All of Systems Valley’s offshore software developers are Microsoft-Certified in their specialist field. But how does this benefit an organisation looking for help with a software development or business-critical IT project?

In order to attain Microsoft-Certified status, our developers had to pass a series of exams within the Microsoft-Certified Professionals program in which they demonstrated their expertise and mastery of Microsoft technologies.

So when organisations partner with us, they not only enjoy the cost-saving benefits of outsourcing, but have flexible access to highly-qualified, technically-skilled professionals who are up-to-speed with the latest developments in Microsoft technologies and platforms and have exclusive access to Microsoft resources.

You can learn more about our offshore software development service here

As discussed in yesterday’s blog, switching from a paper-based to a web-based system  for recording and monitoring employee leave can save you time and money, as web-based systems eliminate time-consuming paperwork and ensure you avoid the costly admin errors typically associated with paper-based or spreadsheet systems.

There are currently a wide range of web-based systems  for monitoring and managing employee leave on the market. So if you’re looking to implement a web-based leave management system  in your organisation, what should you look for in a potential solution?

In choosing a solution for your organisation, look for one that allows you to record and monitor all types of leave, including holidays, training days, sick days and days taken in lieu. You should also choose a solution that includes exporting and reporting features, so you can analyse the data collected in the system to identify absenteeism and leave patterns and trends in your organisation.

You should make sure the solution integrates with Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SharePoint and Windows Active Directory, and integrates easily with your Outlook calendar, so everyone in your organisation can see at a glance who is going to be in and out of the office on any given day.

You should also ensure the solution can be accessed by employees wherever they are, offers complete data security and confidentiality, requires minimal user training and is fully IT supported.

Despite the widespread availability of online and web-based systems for recording and monitoring employee leave and absence, many organisations still require employees to fill out and file paperwork in order to request time off.

This not affects productivity by creating unnecessary, time-consuming paperwork for both the employee and the manager that has to approve the request, it makes it difficult to accurately monitor how many days’ holiday each employee has taken and to ensure employees do not take more days’ off than they’re entitled to every year.

Using a paper-based system, it’s also difficult to keep track when employees are going to be away and to see who will be in and out of the office on any working day.

A time and cost-saving alternative is to implement an automated, web-based system for recording and monitoring leave in your organisation. You can learn more here.

You might think that only large organisations can enjoy the bottom-line benefits of offshore outsourcing, since they have the financial resources to set up large outsourcing contracts and agreements.

But small businesses can benefit from outsourcing too. This excellent article  on Microsoft.com  discusses the benefits of outsourcing for small business owners and offers useful tips on setting up outsourcing agreements.

As previously discussed in this blog, more and more organisations are turning to outsourcing to save costs during the economic downturn. And even the UK government is now considering increasing its use of offshore outsourcing.

According to an article on Silicon.com , senior Whitehall figures have indicated that they're open to increased offshoring of government IT in order to save costs and improve the quality of their IT services.

Alexis Cleveland, director of transformational government for the Cabinet Office commented that she: “would see a great cost reduction and improvement in quality through using offshoring," while Andrew Gay, acting CIO for the Ministry of Justice, stated that there is scope for more work to be carried out offshore in his department.

You can find out more about the cost-saving benefits of outsourcing here .