, businesses strive and race among themselves to do value adding to their product and services in order to gain more of the customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; attention resulting to profit generation. The result of these actions towards value -

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 2 | The Business Process and The Workforce

adding and addressing the competition is an incremental curve in the business processes regardless of national boundaries.

INPUT

PROCESS OUTPUT

OUTPUT

It is the Input – Process – Output thing that gives a business organization to attain business goals, which is basically, profit generation.

One can identify business processes from routines to responsive. Business process ranging from c leaning the office, file handling and management, customer handling, call handling, infrastructure set-up, and many more are devised as a result of inputs and, are meant to deliver output.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 2 | The Business Process and The Workforce

With the increase in business process is an incremental curve in workforce demand as well; because they are the one who will do the business processes. Conversation with a number of HR managers will lead you to hear the sentence, “No one is indispensable.” Well, that might be true for an individual at a particular time, and given a particular demand, but in general, people are indispensable in carrying out business process es.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 3| OUTSOURCING: A Business Solution

Outsourcing: A Business Solution As what have always been phenomenal, people seek for better alternatives and since business organizations are composed of people, the organization would reflect the individuals within its culture. Therefore business organizations, not considering national boundaries, go for better alternatives as well; thereby making comfortable hits on organizational goals.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 3| OUTSOURCING: A Business Solution

It has always been the goal of every human, as reflected in the process of evolution – seeking comfortable ways and making life enjoyable.

To this end, it has been very common to outsource business processes since the late 80’s and, as what was mentioned in section 1 of this book; it has continuously been increasing and became more common in the nineties. So, freelance activities have gained increasing demand and popularity. The reason is obvious: A company hiring a freelance staff would not have to mind the union activities; the medical insurance; the social security and so forth. In a sense, when a business organization outsource a task to freelance people, that business entity is actually paying for what the particular job segment only – not considering many things as what is happening when a company hire employees and permanent staff.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 3| OUTSOURCING: A Business Solution

On the side of the freelance agents or personnel, thinking about being competitive is an ongoing theme. These people would of course, want to deliver quality out of their service at the lowest possible price to be competitive enough.

As shown here, people overseas are doing a business process of placing calls and handling costumer concerns for a company wherein they are not organic personnel.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 3| OUTSOURCING: A Business Solution

The desire to be chosen all the time as the “contractor” of the job would always be a perpetual motivator for these freelance entities to please their respective c ustomers. This scenario is very favorable to the companies hiring them, because of cost efficiency (the art of spending less and having more).

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers S ocial

norms,

demand

for

turnaround

technology, fast

job

time,

and

demand for quality are some of the factors that motivate the

society

adding

challenges to business organizations. In a sense, the response of companies worldwide in form of technology to address the ever present

challenges

provided

exploratory

templates

improve what has been normally done by organizations in the past.

One of these responsive measures is online outsourcing. With the advent of improvements in telecommunication and data transfer, the internet has been a very fertile ground for file

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

transfer, file sharing and even for hosting a working environment. Online outsourcing is utilizing the internet for data transfer, for hosting of working environment, and for communicatio n solutions in order to fulfill a business process, a family process, or even personal dealing requirements. This is done by hiring people through the internet, and paying them as well with current online payment systems like PayPal ™, AlertPay ™, MoneyBoo kers ™ and even direct wire transfer to the bank of the person doing the job. In a sense, online outsourcing requirements can be delivered by an individual (like your chat mate in Yahoo), a group (like Dimension Organizational Solution) or a company with a formal juridical entity (like oDesk) which offers a working environment for transacting online job requirements .

Working at home while performing duties for the companies they work for has been the dream of many working professionals since the advent of the rise in freelance activities in the nineties.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

The composition of this “work at home” workforce is in no way less than what you find everyday in your office. They have real talents, skills and knowledge but, they are just caught in a various array of situations that led them to choose working home ther eby defying physical boundaries.

For

companies,

having

these

types

people

can

advantageous as well. For instance, you will be able to get workers from overseas at usually lower rates than what you can have from your local geographical setting; and with talents that is at par with your expectations or perhaps better.

At this stage, a lot of online outsourcing sites can be found. Some are scammers who take money from freelance people and from prospective employers without delivering anything; whil e others are real.

This book

however

will not discuss those

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

scamming

networks; rather,

the focus will be those

online

outsourcing sites that provide real services in various ways.

To illustrate a comparative point and a birdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye view, a number of outsourcing sites have been identified and described herewith, as follows: 1. oDesk 2. Guru 3. People Per Hour 4. Your Man In India 5. Scriptlance 6. Ask Sunday 7. Do My Stuff 8. Tasks Everyday 9. Bpovia 10. Micro Sourcing 11. Offshore Experts 12. Freelancer 21 ÂŠ2011 All Rights Reserved

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

oDesk

Overview: An online workplace and a market place of talents. Both employers and contractors are free to join. No limit with regards to application categories. Has a special and dedicated engine for monitoring hourly work of staff hired.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

Guru

Overview : Some limitations with regards to membership fees: a contractor will not be able to place bids effectively without upgrading account. For more info visit: http://www.guru.com

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

People Per Hour

Overview: Free to join, but the support is not as good as oDesk. Verification

identity

before

transfer

funds

not

established. Limited categories for contractors.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

Your Man In India

Overview: Requires membership fee for upgraded services. Rates are not to competitive. For more info visit: http://www.yourmaninindia.com

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

Scriptlance

Overview: Very limited capability… to know please visit: http://www.scriptlance.com

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

Ask Sunday

Overview: More dedicated to personal chores than company business process.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

Do My Stuff

Overview: More dedicated to personal chores than business processes.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

Tasks Everyday

Overview: http://www.taskseveryday.com

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

Bpovia

Overview: This site offers only the services of their company. An employer will not know who will work for them. For details, visit: http://www.bpovia.com

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

Micro Sourcing

Overview: A dynamic outsourcing site, but relatively new.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

Offshore Experts

Overview: Not really an outsourcing site. Everyone can get and post anything. Its like a market place.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 4 | Online Outsourcing: Defying Physical Barriers

Freelancer

Overview: Category is limited to 10 per contractor. Has a template for hourly jobs but no software to supervise such.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 5 | oDesk: An Outsourcing Paradise

oDesk: An Outsourcing Paradise From the data gathered from all of the sites presented in the preceding section of this book, it can be deduced that oDesk is an outsourcing paradise. It is a very fertile ground for companies to have

successful

outsourcing

strategies.

oDesk

online

outsourcing environment that offers free membership to f reelance workforce. Unlike other sites, that charge fees from freelance contractors for their membership, oDesk allows a contractor to participate in bidding simply by joining and creation of profile initially, then verification of identity subsequently. Most of the contractors in oDesk had their identity verified through a process similar to what AlertPayâ&#x201E;˘ is doing.

For prospective employers, it is free to join, post a job, and conduct interviews or screening on the group of prospective contractors

for

the

job

requirements.

Basically,

prospective

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 5 | oDesk: An Outsourcing Paradise

employers in oDesk – individuals and companies alike, can post a job free but they need to submit a credit card for verification. It is also through this card that the payment requests for a finished service would be billed.

In this outsourcing paradise – oDesk, there about 100,000 jobs being posted in a month; with about 1.5 million freelance professionals (both active and inactive) to do the job. The preceding facts are important for successful outsourcing of any company. Considering that oDesk does not charge any fee at all, many contractors, especially those who are avoiding scams would join oDesk. High quantity of qualified contractors available to do the job would mean accomplished task in an efficient man ner; because the job requirement will not stay for a long time in the ad post.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 5 | oDesk: An Outsourcing Paradise

Aside from the free things in oDesk, a prospective employer can take advantage of not paying any newspaper advertisements (which are costly nowadays) in looking for workers. I n addition to this, oDesk has a very supportive environment and systems that will objectively show the qualification of contractors. These two systems are the oDesk Tests and the Feedback System. In contrast with all of the online sites cited in the prece ding section, oDesk does not charge any fees at all from contractors who

would

take

examinations.

Examinations

ranging

from

Accounting to Enterprise Resource Solution to Management to Six Sigma Black Belt to Writing Skills Tests and many more are being conducted in oDesk free of charge. Consequently, an objective parameter can be shown to the prospective employers as to what the contractors can do. Below is an example of what will appear in a contractorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s profile with regards to his tests.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 5 | oDesk: An Outsourcing Paradise

It is also worth looking at the feedback system which is being used by employers and contractors to give comments on their respective working relationships. Below are some sets of feedback taken from various contractor profiles in oDesk

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 6 | oDesk Rates and Australian Workforce Market Rates

oDesk Rates and Australian Workforce Market Rates Cost and quality has to be weighted against each other. Of course, it has not been heard of that a person bought a brand new Mercedes Benz C200 for the price of a Used Toyota Corolla XE. It is logical then to think that even in market place of outsourcing, people who bid less is not prepared to offer more. Thus, the quality might be questionable. However, the asking prices of freelance personnel are basically a reflection of th eir own thinking that is surely affected by several other factors.

In showing the difference between oDesk, which is a virtual office, and the Australian rates in general, eight skills categories were taken as comparative points. These categories are Project Management; Customer Relationship Management; Administration; Recruiting; Research Analysis; Auto CAD; Phone Support , and 3-D Rendering. The data of Australian pay rates were taken from

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 6 | oDesk Rates and Australian Workforce Market Rates

payscale.com; while the data of oDesk rates were taken from actual ongoing contracts inside oDesk. Project Management Australian hourly pay rates

Actual oDesk Rate in an ongoing Contract

Customer Relationship Management Australian hourly pay rates

Actual oDesk Rate

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 6 | oDesk Rates and Australian Workforce Market Rates

Administration Australian hourly pay rates

Actual oDesk Rate in an ongoing Contract

Recruiting Australian hourly pay rates

Actual oDesk Rate in an ongoing Contract

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 6 | oDesk Rates and Australian Workforce Market Rates

Research Analysis Australian hourly pay rates

Actual oDesk Rate in an ongoing Contract

Auto CAD Australian hourly pay rates

Actual oDesk Rate in an ongoing Contract

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 6 | oDesk Rates and Australian Workforce Market Rates

Phone Support Australian hourly pay rates

Actual oDesk Rate in an ongoing Contract

3-D Rendering Australian hourly pay rates

Actual oDesk Rate in an ongoing Contract

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 6 | oDesk Rates and Australian Workforce Market Rates

The preceding data show that oDesk has more competitive rates compared to current Australian pay rates in the workforce market. The feedback system that was discussed in the preceding chapter also shows that there is a dynamic relation between contractors and employers; and the people working for the companies who outsource their respective projects to oDesk community are really existing and working . In addition to all these, it is worthwhile to remember that oDesk conducts reliable tests for all its contractor members to take. How reliable? -

An interview

with one contractor challenging the reliability of the tests revealed that he took the ERP test though he is not knowledgeable in that field. To that end, he failed the test. That is how reliable the test s being conducted by oDesk are. So, the reliability, the dynamism on professional relation and the competitively affordable pay rates within oDesk would surely lead a company to eventually have its work done; and perhaps ahead of schedule.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 7 | Taking the oDesk Advantage: A definite way to successful outsourcing

Taking the oDesk Advantage: A definite way to successful outsourcing Below is the summary of oDesk advantage.

Aside

from

competitive

rates,

company

outsourcing

their

business process to the freelance contractors in oDesk, would have the following advantages should they take the decision to join oDesk and look for freelance people to settle their business processes:

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 7 | Taking the oDesk Advantage: A definite way to successful outsourcing

1. Manageability

hired

contractors through

oDeskTeam

™

Application which is seen below. This software will allow you to monitor staff working for your projects.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 7 | Taking the oDesk Advantage: A definite way to successful outsourcing

2. Objective reflection and recording of hourly job done through a diary that is reflected a screen shot below. Ea ch 10 minute segment of a job is reflected herein, a screenshot of what the contractor is doing is also uploaded in the oDesk Database.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 7 | Taking the oDesk Advantage: A definite way to successful outsourcing

3. A lot more of value added and information rich systems that would absolutely help in making wise decisions. A tabular data page is presented here while, a graph is presented next page.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Section 7 | Taking the oDesk Advantage: A definite way to successful outsourcing

4. Finally, there is a highly reliable payment system that really provides value for your time and money spent in oDesk

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Disclaimer

So, here are the contact details of oDesk. Get in touch; do not delay your incoming success in outsourcing your business process. http://www.odesk.com

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works

Disclaimer

Disclaimer:

This book was written as a part of testing. Due to time constraint, the

information

provided

herein

cannot

supported

with

references; although to the best of the author’s knowledge, all those are correct at the time they were gathered.

All graphics found in this book are non – proprietary to this work. Those were merely taken and placed as a holder of a place for the proper artwork during the project proper.

OUTSOURCING: Changing The Way The World Works