How to Outsource Annotation Work? 7 Tips

2. Benefits of Outsourcing Annotations

While this slightly overlaps with what was mentioned above, the annotation work itself does not require much specialization. However, to perform annotations properly, expertise in management related to annotation-specific personnel and tasks is necessary. This is different from the specialization of development engineers, so having engineers in-house perform annotation work alongside their primary duties does not efficiently utilize the engineers' expertise and leads to a decrease in the productivity of their original engineering tasks.

Annotation itself does not require much expertise, but to perform annotation, expertise in managing personnel and tasks is necessary. Since it differs from the expertise of development engineers, having engineers in-house perform annotation tasks alongside their primary duties means that the engineers' expertise cannot be utilized efficiently, leading to a decrease in the productivity of their original engineering work.
Annotation itself does not require much expertise, but to perform annotation, expertise in managing personnel and tasks is necessary. Since it differs from the expertise of development engineers, having engineers in-house perform annotation tasks alongside their primary duties means that the engineers' expertise cannot be utilized efficiently, leading to a decrease in the productivity of their original engineering work.
Therefore, outsourcing annotation tasks allows engineers to focus their expertise on their primary duties, which can ultimately lead to cost reduction and increased productivity.

No labor costs or management expenses

Even if you gather annotation personnel in-house, managing a large volume of annotations requires a significant number of staff, leading to high costs and effort in management areas such as quality and progress control. Additionally, unless annotation tasks are consistently generated, these resources can become surplus. Furthermore, since annotation requirements vary by project, there is a need for personnel training, which incurs additional educational costs. By outsourcing, you can expect to reduce these labor and management costs. Let's take a detailed look at the benefits of such outsourcing.

Related Blog
>7 Tips for Successful Annotations

2-1. Cost Reduction and Time Savings

In addition to what has been mentioned so far, the labor cost per unit for development engineers and annotators differs significantly. Therefore, even when including management fees and profits from outsourcing vendors, it is often possible to reduce costs compared to performing annotation in-house, and the cost-saving effect becomes more pronounced as the volume of work requested increases. Additionally, many annotation vendors have specialized experience in annotation tasks, so they possess know-how to improve productivity per person without solely relying on increasing personnel. Thus, by outsourcing, it is possible to not only secure time within the company but also expect a reduction in the overall delivery time of annotation tasks while keeping costs down.

2-2. Reducing Management Burden

Handling large-scale data annotation tasks typically involves a significant number of personnel. To ensure quality while adhering to the schedule, various management tasks are required, such as preparing work manuals and progress management, regardless of the type of annotation. Especially in the early stages of the work, there are many questions and answers with the annotators. This management not only takes more time than expected but also requires experience and expertise to proceed efficiently. If you can entrust this to an experienced external vendor, the management burden can be alleviated.

2-3. Improvement and Stabilization of Quality

Although automation is progressing, annotation is still often done manually, and the experience and skills of annotators, as well as their understanding of specifications, along with variations among annotators, greatly affect the overall quality of the training data. If you have experienced annotators and outsourcing vendors that can manage personnel appropriately, you can achieve high-quality annotations based on specifications and work instructions. By outsourcing to such vendors with experienced annotators, you can expect stable, high-quality training data.

3-4. Security

It is important to ensure that appropriate security measures are in place. Some companies may only accommodate remote work by cloud workers. It is possible that sufficient security measures or compliance with the company's security requirements cannot be ensured through remote annotation. In such cases, check whether they also support on-site work, such as security rooms or client site assignments. Additionally, it is essential to choose a company that implements multifaceted security measures, including not only hardware but also security training for workers and the establishment of information security management systems.

3-5. Scalability

While it is often not given much importance at the PoC stage, let's consider the possibility of expanding the scale of annotation as we move to the next phase, and check the number of personnel that can be secured by the outsourcing partner and the delivery time for the expected scale of annotation. It would also be ideal to confirm whether they can respond in urgent situations.

3-6. Communication

In annotation, even after defining requirements and creating specifications, various exceptions and edge cases may arise as work progresses. Frequent Q&A and feedback with outsourcing partners often occur, making it important not only to ensure smooth communication but also to manage, update, and communicate information efficiently. It is also essential to verify whether information can be shared appropriately and efficiently through communication methods tailored to requests, such as the use of chat tools and centralized information management.

3-7. Price and Pricing Conditions

Depending on the outsourcing partner, not only the fees for annotation services but also the pricing methods for file unit costs, annotation unit costs, hourly rates, and other pricing units may vary. When selecting an outsourcing partner, it is recommended to gather multiple quotes from different companies while aligning the conditions for data quantity, delivery time, checking methods, and the number of objects per file, as well as the conditions for the estimate request. Additionally, since fees often vary based on the working conditions such as remote work or security rooms, it is important to compare prices accordingly.