The definition of outsourcing freelancing is hiring freelancers on a per-task or limited basis to augment an internal team and meet specific project or client requirements. This method allows IT companies to scale their workforce according to their precise business needs, and is highly preferable to keeping employees on the bench, incurring high employment costs.
Fiverr Enterprise is a Freelancer Management System (FMS) that provides a curated IT talent pool, helping you hire the best people, at the right cost, and at the right time.
Outsourcing with a freelancer management solution can supercharge your IT company, and allow you to see benefits such as reduced overheads, smart scalability, and access to specialized skills.
The Rise of Freelance Outsourcing in IT/Tech Companies
Outsourcing is an increasingly popular business strategy in IT and computing. According to Deloitte, 76% of executives say that some of their IT functions are outsourced to a third party. The most common areas to outsource in IT include cybersecurity, app/software development, and infrastructure services.
Outsourcing is growing in popularity for a wide range of different reasons. In part, the surge is to handle a growing number of skills gaps due to tech layoffs, and in part — it’s to attract the niche skills necessary to compete in today’s AI-driven business world. Deloitte explains the evolving drivers with the help of their previous data. In 2020, “70% of surveyed executives indicated cost was a primary reason for outsourcing. Today, while cutting costs ranks within the top four primary drivers[ …] it is overshadowed by access to new capabilities, business and operating model shifts, and keeping up with technology and regulation.”
Benefits of Outsourcing to Freelancers for Tech and IT Roles
Of course, not all outsourcing is the same. There are many different ways to create an outsourcing model in your IT company, and traditionally — companies have often turned to staffing agencies to fill skills gaps. However, when you compare staffing agencies with freelancers, you find freelancers come out on top in terms of:
- Reduced overhead and flexible hiring: While cost might not be the #1 concern, margins are really important as a service provider. With a staffing agency, you need to factor in markups and agency fees, while when you work with a freelancer — you simply pay for their time or per project.
- Hiring from a diverse, global talent pool: Staffing agencies tend to work with a database of limited and local talent, while freelancing as a model opens up the ability to work with anyone in the entire world. This supports more diverse teams, and simply gives you more chance of finding the right talent.
- Ability to scale teams up or down as needed: It takes time to hire via a staffing agency, which means you need to turn down potential contracts, or make compromises to get enough people on board. With freelancers, you can hire and get them to work on the same day, and then scale back down when projects are complete.
- Access to specialized skills and expertise: In technology companies, niche skills and expertise are critical, but staffing agencies usually specialize in a certain area. That means if you need cybersecurity talent, AI skills, and developer prowess, you may find yourself working with 3 or more agencies to get your gaps filled. This can’t help but add complexity and overhead.
How Tech and IT Companies Go About Finding and Hiring Freelancers
As staffing agencies just don’t work for finding top IT and Tech talent, what are companies’ alternatives? Freelancer marketplaces are great, but you can end up with thousands of profiles, all with fantastic reviews — and no way to separate who would be a great fit for your tech company. Here are some top tips to find and hire right:
- Make sure talent is compliant: Misclassification is a huge risk for today’s IT companies, so have a process in place to make sure your talent can compliantly work for your business as a freelancer. Regulations vary between countries, so pay extra attention if they are working from abroad.
- Set some skills tests: It’s an unfortunate fact of life that you can’t always trust someone’s online profile, so put your candidates to the test with a hands-on task that shows their technical skills. Many freelancers will expect to be paid for a test project, so have some budget set aside.
- Interview a handful of candidates: Don’t say yes without speaking with potential talent face to face or via web conferencing. You definitely want to make sure someone is a good fit for your brand, especially before you send them out to work with one of your own customers.
- Set onboarding workflows: Think about what system access your talent will need, what documentation you want in your database, and what signatures you need for elements such as an NDA or an IP agreement. Organizing an automated workflow can speed up the process, especially if you’re regularly working with freelancers.
Managing Outsourced IT Contractors with Fiverr Enterprise
To streamline the whole journey of outsourcing, Fiverr Enterprise provides an IT talent pool, curated especially for you — one place where you can gain instant access to your own carefully vetted Dev & IT talent, and not just any talent, those that are ready-to-hire and able to meet your business requirements.
Hire any tech expertise, eliminate resource uncertainty, reduce hiring costs and maintain a consistent and quality workforce. Our SaaS solution enables you to confidently take on more projects, knowing you have a dedicated talent pool that’s always available.
With Fiverr Enterprise, you can:
- Hire any tech expertise, fast: Our white-glove sourcing and hiring service delivers you top tech talent in just 48 hours.
- Reduce bench spend: Stay within your budget by only paying for billable workers, and avoiding high agency fees.
- Access a global, vetted talent pool: Find top global talent with niche skills ready to contribute to your business bottom line.
Schedule 30 minutes with one of our workforce experts, and see how outsourcing freelancers could take your IT business to new heights.