Outsourcing IT services is by no means a silver bullet to address business challenges. However, if strategically handled, it can be a straightforward and effective way to leverage important skill sets and market experience – especially when it comes to payroll administration.

The introduction of South Africa's Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act is a reminder that market regulators in Africa are paying closer attention to the realities of modern data management and international labour best practices.

Good governance is no longer a box to be ticked on the checklist of business management functions, it is now a top priority because of the need for all industries to automate systems, reinvest human capital and digitally transform – all the while maintain above-board and legitimate business practices. Those that don't, will be out of business because of the level of competition that exists today.

According to leading HR and HCM services provider CRS Technologies the main benefit when partnering with an experienced and reputable service provider is access to knowledge of the environment.

"Payroll legislation can be complex and African payrolls can be vastly diverse in their legal requirements. These requirements are constantly changing and access to these changes are imperative. The skills and knowledge to run these different payrolls are not easily available," says Ian McAlister, GM of CRS Technologies.

In addition to having access to these much-needed skills, business owners are well aware of the need for systems and technology that is automated, integrated and can deal with the dynamics of a modern payroll environment – including compliance with regulation and data management.

A reputable partner has in-depth understanding of the core technology that make up these systems. This infrastructure is designed to remove the inherent risk of manual calculation, which is inevitably required because not all payroll systems are able to accommodate the different requirements of diverse African payrolls.

This understanding of systems and also ability to roll out or deliver these systems to a client, if required, is what sets service providers apart.

Indeed any prospective service provider that is on the lookout for business and wants to be the outsource partner of choice for African payrolls has to invest in ongoing training and understand the evolving payroll environment, not least changes to legislation and what they mean in practice.

"Without a system that can cater for different country requirements, and access to updated legislation, a provider cannot give accurate and speedy service that clients demand," McAlister adds.

CRS Technologies emphasises that outsourced payroll service and technology providers primarily have to help clients with compliance with legislation – otherwise businesses run the risk of non-compliance and the likelihood of heavy penalties that could break the business.