Many businesses have turned to outsourcing as a strategy and that includes some of the biggest companies in the world. Here are a couple of the most recognizable brands that have thrived thanks to the use of outsourcing:
Alibaba
The e-commerce giant from China, back when it was a small company, initially outsourced its web development to the United States. Found Jack Ma, in his book ‘Alibaba: The Inside Story Behind Jack Ma and the Creation of the World’s Biggest Online Marketplace’, detailed this
strategy, localizing the site for both Chinese and English language audiences. That allowed the product to grow into the multinational business It has become today.
Alibaba, as of June 2018, was number 81 in the Forbes Global 2000 list, with a market capitalisation of US$499 billion.
Skype
The video chat software was founded by Danish and Swedish founders but the product we are familiar with was actually built in Estonia, where the back-end development of the app was outsourced in the early days of the company. The developers later became partners in the business and Skype even scaled their team in Estonia.
The company was acquired by Microsoft in 2011, for US$8.5 billion.
Slack
The workplace communication service stands out for its unique look and feel, using vibrant colors and casual fonts that appealed to users. Much of that can be attributed to the company’s decision to outsource its design. In 2013, Slack hired a design company called MetaLab to
turn their prototype into a finished product and it was one of the best decisions they’ve made.
It has grown quickly, reaching a valuation of US$5 billion in 2017 and drawing interest from companies such as Amazon.
Acer
The Taiwan-based personal computer manufacturer is one of the largest of its kind. It battled larger competitors in their field with a lean workforce by identifying and focusing on its strengths – like marketing – while outsourcing other part of their process like manufacturing. Its use of capability sourcing years ago has helped grow it into one of the top brands today.
It currently is among the top six brands in terms of market share in laptops and is a leader in the Chromebook game.
The instant messaging app only had 30 full-time employees back in 2012 but was able to build its product with the help of offshore developers from Russia. In-house, they mostly handled customer service while development was handled overseas, although some of those contractors
eventually joined the team in the US later on.
The company was purchased by Facebook for US$19 billion in 2014.
If your business can benefit from outsourcing services within the US, contact TukkoLabs and we can help find the best ways we can support your company’s growth.