According to Datamonitor, outsourcing is predicted to increase more and more in the years to come. The confidence in outsourcing is rising in the financial services sector. The whole application outsourcing segment is expected to experience significant growth. Moreover, the expenditure on outsourcing in the insurance sector too is expected to be propelling the growth.

Outsourcing responsibilities

Infrastructure support and maintenance are the most popular outsourcing responsibilities. The highest preference for them is found within manufacturing, insurance and retail.

Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing
The survey also gives the main advantages of outsourcing. In all sectors the below listed benefits more or less apply:
• Guaranteed service level
• Access to skills that we lack in house
• Focus on the job in hand

The most important advantage of outsourcing is ‘access to skill that a company lacks in house’. In manufacturing, another important benefit is the possibility to concentrate more on the job in hand. In all sectors some factors apply that put IT directors off outsourcing, including the most important factor; the loss of visibility and control.