The State of the Outsourcing Industry in 2011

2011 marks the year when the outsourcing of business processes became a mainstream component of corporate operations strategy, while IT outsourcing has truly become a commodity market.  Many enterprises took BPO strategies off the table during the economic crisis years of 2008-2010, and this year has seen many business leaders act more decisively to consider their BPO potential.

HfS Research’s 2011 “State of Outsourcing” Study, conducted with the Outsourcing Unit at the London School of Economics, canvassed the views of 1240 buyers, providers and advisors of outsourcing services, and reinforced the fact that those organizations being impacted by radical, fundamental shifts to their very industry economics, are more prepared than ever to look outside of their current organization boundaries to improve the cost-competitiveness of their business operations and better align them with their global needs.

These secular shifts are threatening the survival of many businesses, but at the same time are opening up major opportunities to build smarter, more globalized and more flexible organizations. As we venture into unprecedented times of uncertainty, business leaders can no longer afford to cling to many of the methods of yesteryear to steer their organizations, and the data from the new research study points to a more bold, radical approach by business leaders to embrace and explore the potential benefits of smarter global sourcing strategies that encompass outsourcing, shared services and in house functions.