Outsourcing has become a huge part of modern business. When done right, it can play a key role in giving your company the edge it’s missing over competitors.
Put simply, outsourcing is when you obtain goods or services that are integral to the running of your business, from suppliers who are specialised in such work. The most common types of outsourcing are Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO).
Companies that use BPO commonly do so for services such as human resource management, accounting, and payroll. Companies that use ITO do so for services like cloud management and web design. When it comes to outsourcing for Canadian companies, it is highly likely that suppliers may be based overseas, where services can be availed of at a cheaper rate than here in Canada.
We’re going to breakdown which countries are best for your business to look to outsource from, based on what services they have to offer and the quality of those services.
Ukraine
Eastern Europe is steadily positioning itself to be a world-class provider of technology services in the years to come, and Ukraine currently stands as the leader when it comes to offering ITO services.
While the official language of Ukraine is Ukrainian, a high percentage of Ukrainian technologists are fluent in English. Ukraine has a high percentage of citizens that have completed higher education, while almost 60% of IT specialists hold STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) degrees.
Outsource development rates for Ukraine are generally in the $25-$35 range, which is fairly consistent with the rest of Eastern Europe. And, while these rates would be considered budget rates in Canada, Ukrainian developers go toe-to-toe with most of their Canadian counterparts on product quality and professionalism.
China
Global power China leads Asia in outsourcing services. China takes outsourcing as seriously as its manufacturing industry, with the number of companies expanding from 400 to nearly 40,000 between 2006 and 2016 – with that number still growing!
While around 23% of Chinese people speak English, a much higher percentage of educated Chinese people – particularly those who work in the outsourcing industry – are proficient English speakers.
China has multiple economic engines including Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong and recently took the majority of spots on the top 10 fastest growing software companies report by PWC.
Even though technological innovation is not historically China’s strong point, it has a sufficient technology industry to offer efficient software outsource services at competitive prices.
Philippines
The Philippines’ capital city of Manila is the second biggest outsourcing city in the world, and when you consider everything the country has to offer this should come as no surprise.
English is an official language here, the country has a young, well educated and tech-savvy population and while the cost of labor is low, the skilled workforce guarantees results. The Philippines has offered call center outsourcing for years. Most recently, the industry has moved to grow the IT development sector.
Check out our detailed blog on Top 10 BPO Companies in the Philippines
India
Outsourcing to India was once a controversial issue for companies, as oftentimes they couldn’t predict the quality of services they would get.
Nowadays, with the entrepreneurial spirit alive and kicking in India, there is rapid growth of many industries, including software and IT development.
India has a huge labour pool of skilled, English-speaking technologists, offering better quality services than ever before. This means companies no longer have to worry about considering the cost over quality argument for using Indian outsource providers.
The average hourly rate in India, particularly when it comes to ITO, is typically lower than it is in China or the Philippines, encouraging tech leaders to invest in the country. India has a large pool of workers offering services on a freelance basis, as part of mid-sized IT company and even large companies with thousands of staff in both IT development, technology support, BPO and call centers.
Check out our detailed blog on top IT outsourcing companies in India
Egypt
The Egyptian IT industry is in the early stages of maturity, but has already established Egypt as the top country for IT in Africa.
Education has become a high priority in Egypt. Each year, 10% of schools are upgraded with computers, multimedia laboratories, and internet connectivity – having an incredibly positive impact on the IT industry.
In terms of higher education, Egypt was the most represented Arab country among the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2018 – 9 out of the top 32 ranked in the Arab world are Egyptian.
In a further attempt to help the IT sector in Egypt reach its potential, the Egyptian government run Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) offers fellowships and on-the-job training in the IT industry for graduates and postgraduates of Egyptian universities.
On average, Egyptian rates are around the same as the ones in India, meaning they should be considered low budget by most Canadian companies looking to outsource.
What Is The Best Way To Pay Overseas Partners?
Here at REMITR, we offer the most simple, fast and inexpensive payment process to our customers.
The idea of outsourcing is to save money and increase efficiency, so you certainly don’t want to lose money on sending payments to your outsourcing partner when you pay by bank wire transfer.
When you use an old service like wire transfer, you and your service provider both end up paying hefty wire fees and lose money when converting from your currency to USD or from USD to the service providers’ bank account. Added to that is the uncertainty of when the money will arrive.
REMITR’s service allows you to send money to over 150 countries worldwide within 1 business day for only $5! There is no need to convert CAD to USD before sending USD – REMITR does it all for you, seamlessly.
With REMITR, you get the best live Foreign Exchange rate, regardless of banking hours. Using our platform for payout in the local currency of your beneficiary guarantees that they pay no fees to receive the funds into their account.
Time is money – save them both by getting in touch with REMITR today.
