Przemysław Pala
You should also understand the difference between outsourcing and one-time orders for certain services. If you asked a friend to substitute a sick designer for a fee, it’s just a temporary substitution and “hackwork” for your friend. But if you have signed a contract with a design agency and entirely entrusted it to perform several functions – this is outsourcing.
Body leasing, on the other hand, is nothing more than outsourcing specialists from different fields who possess the desired competencies. Imagine a football team that loans some players for a year or two to help the team achieve some results. The players add their skills and advantages to move the whole team higher. That’s more or less how it works.
Taking a closer look into IT outsourcing
One of the most popular and expedient types of IT outsourcing is an organization’s subscription service of information systems. This type of services includes implementing a set of works by a contractor, which will allow the customer to do without forming its own computer department, and in many cases, even to give up the only full-time employee – a system administrator.
Obviously, if we’re talking about a large company with an extensive network of branches and a complex internal infrastructure, the existence of its own IT department may be the only option. But if the scale of the organization is not so impressive, outsourcing may turn out to be the most economically and organizationally justified choice.
A typical set of computer fleet subscription services includes the following:
- setting up and updating the hardware
- setting up and updating the software part
- creating and maintaining a system of security and data integrity
- periodic preventive and diagnostic activities in the hardware and software of the computer park in order to prevent abnormal situations and identify “weak points.”
- repair or replacement of defective equipment or its modules,
- an unlimited volume of telephone consultations
Practice shows that outsourcing computer fleet maintenance not only provides significant cost savings but also leads to increased productivity due to more skilled, qualitative, and prompt actions of the contractor than full-time staff.
The advantages of IT outsourcing
Financial advantages:
- The issues of vacations, sick leave, time off, and ordinary laziness of staff sysadmins are abolished.
- Taxes on employee salaries are also abolished along with the salary itself.
- There is no need to rent a separate room for the computer department.
- There is an opportunity to purchase computers and any office equipment at bargain wholesale prices.
Temporary advantages:
- Reputable outsourcing companies mostly employ experienced, certified, and highly paid specialists who are not “affordable” for every company. They do the work qualitatively and quickly.
- When you get the services of an outsourcing company, you pay only for the result. Any organizational aspects will not concern you. You don’t need to conduct any interviews and waste time on trial periods.
- You don’t care which of the contractor’s employees are sick or quit. Services are provided to you full-time, as a specialized company always has several people performing the same functions.
- You no longer have to fear the departure of the experienced IT specialist who “held everything together.”
- You get a “one-stop shop” for all your requirements and requests, whether it’s a minor repair or a significant purchase of new equipment. All issues are handled centrally by the same organization.
Body leasing as a second option
Therefore, many organizations are willing to use Body Leasing, which means outsourcing employees. This is often an intermediate form between a full-time contract and an employee’s choice of orders. However, this form is not necessarily suitable for IT specialists who are more likely to choose contract work.
IT specialists appreciate this form of cooperation because of its high flexibility. The project duration can be a few days or a few years, meaning they are not required to work with an employer permanently. They can choose the assignments they want to participate in.
Benefits of body leasing
The hiring process in itself is a huge advantage. It looks much easier and more interesting from the very first moment. Recruiters discuss with the candidate the details of the project, budget, time, tasks, and the atmosphere of the team you will be working with.
The IT specialist doesn’t need to look for new contracts after completing the project. The partner company deals with a link between the client for whom the project is. Body Leasing allows you to choose projects that are more suited to the candidates’ experience. This provides transparency and promotes project efficiency.
Soft aspects, i.e., functioning in different organizational cultures, are also important for IT specialists. This will greatly deepen the overview of the market situation and enrich your resume.
Specialists learn the specifics of the industry, become familiar with all the processes, and observe how the company works from the inside. This pays off in future professional plans, where you can use this knowledge for new projects and orders.
There is also a growing vertical specialization in technical positions. This means that if someone is associated with a particular industry, such as medicine or insurance, they want to stay in it but not necessarily be associated with a specific provider for life.
Due to their experience and knowledge of the industry, such candidates are more often sought out by recruiters, who usually offer higher rates. This is also the reason why people who work in positions such as programmers and analysts, for example, are more willing to choose the so-called body leasing form of cooperation. They know very well that real money is made on contracts. They want to manage their finances and secure their future.
The new reality for IT professionals thanks to body leasing
The start of 2020 has made many companies realize that they must be flexible and ready for change. Shortly before the first wave of COVID-19, the ability to work remotely was seen as a bonus. Today, it has become a new reality as companies have noticed savings in overhead and office space costs.
Some companies have channeled these savings into salaries, upgrading colleagues’ skills, and development through training and certification. Thus, body leasing is becoming the natural choice of a form of cooperation for many high-class IT professionals.
