Businesses outsource their way out of the recession

A new survey by Equaterra claims that more than 60% of UK businesses will increase the amount of IT outsourcing they use, demonstrating that outsourcing need not be expensive and can actually help cut costs by boosting efficiency.

The amount of firms planning to expand their outsourced IT has grown from 54% last year, highlighting the success and growth of the IT services industry.

Additionally, under 10% of the 100 businesses surveyed said that they would reduce the amount of IT they outsource. Equaterra said:

"[We] have not found any indication that economic conditions will significantly negatively impact outsourcing demand in the UK market. Indeed [we] expect that economic conditions will further drive demand for outsourcing as UK organisations more aggressively seek means to reduce costs, defer or limit future investments, and realign operating models to lower revenue levels."

80% of businesses named cost-cutting as a reason for increased use of IT outsourcing. In keeping with this cost efficiency theme, Inatech’s iBIZ and IDBA modular products were launched in December as money-saving products for businesses.

The fixed costs and modular nature of the managed services mean that businesses are able to buy contracts only for services that they need, rather than being tied in to long-term contracts that outlive their usefulness and simply drain resources.

At this time for companies struggling with the economy business needs to focus on flexibility rather than one-service-one-contract approach.