Does outsourcing for the utilities industry actually work?

As a utilities provider, you might have wondered recently whether outsourcing for the utilities industry is a viable option. After all, the challenges faced by utility providers encompass everything from grid modernisation to distributed resource integration and competition from alternative energy sources. So how can a utilities BPO model benefit your company?

Benefits of an outsourced utilities business model

The ability to streamline your business processes and refocus on the opportunities, rather than the problems can make a world of difference to your bottom line. This can be a difficult ask, because there’s not many industries that illicit more emotion and rage from consumers than utilities. It’s also an industry where one wrong move can lead to catastrophe. A case in point is when GE dropped the ball and lost nearly $200billion USD, simply because it failed to adapt to the fast moving green energy movement.

Renewable energy however, offers an endless supply of opportunities to utility providers who have enough flexibility in their business model to jump when the time is right. This flexibility comes with the ability to offshore your utilities staff, reducing your overheads, and freeing senior staff to focus on more efficient delivery models for example.

Outsourcing for the utilities industry can be achieved on many different levels, not the least being the savings you can make because you no longer need to recruit, induct, train and manage such a large workforce. A business model based around utilities BPO, resulting in a smaller in-house workforce, also significantly reduces your setup costs and  expenditure on infrastructure, and is a very cost-effective strategy.

The benefits of an outsourced utilities business model also extends into your services sector, allowing you to provide round the clock 24/7 call centres and live chat. It’s also fair to say that streamlining your company structure allows you to gain an edge on the competition and potentially, increase your market share.

What roles suit outsourcing for the utilities industry?

Whether it’s HR administration, data management, accounting, finance, payrolls or IT, you can outsource any number of roles within your company. You can hire technical support assistants, billing specialists, sales representatives, account executives, project managers, and even mechanical or civil engineers, as well as IT specialists.

The more you offshore your utilities staff, the more your core employees can refocus on your business goals, rather than trying to perform multiple labour intensive tasks themselves. Adopting a BPO model for your business, helps you to save an enormous amount of time, otherwise spent on a long winded and frustrating recruitment drive. You can also increase or decrease the number of outsourced staff to suit your business goals, something that’s much harder to do with full-time in-house employees.

Any type of expertise you need to grow and expand your business can be outsourced, and these individuals are highly qualified, experienced and skilled. Initially leveraged by budget conscious start-ups, outsourcing has rapidly become an accepted business model for many well-established companies who want to streamline their business, whilst bringing as much expertise on board as needed.   

For more information on outsourcing for the utilities industry, contact Outsourced today.