SCI Australia started looking at offshoring, originally to save money. That’s how many offshoring stories start. What they found instead was a team in Manila, which changed how they think about their business.
Key takeaways
- Cost gets the door open, but skilled people are what make the partnership worth keeping. Some of the best offshore hires end up being some of the strongest people on the whole team.
- A good offshore team builds real culture and accountability, not just extra headcount – and that’s what carries a business through growth.
- Over time, consistency and accuracy matter more than the original savings. That’s what actually keeps the partnership going.
Not what he expected
Alex Christensen, CTO at SCI Australia, will tell you straight: offshoring started as a cost decision, and it was as simple as that.
“The initial drive to offshore was a cost component, but in all honesty, some of our best team members are over here in Manila. They do absolutely wonderful jobs.”
That wasn’t what he expected going in. Saving money on a hire is one thing. Ending up with people who raise the bar for everyone else is a different result entirely.
Work ethic he wasn’t expecting
What struck Alex early on was the level of ownership the Manila team brought to the job.
“There is this work ethic, there is this accountability that’s just not seen in some Australian team members. Over the years we’ve developed, thanks to TGT, our team has grown in size, which has allowed this camaraderie kind of culture to really develop and thrive.”
That kind of accountability doesn’t happen by accident, and it comes from hiring people who take pride in the work, then giving them a team worth showing up for.
A team, not just headcount
As the team grew, so did the culture. Alex saw it in the way the team pushed each other to do better.
“They just want more. They’re eager to learn, they’re eager to teach, and they’re eager to achieve their goals.”
That drive is what turns a group of hires into a team pulling in the same direction. For SCI, it’s meant fewer growing pains, and the Manila team isn’t treated as an outsourced function – it’s just part of the company.
The real payoff
For Alex, the biggest win isn’t the savings, it’s what the team has done for the quality of the work being delivered.
“It’s allowed so many of our managers to go to that next level in Australia. It’s also allowed our work to be more consistent, more accurate, and just allowed our business to thrive.”
For a business built on delivering for clients, that consistency is the job. It’s not what SCI set out to find when they started looking at offshore options, but it’s why they’re still recommending TGT Global after many years of partnership.
Start scaling your business by building your offshore team with TGT Global.
