IT Management Slideshow: What Your CFO Thinks About Outsourcing Now

Just two years ago, outsourcing seemed to be the magic solution for CFOs looking to scale down operational costs within their organizations. This meant that many CIOs were suddenly confronted with the reality of offloading essential enterprise needs or project-related tasks to unfamiliar workers in distant lands. The results? In some cases, there were internal and external customer-service gaps due to cultural, language or time-zone differences. Now, a new survey from accounting and consulting firm BDO USA reveals that a clear majority of CFOs at tech companies are tuning out outsourcing as part of their big-picture strategies. "Outsourcing can be looked at as a bellwether of the economy," says Don Jones, partner in the technology and life sciences practice at BDO USA. "Tech companies turned to outsourcing in 2009 in order to reduce operating costs and ride out the recession. Since then, we've seen a marked decrease [in outsourcing] as companies recover and look to create jobs and growth close to home." The survey also examines CFO perspectives on federal regulatory proposals, demonstrating positive support for a major initiative from the Obama administration. One-hundred CFOs representing tech companies took part in the survey. Here are selected highlights: