3 great reasons to outsource IP processes

What is the value of outsourcing for an IP department manager?

For many IP departments I have worked with, the value of outsourcing is calculated in terms of money saved.  If you can accomplish a task in another part of the world for less than it would cost a domestic employee to perform that work in country, then the costs of salary and benefits saved can contribute to the company bottom line or help a company to better compete using lower prices.

While cost savings through outsourcing can contribute to the bottom line of a company, thinking about outsourcing only in this way can be short sighted.  Outsourcing has three potential values to deliver to an IP department, not just cost savings alone.  The other two are raising proficiency and increasing pace, both of which can also save money and both of which can allow an organization to better compete through differentiation and not just cost.

Any IP organization that does not consider both proficiency and pace along with cost in its calculations of the potential value to be gained from outsourcing, sets itself up to fail at actually saving money.  This is because any loss of proficiency or slowdown in effort caused by doing work overseas can have huge repercussions on the ability of an IP department to deliver value.  If, on the other hand, an IP department plans its outsourcing efforts to deliver benefits from all three values, then it may achieve cost savings while also improving its ability to deliver value.