We provide three different internet marketing service models: The Dedicated Employee Model The Team Model Project Outsourcing But, first, a quick look at two crucial terms that recur in this handbook: Project Management Authority and Levels of Interaction. These two are the key distinguishing features between our 3 service models. Project Management Authority In any company, employees can only work if they are project managed. A project manager assigns work to their employees, instructs how it should be completed, supervises the work, provides feedback and sets deadlines etc. When offshoring or outsourcing the client needs to consider whether the vendor takes over or they the client should retain project management control. When outsourcing you outsource you lose project management control, when you offshore you retain it. Levels of Interaction Levels of interaction refers to how often the client can interact, communicate and collaborate online with their remote resources. Are there restrictions, limitations placed on such an interaction? Are there any restrictions on the number of hours the client spends interacting, collaborating or communicating with their offshore resource (during the stipulated office hours of work). Is it entirely the client s discretion what they do when interacting with their offshore resource e.g. instruct, manage, supervise or work closely with their offshore resource? The levels of interaction vary from one model to another. Page 1
(i) THE DEDICATED EMPLOYEE MODEL the Virtual Employee Total Project Management Authority Unrestricted levels of interaction The Dedicated Employee Model: How Does It Work? A VE functions exactly like an in-house resource and you exercise the same control and authority over them as you would over your local employees. You work directly with this resource, using online communication and collaboration tools such as Skype, video conference, PC sharing and much else. We do not interfere in how you work with your remote employee. Our role is to ensure that you and your employee have everything that is needed to work smoothly, be it infrastructure, hardware and software, or IT and HR support. With a Virtual Employee you retain complete project management control and have unrestricted levels of interaction, because a VE quite simply is an in house resource, (albeit working offshore). Advantages of the Virtual Employee model Multinational corporations do not outsource, they offshore by opening branch offices in India. The VE model now enables small to medium sized firm enterprises, (SMEs) to do the same. Traditionally, to benefit from the low costs of India, SMEs would have to outsource which meant giving up project management control. With a Virtual Employee, clients can benefit from low offshore costs whilst keeping their work in house because you project manage and interact directly with your VE. With a Virtual Employee there is no middle man. And so this model enables clients to have direct access to the huge Indian labor pool market. Many clients mistakenly believe this is also the case with freelancers. This however is incorrect because freelancers work with several clients simultaneously and you do not project manage a freelancer. Unlike freelancers, Virtual Employees work dedicatedly and exclusively for only one client and so with a VE the client is truly in control. Page 2
Unique selling point of the VE model Clients often need to hire an employee locally, but due to financial constraints rather outsource. Outsourcing is not an alternative to hiring an employee locally, because with the former you have no project management control or interaction with the offshore staff whereas with the latter you do. With a Virtual Employee however clients have an alternative to hiring an employee locally because with both a VE and a local employee the client is in complete control. The only one difference is that a VE does not work for you physically from your office. Virtual Employee: Who is it for? For clients that want an alternative to hiring employees locally. Hence, clients that want to retain control over their work and also want to interact with their offshore resource for long durations and on a regular/ daily basis. The Virtual Employee model: Points to keep in mind 1. A Virtual Employee is like an in-house resource 2. A Virtual employee works exclusively and dedicatedly only for you 3. Enjoy high levels of interaction with your remote resource 4. Enjoy total project management authority 5. This is the only alternative to local hiring The Virtual Employee model: the flip side Working with a virtual employee is like working with a local employee. So, be prepared for appraisals, holiday requests, sick leaves, resignation, higher costs in comparison to our in house team model and more stringent contractual terms, (e.g. longer notice periods for terminate of contract). (ii) IN-HOUSE TEAM MODEL Project Management Authority Unrestricted levels of interaction Daily but limited levels of interaction The Team Model: How Does It Work? A Team Leader (TL) heads the chain of command in the Team Model, and remains the Page 3
principal point of contact for the client. The client predominately interacts/ communicates and works with the Team Leader. The TL then manages, supervises and delegates to the in-house team the client s work. The client project manages in this model. However, because you are working with a team lead there is more flexibility, for if you wish you can delegate some of your project management to the team lead. The client does not have unlimited but rather limited levels of interaction with the team lead. The in-house team works with multiple clients simultaneously, and so the Team leads time can be subject to availability. Clients, obviously, cannot spend long hours/ durations interacting, collaborating or communicating with the team lead on a regular/daily basis. Advantages of the Team Model Diverse range of skills: Clients who do not need more than 8 hours of service per day but require a diverse range of skills of multiple employees; Cost effective: For the price for one employee, clients have access to a diverse range of skills. Cheaper: The cost of the team model is slightly less than the cost of a dedicated VE. Favorable Contractual Terms: No salary increase and you are only required to give 5 days notice to terminate the contract. Resignations: Clients are often concerned about an employee resigning after having invested significant time in training that individual. With our in-house team model, clients need have no such concerns. Since several members of our in-house team would have been working with - and would be familiar with - your project, even if one employee leaves your project will not be affected. Leaves: You don't have to deal with employee sick leaves. Start time: The in-house team can start working with the client immediately upon receipt of payment and signing of the contract. By contrast, often with a Virtual Employee, clients may have to wait till the selected VE serves their notice period with the current employer before they can start working for the client. Team lead: A senior and experienced team lead oversees and supervises the client's work at all times. Page 4
Unique selling point of the Team Model Utilize the skills of different employees within the team as and when you need. For example, an SEO expert one day, a PPC expert another, and so on. Clients pay for the equivalent of only one employee but can utilize, as and when they require, the services of different skilled and experienced professionals. The Team Model: Who is it for? Clients that wish to retain project management control, but do not need or want heavy levels of interaction with their offshore resources. Clients that seeks immense flexibility. The team model offers this in many respects such as scalability, diversity of skills and contractual terms. Clients that are seeking the most cost effective offshore option. The Team Model: Points to keep in mind The team works a collective 8 hours for you a day and so you are hiring a dedicated team. You can delegate some of your project management to the team lead which gives you more flexibility. The Team model: the flip side Limited levels of interaction with your remote resources. The client can still interact on a daily basis with the Team Lead. However, because the in-house team works with multiple clients simultaneously, the Team Lead s time may be subject to availability. If clients want higher levels of interaction on a frequent basis, they are then advised to hire a Virtual Employee instead. Please note, occasional requests (odd few days a month) where long hours of interaction are required can, however, be accommodated by the in-house team Project Manager. (iii) PROJECT OUTSOURCING: No Project Management Authority No levels of interaction Page 5
Project Outsourcing: How Does It Work? Outsourcing is at a complete tangent to offshoring, it is a different business strategy and service. Outsourcing is where another company is tasked with the responsibility of delivering the end result you desire. Outsourcing is not a collaborative effort. You simply explain to the outsourcing company what it is you want to achieve. From there on in, the outsourcing company completely takes over, using what you have told them as a guideline to achieve the end result you desire. The client does not control or instruct how the work should be executed and completed. The client only specifies the end result they desire but does not contribute or dictate how it should be achieved. Thus, you do not project manage the outsourced work and this is also accordingly why you have no interaction with the offshore resources (for there is no need for you to project manage them). The outsourcing team works out the project details, assigns work to the different team members and submits the finished product to the client. The client may, however, review and provide feedback on segments or phases of work as and when they are completed. Project Outsourcing: Who is it for? Project Outsourcing is suitable only for clients with a) a time bound one-off clearly defined piece of work that requires little or no contribution or input from the client; b) non time-bound process work, where the same work is repeated over and over again or where any changes in the work are not frequent, not significant and easily explained. It is also suitable for those clients that are not proficient in the technical domains and so cannot project manage or work with the offshore resource. Advantages of the Project Outsourcing model Outsourcing enables you to concentrate on your core business operations. Outsourcing offers a hands-free experience to clients because they are not required for input, the client is free to focus on other areas. For this reason outsourcing can increase levels of efficiency whilst also reducing costs. Unique selling point of the Project Outsourcing model Clients can outsource short-term, low-budget small projects or even rudimentary long Page 6
term processes which otherwise might be impractical, inefficient and costly to complete in-house. The Project Outsourcing model: Points to keep in mind Ideal for clients who have short-term projects For those who want a hands-free experience Client has no control over either their work or the remote resources Works out more expensive in the long-run The Project Outsourcing model: the flip side The weakness of the Project Outsourcing model is that if the work does not fall into either the time-bound category or the process work category, but is still outsourced, then such an exercise is doomed to fail. You should only outsource time bound one off projects or non time bound processes because such work can easily be defined. Hence you can easily knowledge transfer to another company your project management authority. If a client outsources on-going, regular everyday work, (which is not process work), the chances of failure are very high. This is because such work cannot be defined and should be project managed in house. Project management is often in itself a skill. Hence, in certain cases clients should not hand over their project management authority to another company. Generally speaking, it is only non core business operations which a client should outsourced, for the project management of such work is not complex and thus can easily be handed over to another company. If a client outsources work which the client should be retaining project management control over, the end result is likely to be unsatisfactory. Traditionally clients have outsourced work which they needed to retain project management control over simply because they had no other method of reducing costs. The VE and in house team models now however give clients a means of both retaining control and reducing costs when going offshore. Project outsourcing also works out more expensive than a remote employee because a firm ends up paying for the services of an entire team rather than an individual worker. Page 7
SUMMARY One model is not necessarily better than another. However, depending upon the specific requirements of an individual client, one model may be more suitable and advantageous than another for that particular client. Which model a client ultimately opts for should be based upon the needs and requirements of the client. Page 8