The challenges that many business faces today are competitive price, increased staff salaries, limited availability of skilled personnel, inability to retain existing personnel, accelerated production schedules, and lackluster earnings. In many cases, such factors lead to a decision to outsource necessary tasks that fall outside an organization's core competency. This paper outlines some of the key drivers behind business process outsourcing, describes the high level process, and explains how GeoSpatial Systems’s Global Delivery Model may enhance the value of IT/GIS business process outsourcing. At its conclusion, the reader will understand the basic economic justification for outsourcing and to whom they can turn for a solution.

• Outsourcing Benefits

• Accelerate Reengineering Benefits
• Access to World Class Capabilities
• Cash Infusion
• Free Resources for Other Purposes
• Function Difficult to Manage or Out of Control
• Improve Company Focus
• Make Capital Funds Available
• Reduce Operating Costs
• Reduce Risk
• Resources not Available Internally

• Outsourcing Methodologies

Outsourcing typically replaces or augments the need to maintain an internal staff by providing a group of highly skilled and trained individuals working under the supervision of an independent contractor with specialized knowledge of the process in question. Perhaps the first question to be considered in choosing an outsourcing solution is where the contract staff will be located. Typical options are on-site, off-site, and offshore. These options, as well as GeoSpatial Systems’s Global Delivery Model, are discussed in more detail below.

• On-site Model

On-site is perhaps the most common form of outsourcing. The contractor staff members work on-site at the customer's facility in much the same manner as a customer employee. The customer may achieve some minimum outsourcing benefits such as shifting performance risk for non-core business functions to a contractor and elimination of overhead costs associated with employing the staff directly. They also enjoy direct access to the outsourced staff, which may be necessary for certain mission critical tasks, and peak or emergency periods. Compared to other options, however, the on-site model may not fully realize the potential cost savings from outsourcing.

• Off-site Model

Off-site refers to outsourcing to a domestic location other than the customer's site that is relatively close to the customer's site. Advantages include relative proximity to the outsourcing team and increased savings from no longer maintaining their facilities. With the use of various secure data communications technology, the off-site model can produce benefits to supplement or enhance core business service level requirements. While this is an appropriate application in many cases the off-site model may not provide the most cost-efficient solution.

• Offshore Model

Offshore outsourcing has recently become more prominent. It typically means outsourcing to a developing country where the costs are significantly lower. The personnel offer the same, if not higher, levels of education and, depending upon the type of services required, there may be a larger pool of professionals from which to draw. The principal advantage is cost, as the lower cost of doing business offshore can result in the greatest outsourcing savings. Although modern computer and communication technology enable virtual collaboration with remote sites, the main drawback remains lack of proximity to the outsourced project team and the potential difficulty of long distance communications. In the absence of a proven plan to overcome these obstacles, they can reduce or eliminate to cost benefits of the offshore model.

• Global Delivery Model

GeoSpatial Systems’s Global Delivery Model combines the best of all of the above models while minimizing their drawbacks. In this model, on-site or off-site staff communicates directly with the customer and coordinate the offshore performance of repetitive, labor intensive tasks. Limited on-site or off-site support offers enhanced communication and customer service without the cost of maintaining an entire team at these locations. Furthermore, our experience in working with offshore technical personnel helps to ensure that the cost benefits of offshore outsourcing are fully realized while maintaining the highest level of quality.
A business process, map digitization project, or data capture maintenance project can often be broken down into discreet units of work that can be distributed amongst a global team of designers, engineers, and technicians.

A customer who requires lower cost and access to a larger pool of resources while maintaining a rigid Service Level Agreements should consider the Global Delivery Model as an effective alternative to pure on-site, off-site, or offshore outsourcing. As a vendor experienced in the implementation of this business practice methodology, GeoSpatial Systems offers the ability to deliver a cost-effective, high value, and high quality business outsourcing solution. This frees the customer to build and focus on their core business and allow non-core business activities to become the responsibility of GeoSpatial Systems’s Pvt.Ltd.