Client side assurance
Outsourcing IT, in one form or another, is prevalent throughout UK business. Cost savings are, and always has been, the main driver for this. It is not the only driver and numerous other benefits can result from effective outsourcing. But cost is the main driver and it is also driving the trend of taking development work offshore to locations where operational or development resources are available at a fraction of the cost in the UK.
The UK is one of the leading economies in Europe in this outsourcing move and as a result UK industry is improving in competitiveness. But it’s not all good news. Before they can achieve the benefits, many companies go through painful and costly transitions. There can be contractual issues which conceal considerable costs or severely constrain a company’s options. There can be cultural issues and social issues too, particularly, but not exclusively, with offshore activity. And there are a number of high profile organisations that have taken back in house activities that they previously outsourced. Notable of these is JP Morgan which brought back in house its £2.7bn IT Outsourcing contract with IBM. However, these issues aside, the majority of organisations are deriving far more advantages than drawbacks from outsourcing IT and the size of the IT outsource market continues to grow each year.