Have you ever wondered how well-known brands like Apple, Google, and Amazon continue to dominate such a large portion of the market? You may be surprised to learn that these industry titans have one thing in common: they utilize outsourcing strategically. 

This blog discusses the use of outsourcing by multi-million dollar businesses and shows you how your company may reap the same benefits of outsourcing.

Top Examples of Multi-Million Dollar Companies that Outsource 

1. Alibaba

Alibaba is the first company on our list of examples of outsourcing. Few people are aware, nevertheless, that China Yellow Pages was a little "internet company" at first. It was one of the biggest and most valuable firms in the world when Jack Ma founded it in 1999.

From its humble beginnings as China Yellow Pages, Alibaba has grown to become the largest marketplace in the world. In order to get past internet limitations and take advantage of the lack of skill in China, founder Jack Ma outsourced website development to a U.S. company.

A key factor in its early success was outsourcing, at first to the United States. Even though it still mostly uses Chinese outsourced partners, Alibaba is a major player in the global e-commerce industry today.

How has outsourcing played a crucial role in its growth and success?

Alibaba's success and expansion have been greatly enhanced by using remote developers and outsourcing. Alibaba has effectively expanded into new areas, enhanced innovation, and expedited product development by leveraging worldwide talent pools.

2. WhatsApp

When Jan Koum and Brian Acton founded WhatsApp in 2009, they completely changed the instant messaging industry by offering a dependable, safe, and easy-to-use platform. Since then, it has grown to be among the most widely used messaging apps worldwide. 

How has outsourcing played a crucial role in its growth and success?

Although WhatsApp began with a small in-house team, the creation of their web platform and iOS app was outsourced. They were able to concentrate on their core capabilities and user experience thanks to this economical approach, which ultimately contributed to their explosive growth. WhatsApp's growth has been largely attributed to remote development and outsourcing.

WhatsApp quickly developed and expanded its platform to support millions of users by working with talent all over the world, guaranteeing smooth communication experiences. 

3. Apple

Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple in 1976, and the company has become a symbol of innovation in consumer electronics, software, and services.

How has outsourcing played a crucial role in its growth and success?

Even while Apple is renowned for its in-house engineering and design skills, it occasionally uses outsourcing for certain jobs like component assembly and manufacturing. They are able to preserve their competitive advantage and benefit from economies of scale as a result.

Apple's success has been largely attributed to outsourcing and remote development, which allowed the business to assemble a talented global team to drive innovation, optimize development processes, and provide outstanding products to customers worldwide.

4. AppSumo

AppSumo is a website that provides daily discounts on digital goods and services for small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. It was started in 2010 by Noah Kagan. It gives access to resources and technologies that support the expansion and success of enterprises.

How has outsourcing played a crucial role in its growth and success?

App Sumo has relied heavily on outsourcing and remote development to source and provide its users with high-quality bargains. AppSumo, which was started with just $50, relied entirely on outsourcing for all aspects of its early development, including web design, development, and marketing. They were able to build their company quickly and bootstrap it thanks to this economical strategy. 

5. MySQL

An open-source relational database management system called MySQL was created in 1995. It now ranks among the most extensively used databases in the world, powering a large number of websites, software programs, and online apps.

How has outsourcing played a crucial role in its growth and success?

After beginning as a proprietary product, MySQL became an open-source database management system that allowed developers from all around the world to contribute to its advancement. This type of "collaborative outsourcing" has been crucial in MySQL's development and global acceptance, positioning it as one of the most widely used database technologies.

6. GitHub

PJ Hyett, Chris Wanstrath, and Tom Preston-Werner founded GitHub in 2008 as a web-based version control platform utilizing Git. It makes software developers more collaborative by giving them the ability to host, inspect, and maintain code repositories.

How has outsourcing played a crucial role in its growth and success?

The largest open-source software hosting platform in the world, GitHub, mainly depends on a distributed workforce. Although they have a core team of employees, they also outsource the development and upkeep of the platform to a large global network of professionals. 

7. Slack

Stewart Butterfield established Slack in 2013, a cloud-based platform for team collaboration that facilitates communication and workflow management. It provides file sharing, channels, chat rooms, and interfaces with other tools and services. More than 10 million people use Slack every day for corporate communication.

How has outsourcing played a crucial role in its growth and success?

The well-known workplace communication tool Slack used a hybrid approach to development, including teams from within and outside the company. To free up their internal staff to concentrate on user experience and core product development, they outsourced certain responsibilities like quality assurance and customer support. They were able to effectively scale and meet the increasing demands of their user base thanks to this method. 

8. IBM

Established in 1911, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) is a global technology corporation providing hardware, software, and advisory services. In the fields of computers, AI, cloud computing, and quantum computing, it has led the way.

How has outsourcing played a crucial role in its growth and success?

The computer giant IBM, which has a strong track record of innovation, actively uses IT outsourcing to augment its own personnel. To have access to specialized knowledge and abilities in particular fields, such as software development, data analytics, and cloud computing, they collaborate with numerous businesses across the globe.  

9. Microsoft 

Microsoft is a multinational technology corporation that was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. It is best known for its software products, which include the Windows operating system, Office suite, and Azure cloud platform. It's among the biggest and most powerful tech businesses in the world.

How has outsourcing played a crucial role in its growth and success?

Another major giant, Microsoft, approaches IT outsourcing in a variety of ways. They contract out a variety of jobs, from manufacturing and assembly to software development and customer service. They may maintain their worldwide reach, access a variety of talent pools, and achieve cost-efficiency with the aid of this method.

10. American Express

Founded in 1850, American Express (Amex) is a global financial services company best recognized for its traveler's check, credit card, and charge card divisions. It offers financial, travel, and payment services to people and companies all around the world.

How has outsourcing played a crucial role in its growth and success?

One of the top financial services companies, American Express, uses outsourcing for some business processes like customer support and IT infrastructure management. This keeps businesses competitive in a changing market and enables them to concentrate their internal resources on providing core financial services.

What Motivates Companies To Outsource Work? 

Let us break down the core reasons why these companies relied heavily on outsourcing. 

Innovation and Fresh Perspectives

Collaborating with external teams can introduce fresh viewpoints and ideas, encouraging creativity and assisting you in locating possible blind spots within your company. 

Access to New Markets

Partners in outsourcing could possess established networks and specialized knowledge in particular areas. This can prove to be very advantageous in case you want to penetrate new markets.

Reduced costs

By using outsourcing, you can reach a larger pool of talent and possibly locate qualified workers in areas with less labor prices. When compared to hiring a full-time in-house team, this can result in significant savings on overhead, benefits, and salary.

Expertise Access

Finding highly qualified experts for some jobs can be difficult and costly. By outsourcing, you can discover professionals with the precise knowledge and expertise you require for your project from a worldwide pool of talent, saving you the expense of lengthy internal training.

Scalability and Flexibility

Businesses can benefit greatly from the scalability and flexibility that outsourcing offers. You don't need to make long-term commitments or go through hiring and firing cycles in order to simply scale your personnel up or down in response to project demands.

Using Strategic Outsourcing to Boost the Growth of Your Company 

The great names of the field didn't become what they are today by doing it alone. They were able to efficiently access a large pool of talent and resources that were outside of their immediate grasp by realizing the possibilities of global outsourcing.

Source : Successful Outsourcing Examples