The Hindu Business Line : Outsourcing small jobs online on the rise

Bangalore, Nov. 2 nineMotion, a Bangalore-based start-up, joins the tribe of Web sites that connect freelancers to buyers. It expects business conducted via the site to cross $60,000 by year-end.

Outsourcing over the Web is catching on among small and medium businesses. Elance.com, Guru.com, Ninemotion.com and Rentacoder.com are destinations for those seeking to outsource small jobs to India, to cut costs and leverage the ‘flat’ world.

“SMBs have needs too, small though they might be. They might need a simple logo design done or a branding exercise for $3,000-5,000,” said Mr Deepak Vinchhi, CEO, nineMotion.

India remains the top outsourcing destination for entrepreneurs in the US. According to a media report, 24 per cent of entrepreneurs in the US outsource work to other continents, of which 46 per cent comes to India.

Analyst firm Access Markets International says SMBs are increasingly likely to offload cumbersome IT chores to outside experts, so that they can focus on their core business.

Services in demand

Services such as language translation, graphics design, writing, engineering services, business consulting, marketing, print, human resources and administrative support are being sought.

Over two lakh users of Elance.com find, buy, manage and pay for over 50 service categories from more than 2,000 suppliers across the globe.

Guru.com connects over six lakh freelancers, specialising in over 160 professional categories, with businesses. At nineMotion, 340 providers from over 20 countries have registered their services in five domains ranging from thermal design to technical writing and Web site design. The provider pays five per cent of the project cost to the company, which adds value by offering online tools.

“The biggest challenge for SMBs is minimising risk. By helping manage projects — planning, tracking, collaborating, we bridge the gap in communication,” said Mr Bala Girisaballa, V-P, nineMotion. It plans to offer desktop sharing, Wikis, whiteboards and Web conferencing in six months.

Mr Vinchhi estimates the market potential for outsourcing such fragmented jobs would add up to over $100 billion, and that the existing players addressed barely one per cent of the market. Law, accounting, industrial design styling and advertising could be the next wave of online outsourcing to India.

More Stories on : Outsourcing | Trends | IT-enabled Services

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page