If you are looking for low-cost services, then the Philippines is one of the best places to turn. The country's geographic location makes it an easy commute to large business centres around the world. With its stable democracy, a strong currency and English speaking workforce, Filipino companies are increasingly being considered as providers of IT outsourcing services by foreign companies. This article discusses the service industries in which Philippine-based companies specialize along with some history about offshoring there.

The Philippines is one of the top destinations for outsourcing because of its huge population, widely spoken English language and low cost of labour. According to government statistics, more than 3 million Filipinos are living and working overseas. The remittances they send home play a large role in the Philippines strong economy. Remittance inflow accounts for more than 10% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

There are more than 1,000 outsourcing and offshoring companies in the Philippines, but only a handful provide offshore IT services to North America and Europe – outsourcing to the Philippines – where English is widely spoken and understood.

In this article, we’re going to tackle the different reasons how IT services in the Philippines are reliable, advanced, and efficient. We’re also going to talk about why businesses outsource their IT services to the Philippines.

IT Services include everything from software development to website design, accounting support, eCommerce applications or back-office operation support done by the Filipinos working remotely via telecommuting programs.

These Filipino workers can do your job based on your specific instructions just like people who work in your office.

Since they are working remotely, you don't need to pay for office space or equipment.  You can hire someone in the Philippines who is competent enough to do the job and let him work on his hours.

IT outsourcing services Philippine providers provide varies based on your needs.  They can do everything from programming, system administration, web design, network support and even customer service support.

The Philippines is one of the top destinations for offshoring because of its large population that speaks English (almost 90% of the professionals speak English) at a cheaper cost than others around the world.

Philippine outsourcing companies offer a variety of IT services that include:

• Web Designing & Development • Ecommerce Applications Development • Business Intelligence & Data Warehousing • Application Maintenance • Network Administration & Support • Software Development (e.g. Java, .Net)

The IT industry in the Philippines is well-known for outsourcing companies that offer particular expertise such as call centre operations and human capital management (talent acquisition and talent management).

The Philippines has a huge pool of talents who are knowledgeable in English which qualifies them to work abroad making the country the No. 1 choice whenever it comes to outsourcing BPO's (Business Process Outsourcing) involving customer service support and back-office operation support like accounting and financial services.

It seems that the trend of offshoring development will grow even further over the next few years. That means there will be more demand for Filipino developers, who are more and more willing and eager to get involved in such projects than ever before. So if you start looking for an opportunity right now it might be easier than you think.

Let's look at the arguments why companies oftentimes offshore to countries like the Philippines:

1) Cost efficiency - as we already mentioned, the Philippines is a good alternative for those who need more affordable IT services and solutions than what they can offer locally or in Western countries.

2) Time zone - since it takes about 4 hours less to get there (for most European destinations), time zone differences are shorter and developers don't have to wait so long for answers to their questions – this also contributes to lower costs of outsourcing compared with destinations on the other side of the globe.  

3) Knowledge transfer - due to similar language and cultural background it is much easier for a business from the US or Australia etc., which has been outsourcing to the Philippines for years, to work with the same outsourcing company for their next project.

4) Disaster avoidance - countries like the Philippines are still considered less risky than other destinations, like India or China (in terms of natural disasters).

5) Global access - many outsourcing companies in Manila can communicate well in English and (depending on your needs) offer both voice and video calls. So if you need to talk to your team face-to-face nothing is stopping you from doing that.

6) Availability of specialists - this depends on the field of IT development but it's worth mentioning that specialists are often hard to find domestically (if at all), whereas they can be easily found in outsourcing destinations like the Philippines because professionals here tend to be more flexible and mobile.

7) Availability of IT graduates - while many people graduated from local universities, it's also true that outsourcing companies in Manila can easily find skilled developers with just a little bit of training.

8) Documentation availability - software documentation is available for almost all popular programming languages and frameworks, so outsourcing companies don't have to worry too much about that aspect of the project.

9) Good English level - English proficiency rates among Filipinos are high (you can see statistics here ), which makes them good candidates for offshoring to countries like the US where there is still a lack of good English speakers even at relatively senior positions.  

10) Low-cost testing services - the Philippines is home to numerous testing and quality assurance outsourcing companies, so if you need such services as part of your IT project, this is a great place to look for them.

11) Time zone - as already mentioned above, time zone differences are shorter and developers don't have to wait so long for answers to their questions – this also contributes to lower costs of offshoring compared with other destinations on the other side of the globe.

12) Availability of English speakers - English proficiency rates among Filipinos are high (you can see statistics here ), which makes them good candidates for offshoring projects in countries where there is still a lack of good English speakers even at relatively senior positions.

13) Filipino culture - those who work internationally know that adjusting from one environment to another is not always easy, so it's worth mentioning that Filipino culture is more similar to western cultures than most other Asian cultures are.

14) Multiculturalism - while the country is still far from being multicultural, outsourcing companies in Manila can employ workers of different nationalities and backgrounds who have become comfortable with each other over time, which contributes to higher efficiency.

15) Availability of IT graduates - according to some statistics, about half a million Filipinos graduate from colleges every year, so there are plenty of IT professionals available for hire by outsourcing companies in Manila.

In today's globalized world, outsourcing has become a tool to increase efficiency and improve productivity. Outsourcing is the practice of utilizing external resources from third-party companies as opposed to keeping everything in-house at your company. In other words, it is about finding people who are specialized in certain tasks and skills that would be costlier or even impossible for you to provide within your organization, then hiring them temporarily. The goal should be to obtain resources that can help your business lower costs, reduce operational risks and focus more on core competencies while aligning these capabilities with the overall strategy.

Offshoring is one example of effective outsourcing where different business operations, such as IT services, marketing or finance, are performed in a country other than the one where the parent company is based. It has been proven to be an effective strategy for any organization looking to achieve business success while cutting operational costs.

In the Philippines, outsourcing holds a promising outlook as companies continue to recognize its benefits and competitive advantages, particularly when it comes to offshoring IT services. This stems from various factors such as time zone alignment, cost-effectiveness, availability of top-notch talent pool and overall responsiveness.

Offshore Your IT Services To The Philippines With These Benefits…

Here's a list of just some of the significant benefits that Filipino IT professionals can provide:

1) Cost efficiency. Outsourcing your IT services in the Philippines enables you to lower costs. According to the 2011 Barometer Survey on Cost of Living conducted by the International Executive Service Corps (IESC), it takes around US$4,341 ($1 = P42) monthly to employ a mid-level IT employee in San Francisco. That figure increases dramatically to $7,400 if you are looking for someone with application development expertise.

To give you an idea of how much this would cost should your business be based in Manila, here's an estimate that will help you figure out just how much outsourcing can save you:

Monthly salary of local San Francisco-based IT employees = $7,400

Salary of local software development engineers = $853-$2,763

Cost savings per month = US$6,547

As you can see, hiring software engineers in Manila is much more cost-effective compared to San Francisco. This factor alone makes it a compelling proposition for local and foreign companies looking for highly-skilled IT professionals who are also cost-efficient.

2) top talent pool. The Philippines has the largest English speaking population in Asia making it a rich source of talent with fluent communication skills in English. These advantages enable Filipino workers to work side by side with their American counterparts and communicate at ease without compromising on quality and productivity. There’s no shortage of graduates from reputable colleges and universities that specialize in information technology such as Ateneo School of Computer Science & Engineering, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Computing and Informatics, School of Science and Engineering, University of the Philippines - College of Engineering, Asian Seminary of Christian Ministries (ASCM) etc.

3) Availability. The Philippines is a very accessible country where its people are always eager to learn from other cultures. This makes it a suitable place for offshoring because you have the opportunity to have face-to-face communication with your clients and business partners anytime they come to Manila or nearby provinces such as Cebu, Caloocan City, Laguna or Baguio City. With more than 7107 islands in the Philippine archipelago, you can visit major cities without going through any immigration hassle at all since Filipinos are some of the most hospitable and most friendly people in the world.

4) English proficiency. Offshoring your IT services to the Philippines will enable you to work with highly-skilled English -proficient Filipino engineers. This is a major advantage for companies that are not located in countries where English is primarily spoken, especially when you have business partners who are based across the globe. Here at CloudSource, we train our employees on proper written and verbal communication skills so they can be suited to do business any time of day or night. Our team also takes pride in their fluency in understanding American colloquialisms while maintaining an accent that does not compromise client privacy.

5) Fast response times. With 24/7 operations, working with Filipino IT professionals gives you the advantage of having a team that's always on call to support you at any time. This makes it possible for our clients to have round-the-clock access to their IT solutions anywhere in the world.

6) Quality assurance. Combined with low costs, prioritizing quality is one of the most compelling reasons why companies are outsourcing services to Filipino professionals who are dedicated to serving their customers well. Our engineers are highly committed to giving outstanding customer service which gives birth to CloudSense, our company's own Customer Satisfaction Index (CSAT). We also prioritize quality by testing applications rigorously before they go live since we know that it will determine how much trust your business can build among your existing and potential customers.

7) Productivity. With shorter work hours from Monday to Saturday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM compared to American counterparts that have 9-5 business hours, you can see why doing business with Filipino IT professionals is more productive. Aside from taking less time off, our developers also go the extra mile of going home early so they can spend more time with their families.