Forget all the discussion about IT outsourcing providers moving up the technology value chain to become partners in innovation; their customers’ biggest needs remain much more straightforward, according to the results of the IDG Enterprise Outsourcing & Service Providers Survey. (CIO.com is an IDG company.)

The three biggest drivers for outsourcing among the 1,176 IT and business executives who responded to the online survey were access to skills not available in-house (52 percent), cost reduction (50 percent), and managing variable staffing needs (44 percent). Around one-third of respondents were looking to third-party providers to support or enable new business initiatives or to improve business and technology processes, while 19 percent sought outsourcers to enable innovation.

The leading motivations for outsourcing were reflected in the factors respondents considered most important when selecting a provider. When choosing an onshore vendor, the most critical criteria were cost (94 percent), technology or business process expertise (92 percent) and available talent pool (88 percent). When choosing an offshore provider, reputation leapt to number one (90 percent), followed by expertise (89 percent), available talent pool (88 percent) and cost (87 percent).

The survey also revealed that achieving the desired results from outsourcing remains a work in progress. Just 44 percent of respondents said they had achieved a measurable positive impact accessing hard-to-find skills, while only 34 percent achieved measureable cost reductions and 36 percent attained the flexible staffing model desired.

The vendors themselves may not be entirely to blame for the lack of results. Survey respondents didn’t give themselves rave reviews for theirmanagement of their outsourcing relationships. Just over a quarter rated their own service delivery management and measurement practices as very effective, while 42 percent said they were somewhat effective and 12 percent said they weren’t effective at all.

Marks for overall outsourcing strategy were also mixed. Three out of five of those surveyed said their outsourcing strategy was somewhat effective-in alignment with their overall business strategy but not a main driver of business success. Meanwhile, 18 percent said their outsourcing strategy was extremely effective-a key component of their success in meeting business goals. But 22 percent indicated that their outsourcing strategy was ineffective and reactionary.

The middle-of-the-road results may not temper the use of external IT services (just seven percent of respondents said they planned to decrease their use of outsourcing). But it could make cloud-computing options more attractive. Nearly three quarters of respondents said they are considering cloud computing as an outsourcing option; 13 percent are working with existing outsourcing vendors to move to cloud-based services, and 10 percent are replacing existing outsourcing services with new vendors who can tap the cloud.

Whether cloud-enabled providers will address the biggest perceived outsourcing risks according to the survey (i.e. poor service quality, data security/intellectual property protection, and loss of internal knowledge-remains to be seen. Customers will likely have the same concerns with cloud options.

Source:http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/041911-outsourcing-it-customers-disappointed-with.html?hpg1=bn

As tempting as it sounds, federal agencies cannot afford – literally – to rely on contractors for technology innovation, at least according to one contractor.

In a recent blog post, we noted that we had received numerous reader comments in recent months that suggested that federal agencies could not afford to compete with the private sector for cream-of-the-crop IT talent.

This raises the question of whether or not agencies would be better off to stop trying to compete and simply rely on contractors to fill the gap.

But that would be a costly mistake, the contractor replied.

“Being a contractor, it’s odd for me to say this, but bringing in more contractors is totally the wrong thing to do,” wrote the anonymous contractor. “They cost [twice as much as a] government employee, they generally are beholden to their company first, and the customer is generally an afterthought.”

Rather than ponying up that money for contractors who come and go, agencies would be better off getting serious about hiring IT talent – and about paying for it, the reader said.

Source:http://fcw.com/blogs/insider/2011/04/fcw-challenge-it-contractors-outsourcing.aspx

Forget all the discussion about IT outsourcing providers moving up the technology value chain to become partners in innovation; their customers’ biggest needs remain much more straightforward, according to the results of the IDG Enterprise Outsourcing & Service Providers Survey. (CIO.com is an IDG company.)
The three biggest drivers for outsourcing among the 1,176 IT and business executives who responded to the online survey were access to skills not available in-house (52 percent), cost reduction (50 percent), and managing variable staffing needs (44 percent). Around one-third of respondents were looking to third-party providers to support or enable new business initiatives or to improve business and technology processes, while 19 percent sought outsourcers to enable innovation.
The leading motivations for outsourcing were reflected in the factors respondents considered most important when selecting a provider. When choosing an onshore vendor, the most critical criteria were cost (94 percent), technology or business process expertise (92 percent) and available talent pool (88 percent). When choosing an offshore provider, reputation leapt to number one (90 percent), followed by expertise (89 percent), available talent pool (88 percent) and cost (87 percent).
The survey also revealed that achieving the desired results from outsourcing remains a work in progress. Just 44 percent of respondents said they had achieved a measurable positive impact accessing hard-to-find skills, while only 34 percent achieved measureable cost reductions and 36 percent attained the flexible staffing model desired.
The vendors themselves may not be entirely to blame for the lack of results. Survey respondents didn’t give themselves rave reviews for theirmanagement of their outsourcing relationships. Just over a quarter rated their own service delivery management and measurement practices as very effective, while 42 percent said they were somewhat effective and 12 percent said they weren’t effective at all.
Marks for overall outsourcing strategy were also mixed. Three out of five of those surveyed said their outsourcing strategy was somewhat effective—in alignment with their overall business strategy but not a main driver of business success. Meanwhile, 18 percent said their outsourcing strategy was extremely effective—a key component of their success in meeting business goals. But 22 percent indicated that their outsourcing strategy was ineffective and reactionary.
The middle-of-the-road results may not temper the use of external IT services (just seven percent of respondents said they planned to decrease their use of outsourcing). But it could make cloud-computing options more attractive. Nearly three quarters of respondents said they are considering cloud computing as an outsourcing option; 13 percent are working with existing outsourcing vendors to move to cloud-based services, and 10 percent are replacing existing outsourcing services with new vendors who can tap the cloud.
Whether cloud-enabled providers will address the biggest perceived outsourcing risks according to the survey (i.e. poor service quality, data security/intellectual property protection, and loss of internal knowledge—remains to be seen. Customers will likely have the same concerns with cloud options.

Source:http://www.cio.com/article/679955/Outsourcing_IT_Customers_Disappointed_With_Results?taxonomyId=3154

American corporate IT departments nationwide are beginning to ‘bring the jobs back home’ by reallocating their outsourcing initiatives from off-shore companies to on-shore companies. Current statistics indicate an overall savings on applications and systems development for most corporate IT departments when using on-shore outsourcing resources instead of overseas outsourcing resources. Additional savings can be realized through federal tax breaks for companies participating in on-shore outsourcing by recognizing their contribution to the U.S. economy.

Remote Consulting USA announced today that it has entered the on-shore outsourcing industry by offering mainframe applications and systems development resources nationwide to American corporate IT departments. Using the nation’s top echelon of seasoned professional mainframe applications and systems developers, Remote Consulting USA’s resources help corporate IT departments reduce their cost of mainframe applications and systems development by providing the following cost saving initiatives:

· Cost reductions from not having to provide or maintain office space and facility resources for on-site employees or consultants
· Cost reductions from not having to pay for employee benefits or high overhead for on-site consultants/contractors
· Reduced project completion timelines from having project specific resources not interrupted by daily “office distractions” or “application or system maintenance issues” normally incurred by employees or on-site consultants/contractors
· Deliverables produced and scrutinized by tenured American IT professionals who understand the American business models used by corporate America
· Lack of any language barriers or phonetics issues when communicating project specifics often found when outsourcing with overseas companies
· Cost reductions from not having to provide software licensing for temporary development resources

Remote Consulting USA provides access to all of these cost saving initiatives by providing remote consulting for applications and systems development while adhering to industry standards for SDLC and utilizing CMMI principles and ISO policies and procedures.

With over 25 years of mainframe applications and systems development experience, Remote Consulting USA offers a wide range of technical expertise across multiple computer platforms and environments. Whether implementing new business intelligence systems or modernizing existing legacy applications, Remote Consulting USA has the resources and expertise to propel your development initiatives to completion ahead of schedule and well under cost.

Remote Consulting USA’s mission -

· To deliver enterprise level business solutions through the development of world-class applications and systems integrations focused on increasing our client’s ROI and business success.

Remote Consulting USA’s customer pledge -

· To do whatever it takes to deliver the solutions your company needs in order to maximize your business potential and do so in a manner that dramatically increases your ROI for applications and systems development and implementation.

Source:http://www.pr.com/press-release/305640