What NOT to Outsource within your Business

March 17, 2010

Today I was in touch with a friend, Ryan Burke, who is the Director of Strategy and Global Solutions at Avotus Corporation. Ryan is Avotus’ jack of all trades, handling Go to Market Strategy, Demand Generation, Solution Alignment, Pricing/Financial Modeling, and Contract Negotiation.

After chatting a bit about the recent horrible weather in Boston, our conversation shifted towards the topic of outsourcing and where companies should be drawing the line with this much-debated practice. Yes, go ahead and say it: we are nerds. At any rate, as we all know, many companies outsource expensive functions within their business to cut operational and SG&A costs. HOWEVER, the one function that a business should never outsource is the ability communicate, and build relationships with customers in local markets.

Ryan explained, “Smart organizations in today’s economy are liberating human and financial capital from non-core business processes and reinvesting in growth areas such as product development and sales. Smart employees are aligning themselves to this trend by ensuring that they can help their employer create and communicate value to prospects and customers.”

Well said – and very relevant to the recent efforts of OpenView Labs, the strategic consulting arm of the venture capital firm.

What are your thoughts? What would you outsource or not outsource as an expansion stage executive?