Outsourcing 2003: How Well Are You Managing Your Partners?

Outsourcing IT is now commonplace—even strategic IT functions and applications are fair game for many of our 663 respondents. On the surface, successful experiences with outsourcing have much to do with its popularity, since no more than 25 percent of IT executives expressed dissatisfaction with their vendors. But our survey did uncover signs of trouble: Nearly half reported problems with their outsourcing partners, so the high satisfaction ratings may hide low expectations. It also suggests that many companies lack the skills to manage vendors well, especially since lack of resources and expertise were the top reasons for outsourcing. Meanwhile, outsourcing remains a sore point with IT staffs, particularly at large companies, where fear of losing jobs to outsourcing is causing considerable disruption. Keeping outsourcing from undermining morale could be a bigger challenge for CIOs than most seem to think. The key outsourcing issue today is not whether to outsource, but what to outsource and how to manage both the vendors and the remaining IT staff.