In, Out or Somewhere In Between

When considering possible staffing models for structuring your corporate communication function, your choices typically range from the extremes of establishing an all in-house staff to totally outsourcing the function by enlisting the services of a PR agency (or agencies) to do it all for you. More common is the combination that takes advantage of the benefits of the two previous options, while hopefully minimizing their disadvantages.

Eschbach, Peter A. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Articles>Management>Outsourcing>Public Relations

Offshore Project Management : The Business to Technical Communication (Part II)

As a project manager there are many things going through PM's mind. Many tasks - knowledge bank - technical and as well as business wise.

Khanna, Manoj. RapidBlog (2005). Articles>Project Management>Outsourcing>Offshoring

Offshoring: Outsourcing Goes Global

Outsourcing has been a routine practice in the communication field for some time now—fully 20 percent of IABC members are self-employed or have a communication/PR consultancy. The last economic downturn strengthened this trend even more. Offshoring is being studied everywhere from Washington, D.C., to the academic world to well-known consulting firms such as McKinsey and Mercer. The general consensus across the board is that offshoring is a growing phenomenon that won’t go away, jobs lost to offshoring are unlikely to come back, and the trend may affect as many as three million jobs in the U.S. by 2015.

Recca, Lee. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Management>Outsourcing>Offshoring

Outsourcing Information Projects  

Issues you should consider when selecting a service provider for documentation, help or other information projects.

Dawson, Colin. Info Action (2002). Articles>Management>Outsourcing

What is KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing)?

The next wave in the evolving dynamic outsourcing markets is here. The emerging Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) is the process where businesses outsource high end knowledge or judgment services such as investment banking research, sales and marketing research, IP/patent research, R&D, legal research and case writing and even animation design. A provider must have an educated, skilled work force able to think independently and provoke their own free thought behind any research criteria. KPO involves a high degree of execution risk as providers look to create and combine complex levels of process, technology, and services. The business processes will require domain expertise and high-end talent such as MBAs, engineers, doctors, lawyers, accountants and other highly skilled professionals. KPO will move outsourcing up the value chain from simply executing commodity processes to carrying out processes with advanced analytical and technical skills and more decision making.

Larkey, Adam. Outsourcing Institute, The (2006). Articles>Knowledge Management>Outsourcing>Offshoring

Designing for Offshore Development

One of the most significant realities about offshore developers is that they will build exactly what you tell them to build. This is both good and bad news. The good news is that they are likely to take your specification very seriously--not merely as a suggestion or starting point from which to improvise. The bad news, of course, is that if you don't clearly plan and articulate every aspect of your product from user interface and product behavior to business logic and algorithms, developers are forced to rely on their own experience and judgement to determine an appropriate solution to an unforeseen problem or vaguely documented feature. The reality with offshore resources, however, is that they are very unlikely to have that experience.

Cronin, Dave. Cooper Journal (2004). Articles>Management>Outsourcing>Offshoring