Offshoring is dead long live offshoring!

What does the future of offshoring look like? This is a conversation that we in the Gapstars office have been having frequently over the last few months, and that’s why we decided to write this series of blog posts about offshoring. We’re a part of the offshoring community, with a large IT team in Sri Lanka. We believe that ‘offshoring’, as we once understood it, is a thing of the past. However, it is far from dead. Quite the contrary: it has taken on a whole new look.

Offshoring is dead

In the past nine months, it’s become clear that we have all been working in an offshore capacity. This is why we feel that the term ‘offshore’ now needs to be redefined. It should no longer be limited to a workforce in another country. Instead, offshoring can now refer to anyone who works remotely. And that’s something we’ve all been doing lately and will continue to do.

Ultimately, the requirements for offshore work are the same, whether you’re in Sri Lanka working for a company based in Amsterdam, or working in Amsterdam just 30 minutes away from your office building. What’s important is how to optimise team results. It’s not just a case of issuing laptops and establishing a secure firewall. It’s about creating a team remotely, gathering trust and building momentum.

Long live offshoring

Vinod Kumar, CEO of Vodafone Business (and part of the BBC Worklife series), believes that emerging tech will reshape post COVID-19 work environments byblending in-person offices with remote capabilities as well as traditional office hours with asynchronous work, all enabled by technology. When he thinks about the future of work and how it will evolve in years to come, he sees a more virtual and automated working day.

The rise of 5G networks and connected machines will enable virtual on-the-go workstations. These virtual stations will provide employees with all the amenities of a digital workplace, from AI-powered assistants that prep whiteboard presentations, to virtual reality headsets that put you at the table of a morning meeting with co-workers around the world.

‘Ultimately, businesses will need to create digital workplaces that make it easier for all kinds of employees to work in flexible environments while also living their lives’, says Kumar.

Conclusion

Where companies may have felt restricted in the past by offshoring, they should now feel liberated. Communication channels and sharing platforms will continue to improve. This new form of offshoring is creating opportunities, and we’re keeping an eye on how those opportunities present themselves. It’s a work in progress… so, watch this space.

Would you like to know more about offshoring? This blog post tells you all about the impact of COVID-19 on offshoring. And this article teaches you all you need to know about the history of offshoring. Contact one of our specialists for more information on how Gapstars can help you find an offshore team of IT professionals in Sri Lanka.