IT tends to be a usual suspect for outsourcing, but any business process that doesn't add value to a company's product or service can be a potential candidate, according to Mike Scheuerman, consultant and outsourcing champion. In some cases, he writes, it may make sense to "outsource the company."

On first glance, it may appear more expensive to outsource than to have people do non-value-adding business processes in-house, but that is only if you don't consider opportunity costs, Scheuerman writes in a post at CIOUpdate. The time and resources it takes to hire, fire, train and manage internal staff involved in business processes must be factored into the total expense. 

Outsourcing requires oversight by in-house managers, but this is likely to be less costly than overseeing in-house teams. Outsourcing management requires somewhat different skills, however, including the ability to secure the cooperation of individuals external to the company. These managers also have to focus on benchmarking, performance evaluation and metrics. 

Business-process outsourcing provides more flexibility when it comes to expanding or shrinking a team in conjunction with business cycles, as long as you include that flexibility in the contract. In a competitive outsourcing environment, "you can flex even more," Scheuerman writes.

For more:
- see Mike Scheuerman's post at CIOUpdate

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