Reduce costs and increase profits without compromise. All while accessing a deeper, wider talent pool.
When your offshore team cares about the outcomes of their work, they’ll work harder and commit to continuous improvement.
Reap the benefits of big-business infrastructure and proven best-practices without all the usual hassle and expenditure.
Its low living costs and first-class education system are just the beginning. See why the Philippines is the best offshoring destination.
When you partner with the strongest provider, you get the best outcome, and no hidden costs or unforeseen risks.
It’s your team. You have full visibility and control, without having to worry about facilities, operations and regulations.
Learn your offshoring options and explore the benefits of Managed Operations over less effective models.
As the largest managed operations offshoring provider in the Philippines, we’ve learned a lot. Here are some tips to ensure your success.
Offshore staffing has a bevy of benefits, not least the potential for up to 70% cost savings.
We make it easy and affordable for businesses to build their own full-time, dedicated teams in the Philippines.
Meet the team behind our successful journey to becoming the largest offshoring provider in the Philippines.
We have 7 CBD locations in purpose-built hubs across the Philippines, giving you the best performance and talent pool possible.
7 state-of-the-art delivery centers, 2 careers centers, 4 prime CBD locations, 21,100 square meters.
Since 2012, our organization has been certified according to ISO 9001 and ISO 27001.
Follow our journey from the very beginning to becoming the premier Managed Operations provider in the Philippines.
Business plays a vital role in addressing social and environmental issues in the Philippines
A creative design agency powered by MicroSourcing, for your graphic design, content writing, motion graphics and WordPress development projects.
Learn how offshoring improves your productivity and helps grow your business.
The comprehensive offshoring primer for business owners and managers.
Hear from some delighted clients, and see our staff and facilities for yourself.
All your questions answered. Even those you hadn’t thought to ask yet.
Deep-dive into the details of offshoring. Research reports, fact sheets & more.
Building a successful offshore team starts with a detailed job description for every role. Below are some of the common positions that can be easily outsourced to the Philippines. We also provide you with local market recruitment advice, detailed job descriptions, common software used and more.
Outsourcing an entire department or division in your business can lead to major efficiency gains. For successful team structures, local market recruitment advice and suggested staff to leader ratios, select one of the common teams that can be easily outsourced to the Philippines below.
Outsourcing is a very versatile strategy suitable for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Below are common industries that have successfully implemented an offshore model. Get local insights relevant to your area of specialization, learn what others have done in your industry and leverage their experience.
Since 2012, our organization has been certified according to ISO 9001 and ISO 27001.
In today’s world, reliable technical support is a vital part of any business, large or small. Even the most painstakingly designed apps will go awry sometimes, systems crash, incompatibilities arise from updates in associated programs, and glitches undiscovered in testing can go on to wreak havoc for your clients.
Running a business without having someone to call for backup when things go wrong is unthinkable. It takes time to get to the bottom of technical problems, while also soothing distressed customers, and you can’t shut everything else down while that’s happening.
Without reliable tech support professionals you won’t be able to grow your business significantly — let alone quickly enough to beat the competition, and a reputation for failing to resolve technical complaints can have devastating, long-term effects on your sales and credibility.
‘Tech support’ is a broad term. It can cover both internal roles (maintaining servers, diagnosing faults, etc.) and external roles (e.g. after-sales support for software or equipment). Depending on the size of the business, tech support teams can have multiple tiers — from entry-level help desk staff to system-specific gurus who can solve the most complex IT issues.
In any case, hiring technical support personnel is a significant investment. And in most Western countries you get what you pay for. But whatever the role, those personnel will need significant training.
And that doesn’t come cheap.
Which is why technical support is often one of the first departments businesses outsource to offshore hubs.
There are plenty of articles on the advantages and disadvantages of technical support outsourcing. But with cloud computing, ever-improving communications software, and the growing popularity of global workforces, the list of cons is rapidly shrinking.
Here are some of the reasons (besides reduced costs) why more and more businesses are choosing tech support process outsourcing.
Talent — IT education standards in countries such as the Philippines and India are very high. And these professionals tend to gravitate towards outsourcing hubs, providing a larger pool of skilled candidates than you’d find at home.
Easy transition — Most tech support work (internal and external) is already provided remotely via sophisticated networking platforms and cloud computing. Even in-house, ‘normal-hire’ tech support teams work remotely.
Bonus expertise — Due to the wide range of clients they work for, people who work in outsourced tech support must stay up to date with the latest technologies. And they can use that knowledge to help small companies make their applications or processes more efficient.
Organizational structure — People have grown used to IT and tech support teams separating themselves from the rest of the company and communicating largely by phone and email. So taking them one step further away won’t be much of a cultural shift for your current employees.
So how do you set up a tech support process outsourcing team?
Assembling a team is a bit like baking a cake. If you try doing it ad hoc, then chances are you’ll end up with something that’s inedible. And if you follow the same recipe as everyone else the results may so underwhelming that you end up spending even more on a mercy dash to Pierre’s Patisserie.
Just as your technical support needs will be different to everyone else’s, so too will the process for setting up your support team. And it’s worth getting some help along the way, just as you might get help from Auntie Flo or the latest food blogger with a special dessert to impress your guests.
Established business outsourcing companies are available to help you design your optimal, business-boosting offshore technical support team. They’ll take you through every step — from planning to interviewing and training — and provide modern office spaces and hardware for your team to work in. The Philippines is one of the most popular outsourcing destinations, with well-established companies, modern infrastructure and a high quality talent pool with excellent English skills.
Here are some simple steps for setting up an outsourced technical support team in the Philippines or elsewhere.
The first thing you need to do is analyze your business to decide what kind of tech support you need. Depending on your business, you may need:
And don’t forget to ask your employees. They may be aware of IT-related issues you know nothing about that your new outsourced technical support team could address.
Once you’ve finished brainstorming and diagramming, and assessing the advantages and disadvantages of technical support outsourcing for your circumstances, come up with a wish list and devise a business plan that shows how everything will fit together.
Moving from the practical to the aspirational, start working with key stakeholders to develop clear goals for your tech support outsourcing project. Where are you currently falling short? How can you create an outsourced technical support team that evolves with your changing needs? Are you in a position to create specific target KPIs from the beginning?
Some common outsourcing goals might include:
While more and more tech support outsourcing companies are popping up, they’re not all created equal.
Do your research. Make sure your shortlisted providers are proven, well-established companies with strong, transparent track records. Ideally, they will:
Choosing a managed operations outsourcing model means you can benefit from the company’s well-equipped venues and resources but still maintain control of your team, who will effectively function as your employees.
Make sure they can provide:
If you can, visit their offices so you can meet the management staff on the ground and gauge the quality of their hubs for yourself.
After carefully strategizing and wisely choosing an outsourcing partner, hiring your outsourced technical support staff will be relatively easy. A reputable tech support process outsourcing company will be able to suggest appropriate candidates from their pool of pre vetted talent.
Make sure you’ve set out the list of skills and qualifications you want for each role ahead of time, and try to meet the candidates yourself. Some characteristics to look for are:
But trying to do this without help from someone who has knowledge of both the home and offshored countries is risky.
Training for both your new outsourced tech support team and your current employees needs to be thorough. It also needs to be appropriate to the workflow changes for the new setup. While you can get ahead of the game by hiring workers with experience in your industry or the applications you use, you need to provide clear protocols for call handling and problem solving. There also needs to be thorough instructions for your databases, your systems infrastructure, and when and how to refer issues upwards through the support hierarchy.
For an outward-facing tech support team, they need access to a comprehensive set of manuals that include:
It’s a good idea to create an online troubleshooting manual, or ‘knowledge book’ that can be updated when needed. It should include where these resources can be located, as well as any potential problems that might arise and suggestions for how to deal with them.
It would also include instructions on how to refer customers or colleagues to online FAQ pages, forums or video support if appropriate.
As the saying goes, a workman is only as good as his tools. And it’s even more applicable in the digital age. Cloud computing has created a boom in online help desk tools that allow agents to respond to calls for help via phone, email, social media, chat and messaging without missing a beat.
This is fantastic for companies that outsource their tech support, as it makes it easier and more efficient than ever. But it also means there are a lot of products to wade through — Zendesk, Freshdesk, Slack, Salesforce, Zoho Desk and Live Agent just to name a few.
A company specializing in outsourced tech support will have top of the range customer service software set up and ready to go as part of your contract. Research the platforms to make sure they integrate smoothly with your current IT infrastructure, and get advice on how to upgrade if necessary.
Whether they’re part of your business’ customer support or IT gurus for your other employees, your new outsourced tech support team will play an integral role in your company. And they will thrive on being included and feeling there’s a sense of community in their workplace.
Starting with open communications when you’ve made the decision to outsource, include your current staff when setting your new team up. And send warm ‘virtual introductions’ via email or intranet once they’re established.
Creating a culture of friendliness will:
If you outsource to the Philippines, this process will be easier thanks to the excellent English standard and cultural similarities of the people who live there.
Ideally, you’d appoint an onshore ‘champion’ for your outsourced tech support team who would be responsible for:
This is usually a manager with both personal experience in developing or maintaining IT systems and strong customer support skills.
Use the same onboarding programs you use with your local staff with your new team members, (tweaked to account for their situations).
Once your outsourced tech support team is up and running, track their performance to make sure your new arrangement is meeting your goals. Whatever software the team uses for their support jobs will automatically log calls and problem resolutions, so success rates and speed should be easy to compare.
You should check the figures at regular intervals. You should also survey local staff on their impressions and collate any customer feedback.
Conduct regular meetings with your tech support team in person (the airfares will be a fraction of what you’d pay to set a quality team up at home) to address any glitches, celebrate successes, and work together to streamline your outsource tech support operations.
And don’t forget to follow up with your offshore team members to make sure they have what they need and to get their feedback on how things are going.
These suggestions will help you start your journey into tech support process outsourcing. But you should fine tune them to suit your circumstances.
Do your homework, lay your groundwork, and start reaping the rewards of outsourced technical support. If you're unsure which outsourcing location is best suited for your business, why not consider the Philippines? Read this blog to find out why the Philippines has become a top offshoring destination.
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