Understanding top challenges in outsourcing

Outsourcing can bring big advantages, but it isn’t always smooth. Global business leaders often face the same core challenges when selecting a provider. Understanding these helps you make smarter decisions and avoid common pitfalls.

1. Rising Cost Pressures

Outsourcing isn’t always cheap, particularly for advanced technical skills. More than half of clients report higher outsourcing costs due to inflation and talent demand in popular hubs.

Buyer Tip: Build pricing models that balance cost with value delivered,  such as blended teams or performance-linked fees.

Deployed Advantage: Deployed has transparent pricing and no hidden costs.

2. Talent Gaps and Skills Mismatch

Nearly half of businesses find it hard to secure niche skills like cloud security or AI development through traditional outsourcing teams, leading to delays and lower ROI.

Buyer Tip: Prioritise specialised partners with proven experience in your industry or technology area.

Deployed Advantage: Deployed has a vast and active pool of quality talents whether technical or non-technical skills.

3. Communication and Cultural Alignment

Even with strong technical capability, poor communication or cultural fit can undermine collaboration, especially for UK or Australian teams working with global providers.

Buyer Tip: Ask for case studies showing real client success in your region or sector.

Deployed Advantage: Aside from client success stories and testimonials, Deployed is proactive in addressing communication and cultural concerns through Client Services.

4. Loss of Control and Visibility over Offshore Teams

This concern has become more prominent as outsourcing moves beyond simple back-office work into core business functions, customer experience, and digital delivery.

Buyers who lack visibility into offshore operations are far more likely to perceive outsourcing as underperforming, even when output quality is objectively strong. Visibility, not geography, is often the real issue.

Buyer Tip: Consider providers with structured onboarding, workflow alignment, and clear reporting performance dashboards as well as ownership and accountability transparency

Deployed Advantage: Deployed’s Client Services team has standardised onboarding structure and workflow with clear points of accountability, offering operational oversight and local management support on behalf of clients.

5. Lack of Outcome-focus

Many outsourcing relationships stall because contracts emphasise hourly rates instead of business results.

Buyer Tip: Shift the conversation to outcomes and KPIs (e.g., SLA achievement rates, customer satisfaction scores).

Deployed Advantage: Deployed has helped clients develop performance review tools based on outcome-based goals.

Avoiding common pitfalls and next steps

While these are the top challenges, there will be other common issues which can be avoided when selecting an outsourcing provider. What other issues do you think should be addressed? 

At Deployed – we listen to you and address your concerns with transparency, aiming to provide you with the best possible option fitting to your business growth. Explore how Deployed can help your business now.

Read more about Global Outsourcing Trends 2026 and download our outsourcing partner assessment checklist to help you select your outsourcing provider.

Sources: Global Growth Insights