Outsourcing: Philippines and India are well-known countries that excel in it. The benefits of a transactional relationship between a remote talent and a company overweighs its disadvantages. But how does one go about acquiring these services?
Once you’ve completed the checklist for IT outsourcing, companies are now at the premise of choosing their outsourcing partner. Multiple countries all over the world have outsourcing companies. So why would you choose the Philippines?
We’re here to tell you its benefits, its disadvantages, and how you can utilise outsourcing in the Philippines for your company’s growth.
What is Outsourcing?
Before we begin talking about the benefits of outsourcing in the Philippines, we should first talk about what outsourcing is. By definition, outsourcing is the act of hiring a contractual third-party for a set period of time.
There are three types of outsourcing services: onshore, nearshore, and offshore. Onshore refers to the type of outsourcing company located within the same country. Offshore-on the other hand-refers to hiring outsourced services from a different timezone. Last but not least, nearshore is all about hiring outsourced services within neighboring countries.
For Aussie businesses, the most convenient option is nearshore outsourcing–Philippines is the top contender for Aussie business owners in this regard.
Why do Australian Companies Outsource to the Philippines?
Outsourcing companies in Australia or nearby have trouble competing with the Philippines’ gigantic outsourcing industry. While the services may have similarities, the Philippines has backing from their government and their unique cultural mix of western and Asian practices.
Filipinos are the masters of outsourcing 101. Their ability, talents and educational background provide options for them in the digital world where companies of all sizes–from a startup to Google itself–benefit from.
For Aussie businesses, it isn’t just their expertise. A country like Australia is well-known for their technological advancement. So what are the other benefits that convince Aussies to seek outsourced services from the Philippines?
Benefits of Outsourcing in the Philippines
There are four main reasons why Aussie businesses prefer outsourcing: Philippines is well-known for these four reasons. 
English Proficiency
Filipinos are fluent in English. It’s no secret that this is due to their historical upbringing and culture. Even as tourists, it’s easy to communicate with the Philippines’ locals because of this. What more if you band together and collaborate for work?
The Philippines is heavily influenced by American culture due to their relationship with the United States. This makes things easier for them to adjust to your company’s own culture without having any miscommunication due to any language barriers.
Westernised Work Culture
Speaking of culture, when you outsource a Filipino as an Aussie, you will find that they have a lot more in common with you.
That’s because of the centuries of colonisation they experienced at the hands of the Spanish and the Americans. While the two developed countries have long released their control over the Philippines, their influence still lingers–most specifically in their work environment.
Filipinos work very similar to Australian standards. However, there are some differences such as the use of honorifics, how they criticise work, and how they socialise with workmates.
Wide Variety of Specialists
Call centers are the first thought people have when it comes to outsourcing. Philippines’ specialists are actually more diverse than that. In the country where education is valued by their environment, the Philippines have multi-faceted professionals skilled in HR, recruitment, digital marketing, IT, and financing.
Scalable and Flexible Talent
There’s always room for more talent with how many companies in Australia outsource work. However, wouldn’t that increase the cost-savings that startups need to keep their business afloat?
Any business owner would appreciate an outsourced talent capable of scaling their services and being flexible to their needs. While that may sound like a dream come true, Filipinos are known to be multi talented individuals capable of absorbing information clearly to perform new tasks.
Disadvantages of Outsourcing in the Philippines
While there are benefits to outsourcing, the Philippines doesn’t hold all the cards just yet. There are some disadvantages that you may find block your business’ progress instead of enhancing it.The good news is that you can solve these issues based on how you approach them. 
Outdated Infrastructures & Technology
Despite the talented workforce, the Philippines’ outsourcing companies do tend to stay behind on infrastructure and technology. Failure to stay up-to-date with the technology and equipment required will result in faulty business processing, delayed results, and a total lack of optimisation.
To solve this issue it is best to hire third-party-contracts through reputable outsourcing companies instead. Not only are you assured of high quality outputs, you can also be at ease with their equipment and technology.
Frequent Unforeseeable Business Interruptions
Unforeseeable business interruptions are common in the Philippines. It isn’t because it’s the culture of its people. Instead, it’s because of calamities.
Earthquakes, supertyphoons, power surges, and fires are common in the Philippines. This can cause the outsourced employee sudden interruption by prioritising their safety first or keeping power on for things other than the WiFi.
You cannot prevent calamities and acts of God. However, you can ensure that they remain online if they’re safe to do so. Allowances for WiFi, electricity, or buying them their own pocket device can ensure their communication remains active.
Difficulty in Managing Extended Staff
The extension of your staff to overseas employees will naturally create a distinction between your local staff. Unlike your local employees, these remote workers will have low to minimal management to guide them.
This can cause many errors and issues like internal conflicts, miscommunicated commands, and oversights on performance.
To ensure quality performance, management of the staff can be done through weekly meetings, output sheets, and an open communication channel–like a messaging app–that they can reach out in.
Security Risks
There have always been issues of security when it comes to outsourcing–Philippines is no exception. Data breaches have become increasingly common as the years go by. If you hire a talent with low infrastructure and technology resources, your data could be easily breached.
Prevention is simple with three steps: non-disclosure agreements, multi-factor authentication, and risk mitigation planning. These three steps ensure that every move made within your data is authenticated by numerous members and that everyone involved is contractually bound.
Risk mitigation planning is preparation for possible breaches. Backups, isolation, and alerts can give you time to prevent attempts or isolate them should the worst case scenario happen.
General Process of Hiring Outsourced Talent
If you are now ready to start hiring from the growing outsourcing IT services and more in the Philippines, you should be aware of its general process. These key steps to meeting your Filipino remote worker.
Self-Assessment
Review your company’s current status. Do you actually need outsourcing? Philippines’ capabilities can be tempting–but that doesn’t mean you need it. Assess whether or not your employees require assistance in their tasks first.
Budgeting
If you have discovered that you do need some outsourced talent, it’s time to do budgeting. How much are you willing to spend for a third-party contract? What is the specialty you need for your project?
There are many factors to consider when budgeting. The good news is no matter how high or low your budget is there will likely be one willing to be recruited. The problem-however-is whether or not the company is qualified enough for your expectations.
Research
Once you have your expected budget it’s time to look into outsourcing companies. While we do have recommended outsourcing companies to check in to, it’s best to have research on-hand. Since you know what type of project you have and what role is expected of the remote worker you’re looking for, it’s best to actively search for outsourcing companies specialising in that.
Inquiry
You don’t just choose one company and stick with them. It’s best to create a candidate list wherein you inquire to them about their pricing, their company’s goal, the nature of the project, and their company’s management of the talents.
If you are representing a large business you could proceed with creating a tender bidding process. This process has all applicants who submitted to provide services for your business to present.
Once you have assessed the pros and cons of outsourcing with each company, it’s time to make a decision.
Discussion, Contracts, and Clarifications
Once you have made a choice it’s time to set up a meeting to discuss contracts and clarify any terms and conditions that may be needed. A partnership between two companies where the other augments staff may have different procedures involved depending on the nature of the talent sourced.
Introduction & Onboarding
Lastly, it’s time to introduce your remote worker with your in-house team members. Proceed with onboarding them and ensure they have everything they need to work on the project you have assigned them to.
Conclusion
This concludes everything you need to know about nearshore outsourcing. We hope you learned a thing or two about whether or not your Aussie business can benefit from remote workers.
Looking into hiring already? Filipino professionals in IT services dedicated only to Australian clients are here! Contact Flexisource IT for a free consultation!
