Outsourcing in the Agricultural Tech (Agtech) Industry: Streamlining Operations and Maintenance

The agricultural technology (agtech) industry constantly explores ways to keep up with trends. However, as technology advances, agtech businesses encounter high operations and maintenance (O&M) costs for their systems. This gap hinders them from prioritizing their core functions.

Agtech companies thus rely on business process outsourcing (BPO) to boost O&M tasks. Support vendors provide cost-efficient access to human resources (HR) and robust technologies to improve this critical process.

This article explores outsourcing’s role in streamlining agtech O&M. Keep reading to learn more.

Reasons agtech businesses need O&M support

Agtech companies primarily focus on innovating the agricultural landscape. They help farmers grow crops more efficiently using cutting-edge tools such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), and machine learning (ML).

The increasing adoption of smartphones and the expansion of the telecommunications sector drive the global smart agriculture market’s growth. These mobile devices assist farmers in monitoring their large-scale agriculture activities. They also collect and store accurate agricultural data on various parameters.

Due to such advantages, the worldwide smart agriculture sector reached $19.91 billion in revenue in 2022. According to Presedence Research, the increasing demand for modernized solutions can drive the industry’s value to $43.37 billion by 2030.

However, as the need for tech advancements grows, agtech companies encounter a rise in O&M challenges. They experience the high cost of maintaining and updating these solutions. Hence, they tap into BPO resources to receive the listed benefits:

• Increase agricultural productivity and scalability
• Enhance cost savings and operational efficiency
• Focus on core competencies
• Avoid system downtime
• Ensure consistent time-to-market and project turnaround time
• Strengthen data and infrastructure security.

Ways outsourcing advances O&M in the agtech sector

Besides the above advantages, BPO organizations execute crucial practices to streamline O&M processes for agtech companies. Providers optimize their scalable HR and cutting-edge solutions to simplify agtech maintenance processes.

The sections below show how outsourcing supports agtech businesses. 

Optimize AI solutions

Recent statistics from IBM show that AI helps drive more efficient daily operations. The technology provides more accurate and valid data on environmental factors, assisting agribusinesses in making informed farming decisions.

Third-party providers leverage AI-powered tools to boost O&M for agtech companies. They work together to build and deploy AI solutions tailored to address specific operational challenges, from optimizing irrigation systems to automating equipment maintenance schedules.

Moreover, BPO firms integrate data from various agtech sources, such as weather sensors, crop trackers, and machinery logs, with AI algorithms. They use these resources to derive actionable insights that support the following O&M activities:

• Analyze operational workflows to identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement.
• Predict equipment failures or maintenance needs to minimize downtime.
• Improve agricultural supply chain management to ensure timely logistics.
• Automate alert systems to promptly resolve farming issues and equipment malfunctions.
• Expand the monitoring of farm fields and crop conditions. 
• Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) related to agricultural operations.

Use robotic process automation (RPA) systems

Outsourcing involves the use of RPA to further enhance agtech O&M processes. This emerging tool automates repetitive tasks and helps ensure accurate data input. The methods below are what BPO companies do to optimize RPA in smart agriculture:

• Automatically collect, extract, and process data from various sources. RPA eliminates manual data entry errors. It ensures agtech businesses access precise, up-to-date information for decision-making and operational efficiency.
• Simplify equipment usage and maintenance log tracking. Providers program RPA bots to generate automated alerts for routine system inspections and repairs. This feature immediately notifies teams of possible system breakdowns before they negatively affect agricultural efficiency.
• Streamline inventory management and monitoring. RPA helps providers easily track crop stock levels, generate purchase orders, and update inventory databases in real time. This capability minimizes waste and accelerates procurement processes.
• Improve supply chain coordination. RPA bots automate order processing, shipment tracking, and delivery scheduling for harvested crops. They help prevent operational delays resulting in damaged food crops and wasted capital.
• Speed up responses to routine customer inquiries. BPO call centers utilize RPA chatbots to process service requests quickly and effectively. These bots automate technical support ticketing for software and physical equipment.
• Integrate with IoT devices. Providers equip these platforms with RPA bots to expedite field surveillance and crop monitoring. These bots facilitate seamless data flow between smart devices and operational systems, enhancing real-time monitoring and decision-making.

Leverage security threat and mitigation technologies

The agriculture sector encounters evolving cyber threats as stakeholders increasingly rely on IoT and automation tech. In February 2023, production giant Dole lost $10.5 million due to a ransomware attack. Cybercriminals breached its subsidiary’s servers, forcing the company to temporarily shut down operations in several plants.

Outsourcing firms use robust security threat and mitigation technologies to help agtech businesses maintain the integrity of their system offerings. They safeguard O&M processes through these best practices:

• Perform comprehensive risk assessment and vulnerability scanning. BPO companies use this approach to identify security threats and weaknesses within agtech infrastructure. It lets them develop and implement proactive security controls to mitigate threats faster and more efficiently.
• Deploy intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS). Providers optimize these tools to monitor network traffic, detect unauthorized access, or identify malicious activities. The platform then automatically responds to security incidents in real time.
• Implement endpoint security management solutions. These tools protect individual devices, such as computers, mobile devices, and IoT systems, from malware and data breaches.
• Execute data encryption and secure transmission strategies. Service providers use encryption technologies to safeguard sensitive agricultural data at rest and in transit. Ensuring secure transmission helps avoid the loss of critical data within agtech systems.
• Exercise multifactor authentication mechanisms. These include passwords, tokens, and biometrics. Requiring multiple forms of identity verification minimizes the risk of unauthorized access and potential security incidents when using agtech platforms.
• Use security information and event management (SIEM) systems. BPO centralizes SIEM data collection, monitoring, and analysis within agtech infrastructure. Providers leverage the insights to detect and resolve abnormal activities immediately.
• Develop incident response and management strategies. BPO companies customize these plans to agtech businesses’ urgent needs and requirements. This structured approach includes defining roles, establishing communication protocols, and conducting post-incident reviews to enhance resilience and preparedness.
• Host security awareness and training programs. Providers recognize the human factor in security, so they train their workers and their clients’ staff. Training helps prevent human error, which accounted for 21% of data breaches in 2022 alone.
• Ensure regulatory compliance. BPO firms process and submit legal requirements for their clients’ agtech systems. They ensure the infrastructure adheres to industry standards, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This service helps avoid costly lawsuits and fines in cases of conflict.

The bottom line

Outsourcing is crucial in the agtech sector, as it offers a cost-effective way to streamline O&M. BPO companies provide affordable access to experts and the cutting-edge tools discussed above to ensure smooth agricultural processes.

Providers help agtech enterprises simplify ways to foster smart farming, from AI to security solutions. They facilitate safe and accelerated monitoring and sustainability practices to produce and harvest crops in superior conditions.

Let’s connect if you require more insights into outsourcing’s important role in the agtech sector or the agriculture industry in general. Skilled professionals from Unity Communications can help boost your O&M with outsourcing.