Myth 4 Technology Needed For Outsourcing Will Be Expensive.
Ahhh technology - scary, wonderful and expensive! Is technology expensive? Only if you want it to be. Technology is getting cheaper and there is such a range alternatives that you can usually achieve your aim economically if you know where to find it.
Take digital dictation for example:
Digital dictation is a prerequisite to enable any business to outsource their documentation production. So unless you have already made the move to digital you are going to have to invest time and money into a new digital dictation system, and these don’t come cheap. A law firm with around 20 fee earners will expect to pay around £15,000 to implement a digital dictation system. The implementation will take weeks (if not months) to be completed and all Fee Earners will need to be trained on the new system of which most features are never used.
Now consider an alternative, we have provided a number of our clients with a PC based digital dictation solution which uses USB headsets for voice input. This solution was required as our clients needed to move to digital dictation but the financial resources to undertake a large scale implementation were prohibitive. The chosen solution delivers all of the functionality required by our clients to create digital files and means that our clients were able to outsource their transcription to us, thus freeing up their internal staff for more value ad services. This was all provided at a cost of less than £50 per Fee Earner which is significantly lower than some comparable hardware and software solutions and implementation took minutes instead of months.
Remote access to software packages
This is often seen as one of the major barriers to delivering the full benefits to outsourcing. In the old days the costs associated with installing a Virtual Private Network or Citrix and the need to have allocated bandwidth far outweighed the financial benefits of outsourcing. However, the internet now provides ample bandwidth and the availability of specific applications such as logmein, means that this is now imminently achievable. Gone are the days when companies had to spend in excess of £100K per annum for a 256k circuit to an outsourcing provider.
For one of our clients we are remote accessing their in-house systems in the UK from an offshore terminal for less then £45 per annum per PC and using their existing internet connection. This provides their offshore support team with full functionality required with our client benefiting by having all of their support work outsourced to us at a fraction on the cost
Software as a Service
There are now a number of online SaaS providers who are able to provide applications which deliver all the functionality required for a monthly fee. SaaS is fast becoming the preferred route for SMEs to implement applications without the capital expenditure of traditional systems implementations. In effect by leasing the software online, SMEs benefit from the full service model which incorporates back-up, upgrades and data security without the need for onsite services, firewalls and IT staff. As an example, full accounting software is on-line for multiple users for less than £20 per month, it delivers UK compliant accounts and VAT Returns.
Don’t get left behind by your 12 year old – you can use technology to your advantage.
We hope that you have found the articles over the last 4 weeks of use. If you would like any more information on how outsourcing and technology can work for your firm please contact us and we would be happy to provide you with more information.
Provided with compliments of Magellan Consultancy Services
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