Every four years athletes from around the world gather to compete and, the best of the best are awarded medals for their efforts. In the summer games, we find out who can run the fastest, jump the highest, lift the most weight and throw and kick the farthest. There are individual contests and team events, but every nation wants to share in the glory when their citizens win a medal or set a world record.

In the world of outsourcing, it’s not that different. Just like the Olympics, we’re all out there competing and every outsourcing team is willing to do whatever it takes to come out on top. However, when it comes to ahhh … enhanced performance… outsourcing and the Olympics part ways. Olympic contestants are tested daily to make sure that they aren’t using any artificial enhancements to boost performance. In outsourcing, we’ll use every tech booster we can get!

The 2016 Olympics started off with the greatest number of expulsions due to performance boosting ever, with 100 Russian athletes banned. Almost certainly, other athletes will be banned before the Olympics conclude. Newer drugs keep being developed and new techniques are found to beat the latest tests. There’s even talk about easing up on testing since some techniques, like storing and re-using your own blood, aren’t exactly “artificial” boosts.

It used to be that countries had natural advantages in specific sports. Countries with a lot of snow often dominated the Winter Olympics. European countries dominate equestrian sports. That’s not surprising given that these events are based on European traditional competitions. But, when an individual or a team that was not a top contender suddenly starts winning all of the gold medals, well…  the judges get suspicious. 

While it makes a lot of sense to ban boost in the Olympics, in outsourcing it makes sense to use as many new technologies to boost performance as possible. If it’s manufacturing or credit card processing, automation makes outsourcing work better. Now, with the latest forms of automation and artificial intelligence, the natural advantages of each country may not be as important. The latest technology is upsetting the “natural order” of outsourcing, as new contenders can adopt technology that makes them dramatically more productive. Or, work that was once assumed to stay offshore forever… like heavy manufacturing… may be returned to domestic shores.

Who’s going to win the Gold, Silver, and Bronze in the outsourcing Olympics? Come back and get the latest results on the competition, and let’s see if there are any new world records or upsets. At least, that’s my Niccolls worth for today!