Being in Bangalore, I am fortunate to be able to see the outsourcing juggernaut in my backyard. Palpable changes have happened here in real estate, tech placements, number of back-office shops, number of off-shore units and the number of skilled professionals - now with over a decade of real IT experience. The current model of outsourcing isn't new to anyone - order procurement, setting up of delivery framework and execution on the guidelines of international standards. This model has reaped dividends for numerous companies here - resulting in copious cash flows into the city. While this model has served well to the affluent foreign companies, it does not scale-down for the SME/SOHO companies, who may not have the financial muscle to setup an outsourcing unit.

One solution was proposed to address the concerns of this category of companies: B2B. But then, that was pre-boom time. And after the shakeout, the word itself is laced with disdain. The vehicle for implementing B2B doesn't exist anymore - it probably would never work in its original avatar. Even then, the needs of small units for outsourcing are real. They seek setting up outsourced entities with a handful of people. Their only restraint is the entry-barrier of setting these small entities. Setting up one of these would involve renting out space, recruitment, training, setting & measuring performance and managing the operations of the unit.

Are we looking at a problem here, or an opportunity?

This is where micro-outsourcing could serve the needs. This business model would consists of, an aggregator service - to collect the requirements of the small outsourcers and refine them at the point of entry, on-site processing of the requirements as an isolated unit - like planning out a project, off-shoring and meshing up with all the other requests - like processing the order in juxtaposition with the others and then dispatch and execution. You're right if u found a striking similarity of this model with SCM - u can call it the intellectual SCM.

Like always, the real challenge is in developing a working model and then going on to execute it. This implementation would not only require a mashup of existing business ideas, but also provides an opportunity to create entirely new ones to address this unique scenario.