CIOs see 24% increase in IT outsourcing in six months

Phoenix has published the results of a national survey of 100 Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and IT Decision-Makers (ITDM), from across the UK and a range of different industry sectors, on their attitudes towards workplace IT within their organisations. One of the survey’s key findings highlights that CIOs and ITDMs have seen an average increase in IT outsourcing of 24% compared to six months ago, contradicting the common perception that IT outsourcing is reducing as organisations look to consolidate more of their IT in-house.

The survey, conducted by Vanson Bourne, the independent, specialist technology market research provider, found that, on average, just 2% of CIOs and ITDMs saw a decline in the use of IT outsourcing during the last six months. However, this figure was as high as 9% for those operating in the Financial Services sector. The overall increase in the use of IT outsourcing is attributed to a shift from more traditional forms of IT outsourcing such as desk-side support to more modern forms as businesses’ move to greater levels of cloud-based services and applications. While organisations are increasingly trying to consolidate IT infrastructure and processes, they’re also likely to be utilising cloud or cloud-based solutions from external vendors.

In addition, the survey, conducted with the CIOs and ITDMs of organisations with 1,000-3,000+ users, found that 42% of respondents place greater importance on IT service desks being able to provide problem resolution, than they did six months ago.

Alistair Blaxill, Managing Director of Phoenix’s Partner Business, said: “It is clear from the findings of our survey that the perceived decline in IT outsourcing has been overdone. While CIOs may aspire to bring IT services back in-house, outsourcing is here to stay as businesses look to modernise their infrastructure through the use of cloud-based systems. However, it does indicate a change in the type of support clients are looking for and it is important that partners and vendors adapt their offering accordingly. This is also evident in the increased importance CIOs are placing on problem resolution – this would suggest a greater move towards the delivery of a first-time fix to ensure clients are able to seamlessly continue to operate.”