Pros of Outsourcing and Hiring Information Professionals (Part 4 of 4)

LAC Group was founded 25 years ago as Library Associates, to meet the growing demand for outsourced librarians, for physical asset organization and research, in businesses of all industries. Like you, we too had to evolve to meet the changing needs of our clients (hence the name change), and their clients. As technology launched us all into the Digital Age, we responded in kind with an extensive investment in technology and training for our team of librarians, and support for the information management staff of our 1,000+ clients. Today, we have almost 400 information professionals employed worldwide, with varying skill sets, that work in the information management field directly for our clients from inside their organizations. This trend for outsourcing or contracting information management professionals continues to be well received in almost every industry, considering many business owners are still getting their heads around the technology, and the demand by their users for multimedia access to all data in real-time. From a business application perspective, these professional physical and digital asset managers are your information gurus; they are responsible for finding, using, managing and sharing your information, both internally and externally.

Outsourcing some or all information management functions is not only viable, because it alleviates the time, money and resources necessary for hiring and training staff on an entirely new position, with an entirely new skillset, but it also eliminates the additional ongoing operational costs associated with an additional employee including: payroll taxes, health care, general liability and workman’s compensation, to name a few.   Additionally it allows your business to focus on its core business.  Many have the misconception that outsourcing means a reduction in staff or wages – while there are some companies in the industry that have perpetuated this perception, this is not always the case. Hiring an outsourced information professional (in-house) may be not only the most cost effective option for you if you, but a boost to the employee. Further, it allows your organization to develop a strategy for your business for the long run.  Regardless whether or not your information professional is an employee or contracted from a company like LAC Group, the role they play in your organization is significant, and will increase in value over time. We have only begun to scratch the surface of savings ahead for us all, through this environmentally favorable demand for digitization in all commerce across the globe.

Recently, Information Today published an article: Revitalising Outsourcing, thepros and cons of outsourcing for information professional, authored by Iain Dunbar (Oct. 20, 2011), who is LAC Group's GM of UK Operations.  

“With the enormous and steady increase in the volume of our literature, we must rely more and more upon sympathetic selection, judicious editing, and the indexer who knows where to exercise discretion. Any simpleton can write a book, but it requires high skill to make an index.” - Rossiter Johnson