Companies That OffshoreOffshore outsourcing can be a powerful option for companies that require access to specialized talent. It can also lower cost of labor, increase the company's revenue, and boost its competitiveness.However, companies who offshore should be aware of the risks that come with. Manufacturing and designing can be moved offshore together and can deprive the company of its design and engineering capabilities.TelstraTelstra has come far from its humble beginnings in the early 1990s, when it was a state-owned small business. It is now a massive Telecommunications company that operates around the globe. It is also Australia's biggest fixed-line telephony provider.The company's success is due to its innovative solutions and a strong investment strategy. In the early days when resources were limited, the company invested heavily in the latest technology and saw that the telecommunications industry had huge growth potential. This was a great move, as it enabled the company to connect Australian cities across the country and internationally. The company also was a pioneer in the field of mobile phones, which enabled people to stay in touch with their loved ones wherever they were.During the 90s, the company had to face major challenges, such as deregulation and competition from rival companies. But, it did not be idle and came up with ambitious plans to address these changes. It invested $200 billion in infrastructure and heavily invested in it. It also innovated and launched BigPond, a high-speed internet service for consumers.It also reduced its workforce and outsourced some of its functions, which resulted in savings in costs. Additionally, it introduced an organizational structure that broke up roles into functional groups, rather than a traditional hierarchy. This allowed senior managers to have more control over their areas of expertise.Telstra has announced that it will bring its call centers back to Australia and that, by 2021, its small business and consumer calls will all be answered in Australia. This is a significant improvement for Telstra, and it will likely have a positive impact on its customers. The company will still operate offshore call centers for its largest international customers.GEGeneral Electric (GE) was established by Thomas Edison in 1892 and quickly became one of the most successful American companies. In the 1980s, GE acquired several large companies, including Employer's Reinsurance and Kidder Peabody. In this period the company's revenue grew from $5 billion to $70 billion. Despite these gains analysts have been unsure if the company's success can last.GE is focusing its efforts on industrial technology and services, renewable energy and power. It has also invested in additive machines, 3D printers that can be used to design products and components. Additionally the financial arm of GE offers commercial credit and leasing.The GE washer-dryer is the top-selling product of the company. It has been used in American homes for more than 80 years. It was the very first machine to wash and tumble dry clothes. This was a groundbreaking invention in the world of household. GE manufactures not just appliances, but also aircraft engines, medical devices and power generators. GE plans to expand its digital business in the near future. This includes commercial software from Wurldtech and cybersecurity technologies.GE also offshoring its most important business processes in India where wages are cheaper than in the US. Its captive offshoring business, GE Capital International Services (GECIS) employed 12,000 employees in 2004. In 2005, GE spun off its stake in GECIS to create a BPO company known as Genpact. GE continues to be a big client of Genpact which employs more than 20,000 people. The company recently diversified its operations by buying the maker of the Osprey Drone. GE has also made significant investments in the wind industry, with a contract to provide 87 Haliade-14MW wind turbines from Dogger Bank C.IBMInternational Business Machines is one of the largest technology companies in the world, with its headquarters in Armonk, New York. IBM provides hardware, software and services for the IT industry. company offshore provides financing to help its clients purchase IT systems and software. It also runs research labs around the globe. The company has a history of research that has been innovative dating to the 1880s when Julius E. Pitrat patented the computing scale, Alexander Dey invented the dial recorder and Herman Hollerith created a tabulating machine.The corporate vision statement of the company highlights its commitment to being a leader in the field of information technology and market. It states that the company will deliver high-value services by creating business models that combine technology expertise and industry knowledge. It also puts a top priority on customer satisfaction and value creation as it is the key to its success over the long term.In recent years, IBM has expanded its services business and recast itself as a cognitive solutions and cloud computing platform company. IBM's software portfolio includes products for analytics like Cognos, SPSS and SPSS. It also offers IT infrastructure software, such as the IBM WebSphere application server and MQ messaging middleware. It also offers mobile applications and security products, including the IBM Verse business-email offering and the IBM QRadar platform for security intelligence.In recent years, the company's hardware sales have slowed due to an increase in IT spending from on-premises facilities to centralized operators such as Amazon Web Services. In the meantime, IBM has focused on its business consulting and services businesses and has made a number of acquisitions to expand its presence in these areas. The company has also invested heavily in cloud computing and has a worldwide presence.AccentureAccenture is a leading provider of management consulting outsourcing, technology and services across the globe. The company has a number of strengths that provide it with a competitive advantage with regard to extensive industry knowledge and expertise and innovative technologies, strong partnerships with top technology companies and a global reach and scale.Marketing procurement, supply chains as well as learning and human resource management and finance are all part of the company's operations. It is also present in more than 120 countries. In addition to its core services, Accenture offers a number of other services that are specialized. Accenture, for instance provides SAP S/4HANA as well as the fast-tracking of customer journeys in digital businesses. It also provides IT and security consultancy services.In the past, companies have outsourced certain production functions to cut costs and increase their competitiveness. In the industry of clothing for instance, a lot of production functions have been outsourced Asian countries. In recent years however, more businesses have shifted their focus from production of goods to services. This has resulted in a growing demand for professionals with expertise in digital and IT services. The benefit is that these skills can be used across industries.Accenture has a wide range of clients and is expanding its reach in the most important markets. Accenture's client list includes 91 Fortune Global 100 companies and more than three quarters of the Fortune Global 500. Accenture also collaborates with companies such as Apple, Google, and Oracle to develop new technologies. For example, Accenture has partnered with SAP to develop an intelligent platform solution that can help upstream oil and gas companies cut down on complexity by using market standards. A consortium of oil companies, such as BP and Equinor is currently testing this solution. This partnership demonstrates how companies are moving beyond traditional outsourcing to focus on services and innovation.MicrosoftMicrosoft is a leading producer of operating systems and software for personal computers. Microsoft's most popular products include its Windows software line, Office suite and Internet Explorer browser. However, the company has faced accusations of monopoly and anti-competitive behaviour. In the 1990s it set the foundation of a network of offshore entities to transfer intellectual property and to reduce tax payments.If a buyer purchases Office in Seattle however, the profits don't go to Microsoft's headquarters in nearby Redmond. Instead, the money begins a long trek, first through a sales subsidiary in Nevada, which doesn't tax corporate income. It then crosses the Atlantic to an Bermudan company and is finally taxed at the island's zero percent rate.The money goes to an Puerto Rican company that accounts for research expenses and then passes some of the proceeds to an Irish firm. The company has utilized similar structures to evade taxes in other countries, such as Britain and Germany. The software giant has saved billions in taxes by using this arrangement.The software giant is now facing a challenge from Congress to change its offshore strategy. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has stated that the company along with other technology companies, utilize offshore units and tax loopholes to avoid paying of taxes. The panel is investigating claims of tax evasion by tech companies, including Google owner Alphabet and Apple who have shifted billions of dollars in profits into low-tax jurisdictions.The partnership between SSE Renewables and Avanade is part of a larger project to improve the environmental impact of wind farm development in the Netherlands. The collaboration will create digital tools that will better evaluate the impact of a wind farm on the local ecosystem. The tools will be used in aquariums to improve the identification of wildlife and monitoring of abundance.