Pros and Cons of Data Entry Outsourcing

With data increasingly becoming the most valuable assets for virtually all businesses, data is now becoming the center of operations for various different businesses, increasing the amount and volume of data entry processes.

On the other hand, managing the data entry processes internally can be challenging, time-consuming, and expensive. This is why many businesses opt to outsource some if not all of their data entry processes to a third-party vendor.

Outsourcing the data entry processes, however, have its own benefits and disadvantages associated with it, and below we will discuss these pros and cons to help you determine whether outsourcing data entry service is the best option for your business.

Pros of Data Entry Outsourcing

1. Freeing up your team’s time and resources

Unless your business’s core operations are directly related to data processing, chances are the data entry processes might not be a core activity.

In such cases, if you utilize your employee’s valuable time and resources to perform the data entry tasks, you’ll essentially prevent them from executing more strategic tasks that contribute more to achieving your business objectives, improving customer value, and driving more profits.

If you otherwise outsource the data entry process to another company, you’ll free up more time and resources to focus on the core activities, which in turn will help enhance your business’s productivity and profitability.

2. Save more money

Probably the biggest benefit (and objective) of outsourcing the data entry process to a third-party service provider is that it can save a significant amount of money that is otherwise incurred by hiring and building an in-house data entry team.

Hiring and onboarding new employees can be expensive and time-consuming, and not to mention you’ll also need to take care of benefits, regular training, and so on.

Outsourcing your data entry process can help reduce the operational costs of the data entry process, which in turn can help improve your profitability or allow you to offer more competitive rates to your customers and clients.

3. Remote workers and parallel execution

Outsourcing allows you to access data entry experts and professionals located in different geographic areas (that potentially have lower labor costs than your home country). You’ll also potentially gain access to better-quality talent, and if necessary you can ‘hire’ several teams at once to work on several data entry processes in parallel.

Meaning, you can get more data entry tasks done in the same timeframe.

4. Advantages of different time zones

If you are outsourcing the data entry process to professionals in another time zone, you can let them work on the data entry tasks in advance before a working day even starts in your time zone. Meaning, you’ll reduce the chance of missed deadlines, and you can also leverage this advantage to help in the event when there’s a sudden need for data entry execution.

5. Improved data security and management

If you are handling your data entry process in-house, you’ll also need to invest in the required cybersecurity infrastructure to protect your data, and also train your employees to perform at least basic cybersecurity best practices.

On the other hand, by outsourcing your data entry process, you’ll also gain access to the service provider’s existing data security infrastructure. Their highly experienced data entry operators have also been trained to utilizing secure data entry techniques and best practices to help protect the integrity and security of your sensitive and/or confidential information.

6. Faster turnaround time

7. Better accuracy and reduced risks of errors

Cons of Data Entry Outsourcing

1. Cultural and language barriers

In the cases when your data entry experts are working remotely in different countries or even different continents, there might be cultural and language differences to deal with. The best solution here is to choose an outsourcing partner that has the reputation of having workers that are fluent in English and has the reputation of working with clients in your location.

Oworkers can manage data outsourcing operations in more than 20 languages with previous clients including Xerox, Walmart, and PWC, among others.

If necessary, ask for a trial period before signing up for a long-term commitment.

2. Exposure of sensitive information

Letting others work on your data will always translate into a potential security risk.

When outsourcing your data entry process, your confidential and sensitive information will be shared with your service provider, so you’ll need to be extra careful.

Make sure your data entry service provider implements a strict confidentiality policy, and make sure to have a written non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the vendor.

3. Shared attention and support

When outsourcing your data entry process to a third-party service, it’s possible for the data entry expert to be working on multiple data entry tasks for several different clients. To tackle this issue, make sure to work with an outsourcing partner that can provide you with dedicated support and offers a method of real-time monitoring of the data entry expert provided.

4. Potentially missed deadlines

Differences in time zones can be a double-edged sword. While it does have its perks, as discussed above, it can also potentially result in delayed responses and support when it’s needed. Again make sure the outsourcing partner can provide you with a dedicated support staff who is available in your time zone’s working hours.

Conclusion

As we can see, overall the pros of data entry outsourcing far outweigh the cons, and by choosing a reputable data entry service provider, we can tackle most of the probable issues.

Outsourcing your data entry processes can be an effective way to improve the cost-efficiency of your business process and your business’s productivity in achieving your organizational goals.