Summer Outsourcing Survey Results. A Trestle Group Research Report 25% 35% 12% 14%

Transcription

1 A Trestle Group Research Report 25% 35% 12% 14%

2 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION TO THE SURVEY 3 About the Survey 3 About Trestle Group Research 3 OUTSOURCING TODAY 4 IT Outsourcing 4 BPO 5 Outsourcing Destinations- Proximity as a Deciding Factor 5 The Sea of Choices 6 Wading through the Sea of Choices 7 OUTSOURCING EXPERIENCES 8 Healthy Relationships - The Key to Success 8 The Benefits in Outsourcing Projects 9 Shoring up the Challenges 10 OUTSOURCING IN THE FUTURE 11 IT Outsourcing 11 BPO 12 Outsourcing Destinations- The Sea only Gets Deeper 13 CONCLUSION 14.02

3 Introduction to the Survey About the Survey Trestle Group Research recently completed its annual Summer Outsourcing Survey. The Survey was conducted among upper-level management around the globe. Responses were collected primarily from the financial services, telecommunications and manufacturing sectors based in 16 countries - 70% from EU member countries. The Survey was conducted with the objective to provide insight into current and future outsourcing initiatives and the associated benefits and challenges that organizations face. About Trestle Group Research Trestle Group Research is committed to providing thought-provoking research and practical insights into such topics as corporate strategies, regulatory issues and global trends in outsourcing. This research enables organizations to maximize benefits from outsourcing initiatives..03

4 Outsourcing Today Outsourcing is defined as hiring another firm or service provider to perform a business process or IT function. Of all professionals surveyed, 74% responded that their firms currently outsource at least one IT function or business process. Current Outsourcing Additionally, participants noted that advances in outsourcing methodologies, solid relationships with their service providers and more comfort with outsoucing in general, are increasing their interests torwards BPO. Yes 74% Not Sure 1% No 25% IT Outsourcing Today Organizations have been outsourcing IT for many years. With the advent of remote access, reduced telecommunications cost and significant IT savvy resource pools at reduced rates, IT outsourcing was one of the first-movers in the outsourcing market. Of those respondents citing current outsourcing initiatives in place in their firms, 74% stated that their firms are outsourcing at least one of their IT functions. Categories of IT functions included network operations, application development, security, web site development / management, architecture, data center operations, application management and customer support. No 26% IT Outsourcing Today Yes 74%.04

5 BPO IT outsourcing continues to dominate in the industry; however, today's global marketplace is seeing an increasing number of companies, both multi-nationals and service providers, heading into the BPO arena. Many business processes are being outsourced such as transaction processing, accounting, corporate identity design, promotional material, human resources, help desk support, call centers, multimedia and customer support. No 41% BPO Today Yes 59% In fact, according to our Survey, 59% of the respondents claim that their institutions are currently outsourcing at least one business process and the majority - more than one. Outsourcing Destinations- Proximity as a Deciding Factor Even though India has established itself as the undisputed leader in the global outsourcing market, many firms are choosing nearshore destinations due to proximity and cultural closeness. Based on those reasons as well as the high percentage of respondents in EU member countries, our Survey shows an increase in outsourcing activity in Eastern Europe. One factor that may contribute to this trend is proximity. Addressing the critical success factor On-going management (#1), travel to nearshore locations is both faster and often more convenient for upper-level management, whose schedules are already strained by global travel. Other Ireland China Philippines Belarus Russia E. Europe India Outsourcing Destinations Today 10% 16% 19% 20% 22% 31% 4 70%

6 The Sea of Choices As the global outsourcing market demand increases, there is a corresponding increase in the supply of outsourcing service providers. This increase in supply from these budding service providers is healthy for competition and results in heightened quality. The downside is that firms are now forced to evaluate more service providers in more geographical locations. Service Providers Considered During Selection Process 4 to 6 39% 7 to 10 18% 10+ 5% Whereas a few years ago, only a small number of service providers existed for each outsourcing project, there is currently a sea of highly skilled and qualified candidate service providers that exist in any given market- a positive problem that firms are faced with when selecting an outsourcing service provider. This fact is verified in our Survey results where 39% considered 4 to 6 service providers and 18% between 7 to 10 service providers. 1 to 3 30% Don't know 8% The outsourcing service provider market has started to consolidate in select markets (e.g. India), but on a whole, the market is still growing rapidly from a global perspective and will continue to do so at least in the short to medium terms..06

7 Wading through the Sea of Choices With the abundance of service providers available, firms must prioritize which selection criteria is important and justify their choices of service providers to top management. The broad distribution of important selection factors chosen by the respondents illustrates the goals, objectives and risk appetites that are unique to each firm. Below is a chart ranking the most important selection factors firms used when choosing service providers. According to our results, Specific skills (#1) and Reputation (#2) are more important to firms than Price (#3) as selection criteria. Corporations realize that although they must benefit from reduced cost to justify their investment in offshoring, benefits from skill sets and experiences gained provide the ultimate advantage. A thorough due diligence process as well as confirming the competencies of service providers during the selection process was emphasized - you can't judge a provider from the website. Selection Criteria Available resources Other Flexible contract terms Do not know Certification Level Scalability Language / Culture Geographic location Price References and/or reputation Specific skills 2% 4% 7% 9% 11% 12% 14% 16% 19%

8 Outsourcing Experiences Healthy Relationships - The Key to Success The Survey examined the opinions of the respondents on such topics as success factors, benefits and challenges in outsourcing initiatives. Overall, participants agreed that the key to a successful outsourcing initiative is to learn from outsourcing pioneers, adapting best practices developed during their experiences to future outsourcing initiatives. The first graph depicts only those responses from respondents with previous experience in sourcing projects. Although there were slight variances by industry, respondents to the Survey overwhelmingly agreed that On-going management (#1) and Selecting the right vendor (#2) are the most important factors in successful sourcing projects. A Properly structured contract ranked 3rd in this category confirming our belief that "A contract is extremely important, but it is only a collection of words on paper. It is the relationship with the vendor that acts as the glue that holds the whole deal together - ultimately ensuring delivery." Success Factors in Sourcing Projects Other Strategic vision Understanding goals Properly structured contract Selecting right vendor On-going management 4% 7% 9% 17% 28% 36%

9 The Benefits in Outsourcing Projects Not surprisingly, the main benefit that all respondents, regardless of the size of the organization, find in outsourcing IT and/or business processes is Reduced Costs (#1). Smaller firms (i.e. annual revenue up to 10 million), however, have very different 2nd and 3rd benefit rankings compared with larger firms (i.e. annual revenue in excess of 10 million). The smaller firms' 2nd and 3rd rankings are: Gain access to resources unavailable internally (#2) and Access to a flexible workforce (#3) whereas larger firms chose Improve business focus (#2) and Internal reorganization (#3). The smaller firms' motive for outsourcing is often the need for resources rather than to realign strategic focus. Larger firms, in comparison, have historically been self-contained organizations. They are now, however re-aligning their strategic focus by taking closer looks at departmental efficiencies and outsourcing non-core or under-performing processes. Better BPM tools have enabled top-level executives to keep their fingers on the pulse of individual departments, effectively uncovering those that are not up to par. Benefits in Outsourcing Accelerate project Risk transfer Other Free up internal resources Reduce time to market Improve business focus Internal reorganization Access to a flexible workforce Gain access to resources unavailable internally Reduce Costs 1% Annual Revenue 4% 10 to >50 mil 6% 0 to 10 mil 6% 4% 5% 16% 9% 6% 17% 12% 26% 2 32%

10 Shoring up the Challenges Both large and small firms agree that there are many benefits to outsourcing. Companies are able to realize such benefits as reduced costs, improved business focus and access to resources not available internally. With these benefits, however, there are also challenges. It is interesting to see that almost the very same benefits (e.g. On-going management, Selecting the right vendor and Properly structured contract) that the respondents identified as success factors are also the challenges identified- Managing process / relationship (#1), Vendor Selection (#2) and SLA definition (#3). To meet the challenges in outsourcing engagements, respondents invest in vendor relations and on-going management to ensure that the benefits of outsourcing are realized. Major Challenges in Outsourcing Engagements Other Deciding what to outsource Change management SLA definition Vendor selection Managing process / relationship 5% % 31%

11 Outsourcing in the Future Compared with the 69% of respondents that said their companies currently outsource either IT or BPO, 79% stated that their firms will outsource IT or BPO in the next 12 months. Continued focus on reducing costs is one of the key drivers for the increase in future outsourcing initiatives. No 18% Future Outsourcing (Next 12 Months) Not Sure Yes 79% IT Outsourcing According to the professionals responding to the Survey, IT outsourcing will continue to grow to a staggering 79% as their firms seek to reduce costs and focus on their core competencies. This does not mean that the firms are going to outsource their entire IT departments. Only those non-strategic pieces of the IT organization will be outsourced, leaving the remaining department to focus on their core competencies. No 21% IT Outsourcing (Next 12 Months) Yes 79%.11

12 BPO The most notable increase in outsourcing activity is in the BPO sector. As firms are becoming more comfortable with outsourcing pieces of their IT departments, they are realizing that outsourcing is also beneficial in other aspects of their noncore businesses. They are asking themselves the following question, "Why do we still perform this business process when another company can provide this service cheaper and better?" Business Process Outsourcing (Next 12 Months) No 30% Yes 70% The Survey showed that BPO will increase 11% over the next 12 months as firms continue to realize the benefits of business process outsourcing and build on successful outsourcing initiatives..12

13 Outsourcing Destinations - The Sea only Gets Deeper When respondents were asked to list their firm's current outsourcing destinations, a total of 17 locations were named. As countries such as Jordan, Armenia and South Africa realize that their economies can also benefit as a preferred outsourcing destination, corporations are beginning to also take notice based on proximity, government support and reduced labor cost. India remains the number one outsourcing destination, and is expected to remain the leader within the next 12 months. However, corporations are increasingly exploring other locations. 56% of respondents listed Eastern European outsourcing providers as the likely recipients of outsourcing projects in the next 12 months, an increase of 1 over current initiatives. Of all outsourcing destinations listed, Ireland was the only country predicted to lose outsourcing business within the next year. One possible explanation is due to the rising cost of labor in Ireland- a result of the increased wage demands of the experienced labor market in Ireland. Indian service providers are also battling increased labor costs, facing increased competition from countries such as China. Outsourcing Destinations Other Ireland Philippines China Belarus Russia 10% 2 16% 17% 21% 20% 2 19% 2 22% 31% 37% Next 12 Months Current Eastern Europe India 56% 4 71% 70%

14 Conclusion Organizations across sectors see the number one success factor in sourcing projects as On-going management with the service provider but also see this as the greatest challenge. Those firms successful in managing their relationships with their vendors will be able to reap the greatest benefits from their outsourcing initiatives. Reduced costs is the number one overall benefit that firms receive from outsourcing their IT or business process (es). Larger firms find Improved business focus and Internal reorganization to be the next important benefits, whereas smaller firms find Access to resources not available internally and Access to a flexible workforce the next most important benefits. Based on the results of those surveyed, both IT and business process outsourcing will increase substantially over the following 12 months (5% and 11% respectively). Firms will explore more BPO opportunities as they become comfortable with current outsourcing initiatives and are forced to narrow their focus to their core business in the face of unrelenting cost pressures and competition. An increasing number of service provider destination countries are being considered by companies seeking to find the lowest cost and highest quality providers available. Nearshore locations are popular for respondents of this Survey, as companies seek to outsource the IT function or business process to a service provider within arms' reach in order to manage the on-going vendor relationships. In conclusion, outsourcing initiatives will continue to grow as companies become more comfortable with the challenges and opportunities derived through their own projects and those of their peers. Trestle Group expresses its gratitude to: Participants of this Survey who invested their time and expertise; Industry experts who provided feedback regarding the results; Trestle Group Outsourcing Partners who validated the results; The Trestle Group Research team..14

15 Trestle Group is an international firm providing services solely focused on global sourcing. Through our diverse and complementary set of services, clients benefit from support ranging from strategy through to implementation. Whether you are interested in setting up operations in Eastern Europe, outsourcing to India or ready to make the world a better place through our Foundation ( Trestle Group is a solid partner. Experience Trestle Group today. Sourcing Lifecycle From Owner of Activities 1 Identifying sourcing potential 2 Analyzing status quo 3 Planning target state 4 Transformation to target state 5 Continuous optimization to Recipient of Activities Trestle Group Value Proposition Focus Trestle Group focuses entirely on IT and BPO sourcing. This emphasis provides clients with concentrated specialists that understand how to best design and implement sourcing strategies. Company Trestle Group s current client portfolio and past project experience establishes a solid foundation of market knowledge, expertise, methodologies, and best practice experience. Experts Trestle Group market experts bring professional personalities, first-hand market knowledge and innovative approaches to deliver solutions to complex sourcing challenges. Research Trestle Group demonstrates thought leadership through market publications and remains current by following industry trends and peer research. Contact Trestle Group For more information about the services Trestle Group provides, please contact one of our offices or visit our website. New York City, USA 245 Park Avenue New York Tel: Fax: London, United Kingdom 1 Ropemaker Street EC2Y 9HT London Tel: Fax: Frankfurt, Germany Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage Frankfurt am Main Tel: Fax: Zurich, Switzerland Limmatquai Zurich Tel: Fax: Bangalore, India Bangalore Raheja Towers Mahatma Gandhi Road Bangalore Tel: Fax: