Offshoring — The Key to Global Business Expansion

Jacek Biernat
3 min readSep 20, 2023

Hello everyone,

Today, I’ve decided to share a topic with you that personally fascinates me — offshoring. While it may sound a bit enigmatic, it’s worth understanding this strategy that allows companies to move a part of their operations overseas in search of cost reduction and increased efficiency. In this article, I will analyze what offshoring is and contemplate what this fascinating phenomenon entails.

Offshoring and other cost optimization models:

Offshoring is the process of relocating business processes, services, or production from one country to another, typically to reduce costs. It’s not the same as outsourcing, where specific tasks are contracted to external companies. Offshoring involves moving these tasks abroad, and a key difference is that these tasks often go to neighboring countries, which often share a similar culture and language. It’s a strategy practiced in various industries, from IT and telecommunications to manufacturing and financial services. A company can move production processes, customer management, accounting services, or software development to another country.

The remarkable benefits of offshoring — Expand your capabilities through global presence:

So, what is offshoring? Primarily, it’s an opportunity to reduce costs. Labor costs are significantly lower in many countries than in developed nations, contributing to increased process profitability and overall company efficiency. But that’s not all. Through offshoring, a company gains the ability to scale its operations by accessing a larger workforce and infrastructure overseas. Additionally, relocating some business operations to other countries can help acquire a more skilled workforce and access innovative solutions and technologies that can improve efficiency and competitiveness.

Challenges and risks associated with offshoring — How to protect against threats:

However, offshoring is not all “roses.” There are also obstacles on this journey. One of them is the language and cultural barrier. Moving business processes to other countries can lead to communication difficulties among employees from different nations and increase the risk of misunderstandings. Furthermore, there is a potential risk related to service quality. Transferring business operations abroad may result in a decline in service quality, so companies must monitor processes and services to ensure they meet expected standards. Shifting some business operations overseas also carries the risk of losing control over those processes. Companies must diligently monitor these processes to ensure compliance with requirements and standards.

Unleash global potential: What services are worth outsourcing abroad?

If you’re wondering which services are worth moving abroad, the answer is surprisingly broad. Customer support, IT, accounting, finance — these are just some of the areas that can be effectively outsourced overseas. For example, customer support is often moved to countries with lower labor costs, where employees are fluent in English. It is also frequently outsourced to countries like India and the Philippines, where skilled IT professionals are available at lower labor costs. Accounting and finance are often outsourced to countries with stable tax and legal systems.

How to choose the right offshoring partner?

Now that you’re considering offshoring, you may be wondering how to find the right partner for collaboration. Choosing the right partner is a key element of success in this strategy. Here are a few critical criteria to consider:

  • Company experience
  • References
  • Technical skills
  • Qualifications of employees
  • Price

However, that’s not all. Understanding the culture and language of the country where the partner operates is also important, as well as their availability and flexibility regarding business requirements.

Offshoring — the key to global expansion and competitive advantage:

In summary, offshoring is a strategy that can open doors to global business expansion. It offers opportunities for cost optimization, access to talent and innovation, and increased scalability. However, like any strategy, it also comes with challenges that need to be effectively managed. So, before you decide on offshoring, consider whether you are ready for these challenges and whether you have chosen the right partner.

Thank you for reading this article, and I hope it has provided you with valuable information. Remember that in today’s business world, knowledge and flexibility are the keys to success. If you have any questions or doubts, feel free to ask. We’re here to help!

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Jacek Biernat

Cloud Enthusiast & Engineer, AWS APN Ambassador, 2 x Professional Certified Expert of AWS (8+ years as Solution Architect), CEO&CTO at LCloud (www.lcloud.pl)