Solving the talent challenge – distributed delivery is part of the answer.

If you’re looking for ways to drive a more efficient business in 2024, while positioning for the growth that will follow, distributed delivery may be the answer . . . 

In Australia, talent remains scarce, attrition continues to be a challenge, and costs are persistently escalating. On the flip side, in a post-COVID world, offshore delivery locations, such as the Philippines and Vietnam, are thriving – availability of high-quality talent has improved, attrition has significantly reduced, and costs have stabilised. 

As a result, we’re seeing an increasing appetite from our clients to reconsider their operating models and leverage the advantages of a more distributed style of delivery. 

Alchemy Partners has worked with several clients over the past 18 months to help them effectively establish integrated distributed delivery and achieve better outcomes, more efficiently.  We’re sharing what we’ve learned in a series of LinkedIn articles, kicking off with the benefits of a distributed delivery model. 

Access to quality talent 

Markets such as the Philippines have evolved and matured over 20 years, resulting in a talent pool with significant experience of working with international companies.  Excellent English language proficiency combined with synergistic timeframes support the easy integration of Filipino talent into the Australian business landscape. 

Countries like Vietnam are investing heavily in the development of technology talent, specifically focused on supporting Australian business. Companies such as FPT now have impressive scale and have aspirational targets of a billion employees by 2035! 

Ease and speed of set-up 

It’s easier than ever to establish offshore delivery capabilities thanks to the maturity of the providers, who now offer Australian clients: 

• Complete control over quality of staff; 

• Limited vendor overhead controlled through a monthly transparent management fee; 

• Access to high quality facilities at no additional cost. 

Rapid set-up is a key advantage – our experience shows that once an offshore partner is confirmed, our clients can have high quality talent in seat within six weeks. 

Breadth of roles 

Historically only the low-hanging fruit of transactional roles would have been offshored, whereas now the potential breadth of offshore roles enables clients to pick and choose where to locate their talent. Just a few examples of roles being delivered remotely includes: 

• Cybersecurity analysts 

• Data analysts 

• Digital marketing managers 

• Inventory managers 

• Integration engineers 

• Scrum masters 

Cost savings 

Our business cases, with the Australian entity managing the distributed resource, enable our clients to achieve between 50% (technology resources) to 70% (process resources) cost reduction over onshore resources. 

Reduced attrition 

In distributed delivery models, attrition rates vary between 2% and 18% per annum depending on the role – often much lower than Australian workforces. Strategies can be implemented to manage attrition down, delivering significant flow-on benefits including improved IP retention, in turn delivering more effective and efficient work practices. 

Enablement of business strategy 

We start with the end in mind when working with clients – i.e. what is your business trying to achieve? In doing so we can determine how the new operating model, enabled by distributed delivery, can help deliver on your goals. Examples include: 

• The flexibility of having an operating model that allows you to pull a cost lever during downturns, but quickly increase capability during growth phases; 

• Establishing strategic capability centres for Private Equity backed start-ups, enabling them to scale quickly and cost-effectively; 

• Developing technology capability to deliver more for less (up to 50% more, for 10% less); 

• Economically extending service hours for evenings and weekends, something that would be cost-prohibitive with a pure onshore model. 

In our next article, we’ll dispel some of the myths of moving work to overseas locations. 

Please contact us at Alchemy Partners if you would like to know how we can help you establish a distributed delivery model and drive your strategic outcomes.