Nearshore, Onshore, Offshore: focus on different types of outsourcing

More and more companies are choosing to outsource one or more tasks previously supported internally. Let’s take a closer look at the three main types of outsourcing and the advantages of each one of them.

Outsourcing, an increasingly widespread practice

In recent years, outsourcing has become a widespread business practice. Today, in the midst of a pandemic, it has gained enough traction to be naturally integrated into companies’ business strategy. By choosing outsourcing, these companies win on several levels:

Cost reduction;
Elimination of repetitive business processes ;
Cost sharing ;
A tangible development of the company’s activities;
A talent pool at your fingertips;
A refinement of the commercial orientation;
A highly competitive outsourcing market;
Risk sharing;
Better efficiency;
Scalable operations;
Products and services sold at more competitive prices;
Resumption of activity in case of loss of competitiveness;
A better focus on the core business of the company;
Opening to the global market.

The three main types of outsourcing

Today, companies can choose between three forms of outsourcing: Offshore, Nearshore and Onshore. What are their main advantages?

Offshore outsourcing

This form of outsourcing consists in hiring the services of a provider that is geographically distant. For example, ProContact has 500 Positions spread over 3 multi-skills, complementary and highly secure sites based in Mauritius, Madagascar and Rodrigues.

The reasons why customers chose ProContact :

Significant cost savings: Cost rationalization has become a necessity today coupled with constant innovation to meet the increasingly precise and pressing needs of customers.

More flexible working hours: Offshore outsourcing allows companies to extend their working hours. This approach can increase the execution speed and productivity for all your projects. In a competitive industry where every minute counts and/or the loss of time is a failure, ProContact offers optimised solutions and innovative services that are according to your expectations:

A time difference of + 2 hours in summer/ + 3 hours in winter;
Outsourcing Services: prospecting, back office, customer relations, etc.;
Digital Services: web and digital outsourcing ;
Business Solutions: seat leasing;
Professional Services: business incorporation, accounting …

Take all the chances by employing an experienced project manager who will take care of the organisation of tasks while maintaining communication between teams and meeting deadlines.

A pool of talent: the fact is indisputable, it is becoming increasingly difficult for western companies to find the workforce they need to carry out certain tasks. Indeed, the market suffers from a glaring lack of qualified profiles, the latter themselves being victims of the increase in educational costs. At ProContact, we have built the reputation of our call centre on several key criteria:

Friendliness, a welcoming personality and always-ready-to-advise, but also resistance to conflict situations are recognised qualities of Mauritians,
A very strong francophone culture,
English-speaking fluency,
A dynamic and graduate population (in partnership with the University of Mauritius and ‘l’Alliance française’),
Quality technical infrastructure (IT and telecom),

Nearshore outsourcing

Nearshore outsourcing consists of renting the services of a provider located in a neighbouring or border country. The service is delivered in the same time zone and in a similar cultural, historical and linguistic setting.

This form of outsourcing is aimed at companies looking for a solution for rapid productivity, but above all closer in terms of geography and meeting the following criteria:

Reduced costs, but similar quality;
Project management techniques similar to that of the company ;
Same time zone;
A perfect cultural understanding.

Onshore outsourcing

In contrast to offshore and nearshore, onshore outsourcing involves hiring the services of a provider located in the same country as the client company. This facilitates interactions between teams and coordination of workload. However, these are available at higher costs!

Onshore outsourcing addresses the following issues:

Protection of intellectual property;
Avoiding communication problems;
Easier search for labour;
A Wider network to choose the right provider.

Outsourcing, a decision that requires organiSation and reflection

Overall, outsourcing requires rigorous organisation. In order to become a competitive advantage for the company that chooses this strategy, it is also necessary to consider the challenges that must be met before and during the delivery. Some non-exhaustive examples:

Is the provider up to date in the technologies it uses to take charge of your project?
What means do you have, on both sides, to share information?
In case of results below expectations, how much could a change of provider cost?
What are the production control methods?
Which profiles will be chosen to constitute the team dedicated to the project of the client company?

Three aspects to analyse very closely before choosing a type of outsourcing

When it comes to deciding on the right type of outsourcing for your project, three aspects are to be analysed:

Costs to hire an in-house workforce versus an outsourced one;
The level of expertise necessary for the success of your project;
Your ability to be flexible to include an external team to the existing one.

ProContact, your offshore outsourcing partner!

Present in Mauritius for more than 18 years, ProContact has become a reference in the world contact centre. Today, the company uses state-of-the-art techniques in the field of outsourcing and offshore call centres (telephone call centres). Thanks to trained, qualified, handpicked and multilingual agents, we allow companies that choose us to maintain their credibility and above all to satisfy their customers. To learn more about our services and for a quality partnership, click on our contact form, send us an e-mail or call us on (+33) 1 77 75 04 50.