My guest today is James Vickery. James is based in Sydney, Australia, and he has an MSP that he founded in 2002. He decided to offshore his entire team to the Philippines.
The experience of taking his company to another country was so beneficial yet so painful in many ways that James was inspired to launch Benchmark 365, a consulting and advisory firm that helps other MSPs make the leap to offshoring.
In this interview, we discuss the differences between outsourcing and offshoring, the stumbling blocks and payoffs of offshoring, and ways for MSPs to use offshoring to rethink their market strategy.
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Is offshoring a viable strategy for your MSP?
[01:47] James went to the Philippines and started building a team. As he built the team, he built a structure for what an MSP would look like. Other MSPs started asking him how they could do the same thing.
[03:09] He decided to offer a private label service where other MSPs could leverage what he had done.
[03:19] Many IT companies and MSPs think offshoring is only for low-level services. James discovered that offshoring can be used for higher level tasks at a much lower price.
[04:19] Cost factors were the impetus for offshoring, but now it’s more about scale and customer service.
[05:36] Things that didn’t work out so well. One example: James tried to outsource after-hours calls to India, but found the service providers weren’t able to fix complex issues.
[06:44] The difference between offshoring and outsourcing.
[08:09] MSPs need to know what’s happening in their space and in the world in general. There’s fierce competition and staffing costs are getting higher—but customers aren’t paying more. MSPs can add value and increase response times while spending less with offshoring or automation.
[09:43] Some of Benchmark’s clients are MSPs who consist of salespeople only. Benchmark does all the work of servicing the customers.
[10:38] Usually outsourcing to one person doesn’t work that well. Hiring a team is the best solution, but it involves going to your target offshoring country to set up the team.
[12:12] Consider what’s involved with building another company and the work that goes into it. It is not easier overseas.
[13:00] Do research and talk about it with your team. Make sure they’re on board with the plan. Open and honest communication is key.
Links from this episode
Interview
- James Vickery (LinkedIn)
- James Vickery (Twitter)
- Benchmark 365
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