What is Outsourcing?

  So, what is it? Outsourcing is contracting with another company or person to do a particular function. Almost every organization outsources in some way or another. Typically, the function being outsourced is considered non-core to the business. An insurance company, for example, might outsource its janitorial and landscaping operations to firms that specialize in those types of work since they are not related to insurance or strategic to the business. The outside firms that are providing the outsourcing services are third-party providers, or as they are more commonly called, service providers.

  Although outsourcing has been around as long as work specialization has existed, in recent history, companies began employing the outsourcing model to carry out narrow functions, such as payroll, billing and data entry and in the game and hobby industry this can be writing additional content, layout, graphic design, artwork, and even printing and packaging. Those processes could be done more efficiently, and therefore more cost-effectively, by other companies with specialized tools and facilities and specially trained personnel.

  Currently, outsourcing takes many forms. Organizations still hire service providers to handle distinct business processes, such as benefits management. But some organizations outsource whole operations. The most common forms are information technology outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO).

  Business process outsourcing encompasses call center outsourcing, human resources outsourcing (HRO), finance and accounting outsourcing, and claims processing outsourcing. These outsourcing deals involve multi-year contracts that can run into hundreds of millions of dollars. Frequently, the people performing the work internally for the client firm are transferred and become employees for the service provider. Dominant outsourcing service providers in the information technology outsourcing and business process outsourcing fields include IBM, EDS, CSC, HP, ACS, Accenture and Capgemini.

  Some nimble companies that are short on time and money, such as start-up software publishers, small independent game publishers, hobbyists etc. apply multisourcing -- using both internal and service provider staff -- in order to speed up the time to launch. They hire a multitude of outsourcing service providers to handle almost all aspects of a new project, from product design, to software coding, to testing, to localization, and even to marketing and sales.

  The process of outsourcing generally encompasses four stages; in the order listed:

• Strategic thinking, to develop the organization's philosophy about the role of outsourcing in its activities.
• Evaluation and selection, to decide on the appropriate outsourcing projects and potential locations for the work to be done and service providers to do it.
  
• Contract development, to work out the legal, pricing and service level agreement (SLA) terms.
  
• Outsourcing management or governance, to refine the ongoing working relationship between the client and outsourcing service providers.

  In all cases, outsourcing success depends on three factors: executive-level support in the client organization for the outsourcing mission; ample communication to affected employees; and the client's ability to manage its service providers. The outsourcing professionals in charge of the work on both the client and provider sides need a combination of skills in such areas as negotiation, communication, project management, the ability to understand the terms and conditions of the contracts and service level agreements (SLAs), and, above all, the willingness to be flexible as business needs change.

  The challenges of outsourcing become especially acute when the work is being done in a different country (offshored), since that involves language, cultural and time zone differences.

So How Can Polymancer Studios G&H Help You?

  We can take the drudgery out of the tasks you dislike doing or you feel you are not skilled enough to complete to your own satisfaction. Wouldn't you rather delegate those tasks to someone else to do and have more free time for the things you love doing? Here is a list of the services we can provide to you to help you out.

• Convention Support – We will attend for you. Demonstrate and promote it for all to see.
• Playtesting - Need your new idea tested and get quality feedback, we do this weekly.
• Marketing, Promotion, and Advertising - We get the word out for you in a variety of ways and to a whole pile of different avenues that you may not have thought of before. Of course we also handle the more traditional routes as well.
• Printing - POD, Digital, and Offset. We can do it all for you at a fraction of the cost of commercial printers.
• Layout - We take your raw text and artwork, and create a visual masterpiece using either the Adobe Suite of Products or Quark Xpress and produce a final product that is ready for the printer, the ebook store, or your website.
• Graphic Design, Logos, and Artwork - We have a skilled staff who can produce for you what you envision.
• Written Content - Need additional text to fill out a book or manual, we can do the research and supply you with quality content.

Just use our Contact Us page and tell us what you are looking for and we will be pleased to help you out.