Joining the online outsourcing trend, Microsoft is making a grab for a piece or perhaps all of the outsourcing pie. Together, Microsoft Research Asia and Microsoft Office Labs have launched Taskmarket.com. Taskmarket.com is an online marketplace for jobs where freelancers make themselves available for specific jobs within their area of expertise. And buyers looking for a little extra help on a project post their job descriptions and await bids.
It is interesting to notice that the development team of Taskmarket.com is based in Beijing, China. The popularity of outsourcing in China is obvious, as companies strategically leverage off the vast cost disparity between China and their home countries in order to enjoy sizeable economies of scale. Taskmarket.com aims to achieve the same success and capitalize on the technical expertise and competency of English-speaking Chinese workers.
Chinese fans of Microsoft will instantly recognize the design and concept of the “technical preview” site featuring colors, style and sections for ‘Buyers’ (Business) and ‘Providers’ (Freelancers) similar to that of the user interface established by a Chinese company called myTino (usa.mytino.com). This successful online outsourcing site that provides services to small and medium sized businesses has already created a niche for freelance individuals. myTino.com has been in business for over a year now, and will face stiff competition from its “Big Brother” competitor who seeks to dominate the same target market.
In the rapidly developing technology economy of China, IT professionals accustomed to the traditional outsourcing model now prefer to utilize the online outsourcing platform because it saves time, effort and improve efficiency. Both web sites feature a structured ratings and feedback system to assess member credibility and help businesses and freelancers choose the most suitable working relationships—both also feature a secure escrow payment service via PayPal.
The launch of Taskmarket.com signals that Microsoft believes there is a significant business opportunity within the online outsourcing market. As Taskmarket.com has only recently been launched, there are only a handful of posted jobs on it, and as with any new site it will take some time to build a market base. As practiced in other Microsoft product launches, we can expect Taskmarket.com to co-operate with the highly popular MSN and MSN messenger communities to increase its market presence. The question for watchers of this space is: will Taskmarket.com continue to follow and learn from the past experience of other online outsourcing sites and emulate their business direction, enlarge their business scope and evolve their web structure? And will major players like Yahoo and Google soon follow?
