Companies That OffshoreOffshore outsourcing can be an effective instrument to help businesses locate specific talent. It can also help reduce the cost of labor, boost revenue and boost competitiveness of the company.However, companies that offshore have to be aware of the potential risks involved. Manufacturing and designing could be moved offshore in tandem and can deprive companies of their design and engineering capabilities.TelstraTelstra has grown considerably since its humble beginnings as a small, government-owned business. It is now a massive telecommunications corporation with operations around the globe. It is also the largest provider of fixed line telephony in Australia.The success of the company is due to its solid investment strategy and its innovative solutions. In the midst of a shortage of resources in the early years the company poured its money into new technology, and realized that the telecommunications industry was a great growth area. This was a great decision as it allowed the company to connect Australian cities both locally and internationally. The company also developed the first mobile phone, which allowed people to stay in touch with their loved ones regardless of where they were.In the 90s, the company faced major challenges, including regulation and competition from rival companies. But, it did not sit in a rut and devised aggressive plans to respond to these changes. For example, it invested heavily in infrastructure and spent $200 billion to improve its services. It also innovated and launched BigPond the first high-speed internet service for users.It also cut its workforce and outsourced some of its functions, which resulted in savings in costs. It also implemented a new organization structure that separated roles into functional groups rather than the traditional hierarchical structure. This allowed senior managers to gain more control over their expertise areas.Recently, the company announced that it will be bringing its call centers back to Australia, and that by 2021, all of its consumer and small business calls will be answered in the country. Telstra has taken a huge leap forward, and this will have a positive impact on its customers. However Telstra will continue to run offshore call centers for its largest international business clients.GEThomas Edison founded General Electric in 1892. It quickly became one of the most successful American companies. In the 1980s GE bought several large companies, including Employer's Reinsurance and Kidder Peabody. GE's revenues increased from $5 billion to $70 billion during this period. However, despite these achievements some analysts have been questioning whether the growth of GE was sustainable.Presently, GE is focusing on industrial technology and services, medical, renewable energy and power. It has also invested into additive machines, 3-D printers that can be used to create products and parts. Additionally the financial arm of GE provides commercial lending and leasing.The GE washer-dryer is the company's best-selling product. It has been used in American homes for more than 80 years. It was the first device that could automatically wash and dry clothes, which is an amazing invention for household use. In addition to its appliances, GE also manufactures aircraft engines, medical equipment and power turbines. In the near future, GE is planning to expand its digital business, which includes cybersecurity software for commercial use and technologies from Wurldtech.GE is also outsourcing its main business processes to India where wages are lower than those in the US. In 2004 GE Capital International Services, its own offshoring company employed 12,000 people. In 2005, GE spun off its stake in GECIS to create a BPO company called Genpact. GE continues to be a major client of Genpact which employs 20,000 people. Genpact has recently expanded its business by acquiring the manufacturer of the Osprey drone. GE is also investing heavily in the wind sector, by supplying an 87-unit Haliade-X 14MW wind turbines to Dogger Bank C.IBMInternational Business Machines is one of the largest companies in technology in the world, with its headquarters in Armonk, New York. IBM provides hardware, software and other services for the IT industry. Additionally, it provides financing options to help clients purchasing IT systems and software. Additionally, offshore consulting company runs research labs across the globe. The company has a long 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 company's corporate vision statement reflects its commitment to leadership in the field of information technology and market. It states that the company will provide high-quality services by using business model innovation in conjunction with technological expertise and industry knowledge. It also puts a top priority on customer satisfaction and value creation because it is the most important factor to its success over the long term.In recent years, IBM expanded its services business. It also changed its name to cloud computing platform and cognitive solutions company. IBM's software portfolio includes analytics products such as Cognos, SPSS and SPSS. It also provides IT infrastructure software, such as the IBM WebSphere application server and MQ messaging middleware. It also offers mobile software and security products, like the IBM Verse business-email offering and the IBM QRadar platform for security intelligence.The company's hardware business has been in decline in recent years, due mainly to the shift in corporate IT spending from on-premise facilities to centralized providers like Amazon Web Services. IBM has been focusing on its business consulting and service businesses and has made several acquisitions to expand their presence in these areas. Additionally IBM has also invested heavily in cloud computing and has a significant global presence.AccentureAccenture is a leading provider of management consulting outsourcing, technology and management consulting around the globe. Accenture has many strengths that give them a competitive edge, including deep knowledge and expertise in their industry, ingenuous technologies and strong partnerships with leading vendors.The business processes of the company include procurement, marketing, supply chain, learning human resources, finance. It is also in more than 120 countries. In addition to its core services, Accenture offers a number of other specializations. For instance, it offers SAP S/4HANA development as well as fast-tracking customer journeys to digital businesses. It also offers IT and security consultancy services.In the past companies have outsourced some production functions to cut costs and improve their competitiveness. In offshore consulting companies of clothing for instance, a lot of production functions have been outsourced to Asian countries. In recent years however, more businesses have switched their focus from production of goods to services. This shift has led to the need for more professionals with experience in digital and IT services. The most appealing aspect is that these skills can be transferred across different industries.Accenture has a wide range of clients and is growing in key markets. Its client base includes 91 of the Fortune Global 100 and more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500. Accenture partners with companies like Apple, Google, Oracle and others to create new technology. For example, Accenture has partnered with SAP to create an intelligent platform solution that can help upstream oil and gas companies cut down on complexity using market standards. A group of major oil companies, including BP and Equinor, is testing this solution. This collaboration shows how companies are moving past traditional outsourcing to concentrate on innovation and services.MicrosoftMicrosoft is a renowned publisher of operating systems and software for personal computers. The most well-known products of Microsoft include its Windows software line, Office suite and Internet Explorer browser. The company has been accused of monopoly, anti-competitive practices and monopolistic behavior. In the 1990s, the company began creating a complicated web of offshore entities to transfer intellectual property and lower taxes.When a customer buys Office in Seattle, the profit doesn't go to Microsoft's headquarters in nearby Redmond. The money begins with a long trip, first going through an Nevada sales subsidiary, which does not tax corporate income. Then, it crosses the Atlantic to the Bermudan company which is taxed at the island's zero percent rate.The money is then sent to an Puerto Rican firm that pays for the research and gives a small portion to an Irish company. The company has used structures similar to this in other countries like Britain and Germany. The software giant has saved billions of dollars in taxes by using this arrangement.Congress is now suing the software giant to change its offshore policy. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations stated that the company and other technology companies use offshore units and loopholes to avoid paying taxes. The panel is investigating tax evasion by tech companies, including Google owner Alphabet and Apple which have transferred billions of dollars in profits to tax-free jurisdictions.The partnership between SSE Renewables and Avanade is part of a larger initiative to improve the environmental impact of wind farm development in the Netherlands. The partnership will create digital tools that will better assess the impact of a wind farm on the local ecosystem. The tools will be utilized in an aquarium to improve wildlife identification and monitoring of abundance.