R&D outsourcing: 6 reasons why
By: Anna Choma
R&D outsourcing services, especially in the medical field, or even medical devices – are you serious? More than ever people expect to see something they have never seen before. A Technavio report estimates the research and development (R&D) outsourcing services market to increase by USD 3.89 billion between 2023 and 2028 [1]. With the pace of tech change only accelerating, technology and business strategy have to cooperate inseparably. It is innovation and r&d that bring investments that, at the end of the day, really add value and boost customer satisfaction. But how to innovate when we don’t have enough resources as time, budget and knowledge?
One way to innovate
Outsourcing has traditionally been viewed as a means of hiring extra staff to deal with business or IT processes. These days the trends begin to change as companies strive to gain a competitive advantage by outsourcing innovation. Research and development (r&d) is the first step towards this goal.
R&D outsourcing – the way to innovate
Through research and development healthcare businesses obtain knowledge needed to market new or improve existing products, services, processes and systems, which eventually increases revenue. It is possible to conduct R&D in-house, but also jointly, with other market participants. The trends are clearly visible – in order to harness technology, gain advantage and grow talents, measures such as partnerships, strategic alliances, co-operation and outsourcing are used to access expert knowledge and to maximise ROI.
6 reasons why should healthcare companies outsource R&D
- Change is now driving the business. We can all observe rapid-fire tech development in the healthcare business. That is why all companies need to redefine their approaches to technology. This is increasingly easy, as the required technology and knowledge is very likely already available somewhere in the market.
- You look for quality, new opportunities and delivering impact and value – and that is exactly what you wish to achieve, much more than just simple cost-cutting. Lowering expenses was the most popular driver pushing companies to outsource, but it is not a goal in itself. Focusing on innovation is what can really create appreciated results.
- Developing technology in-house may bring a risk. Buying the results from the medical software development outsourcing partner makes risks shared and the outcome can often be seen or quality-tested before embarking on the project.
- Obtaining in-house the necessary domain knowledge and expertise, sufficient manpower at disposal can be expensive and simply not fast enough. The outsourcing company, the healthcare software provider is much more flexible in delivering those resources.
- R&D projects are particularly exposed to macroeconomic risks. They are the first department which companies close in order to focus on core business if the economic situation is bad. Outsourcing makes all the risk and the closing process does not affect your company’s internal processes. Outsourcing makes all the risk and the closing process does not affect your company’s internal processes. Also, in that case, many of the upcoming costs will pass on to the healthcare IT outsourcing company. And cost savings often also bring time savings.
- R&D projects demand
careful protection. The IT outsourcing partner will also be helpful in terms of protecting the intellectual property of the medical innovation. That is why more and more often in-house R&D is not justified and businesses turn towards outsourcing R&Dendeavours .
The importance of innovation and new technologies
Every new technology initially may seem enigmatic, but it brings new opportunities to the business, to mention only the using of Machine Learning in the healthcare sector or Big Data issues. This is why it is a technology that is one of the most common types of R&D which companies outsource outside (source).
When it comes to the critical issue of health, innovation needs to provide tangible benefits. Technology is the keystone to delivering truly innovative solutions, helping healthcare companies to stay on top of the competition.
Companies with strong capabilities to innovate are likely to have an edge over their competitors, and harnessing innovation through R&D outsourcing is surely a way to deliver value, provide new products and services and drive revenue. What is more, businesswise, outsourcing R&D can be an effective strategy to foster internal creativity and build an open innovation climate. It enhances not only business development, but also boosts security and splits risks. That is why it is reasonable to entrust R&D to a specialised company as it will not only perform the task at a lower cost, but also maximise ROI and allow to maintain balance of R&D and risk.
Contact us if you have any questions!
Read the previous post: Mean Opinion Score as a method for the validation of R&D project results in imaging diagnostics