InformationWeek Analytics New Research Shows Nearly a Third of Business Technology Professionals Have Fired an Outsourcing Partner in the Last 12 Months

More Than 500 Business Technology Professionals Share Outsourcing Plans, Vendor Management Strategies and Outsourcing Concerns

PRNewswire-FirstCall
SAN FRANCISCO
May 20, 2010

InformationWeek Analytics today announced the release of its latest IT outsourcing research report. InformationWeek Analytics provides IT decision-makers with real-world perspective based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative research, business and technology assessment and planning tools, and technology adoption best practices gleaned from experience. The report author, Mike Healey is the president of Yeoman Technology Group, an engineering and research firm focused on maximizing technology investments for organizations.

Research Summary:

Outsourcing is a key part of every modern IT group, but is still an area in need of improvement. Twenty-nine percent of the 530 business technology professionals in the InformationWeek Analytics 2010 Outsourcing Survey have fired a vendor within the last 12 months. The growth of cloud computing, outsourcing of high-end skills, and dissatisfaction with the results in some conventional outsourcing segments all point to the need for better outsourcing management. In this report, we identify outsourcing trends and management practices among organizations using outsourced services.

  Findings:

  --  Nearly 6 of 10 IT shops outsource some critical function--management,
      engineering or development. However, nearly one-fourth keep executive
      and management functions in-house but look to outsource everything
      else.

  --  With end user support and development of customer-facing applications,
      more than half of survey respondents say outsourcing has delivered
      lower quality.  However, cloud computing and SaaS get more favorable
      reviews, with the majority saying it has delivered better quality and
      44% planning to expand use.

  --  Only 17% say they directly monitor the performance and uptime of all
      of their cloud and SaaS applications. A quarter monitor only
      mission-critical items and 59% rely on their vendors to monitor
      themselves.

  --  Cloud computing extends vendor relationships further than ever for
      some companies, and customers must stretch their management practices
      to cover it. According to business technology professionals,
      unforeseen costs, communication problems, and lack of industry
      expertise are three leading concerns to evaluate before selecting a
      partner.

For full access to the research data, download now: http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/13/2893/Outsourcing-Services/it- outsourcing-survey-2010-better-management-required.html

"By far the largest block of poll respondents, 35%, came from companies with 10,000 or more employees," says Lorna Garey, Content Director of InformationWeek Analytics. "These are the people on the front lines of outsourcing, and they presumably have good-size IT staffs. And yet well more than half don't directly monitor the performance and uptime of their cloud applications. But relying solely on the vendor for SLA monitoring is like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse."

InformationWeek Analytics is a subscription-based service, offering peer-based technology research. Its site currently houses more than 900 reports and briefs, and includes a dedicated area where technology professionals can access complete issues of InformationWeek Magazine. More than one hundred new reports are slated for release in 2010. InformationWeek Analytics members have access to:

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      InformationWeek 500 and the State of Security report

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  Contact:       Art Wittmann
                  VP & Managing Director InformationWeek
                  Analytics
                 415-947-6361
                 awittmann@techweb.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: sbalser@techweb.com

SOURCE: UBM TechWeb

CONTACT: Art Wittmann, VP & Managing Director InformationWeek Analytics,
415-947-6361, awittmann@techweb.com

Web Site: http://www.techweb.ubm.com/