CIOs are outsourcing crucial business tasks more than ever before. A survey of more than 200 IT decision-makers from small businesses to large enterprises found that 32 percent of organizations will increase their IT outsourcing investments in 2013. Some other headlines from market research firm Bluewolf's report:
- 48 percent of the average outsourcing budget is spent on application services.
- 48 percent of organizations will hire more contractors, rather than full-time staff in the next 12-18 months.
- 16 percent of all outsourced data center operations are managed in the cloud.
“It’s clear that CIOs are rethinking the strategies around outsourcing,” says Bluewolf marketing campaign manager Amber O’Neill. “The increased look towards mixed sourcing models, such as staff augmentation, managed services, outtasking, project-based consulting, and cloud service providers shows that outsourcing is becoming more complex. She further noted that the firm's research and observations indicate that the IT skills gap is actually widening, especially in some slices of tech. "This is particularly true with regard to cloud-based skills and other newer technologies that are proliferating beyond the ability of companies to train employees on them," O'Neill says. "Outsourcing is a shift in the way companies do business that addresses fundamental changes in the technology landscape.”
Jobs that Take Outsourcing Hit
The survey also identifies the IT functions that are most frequently outsourced today. One skills area that stands out is Salesforce.com-related talent in both development and administration.
- Application development: Forty-six percent of companies outsource their app dev. It’s the leading category. About a third of respondents plan to increase outsourcing in this area. They are turning to outsourcers for software development expertise, Salesforce development skills, and QA analysts.
- Web and mobile: Another 39 percent are outsourcing Web and mobile development projects. Skills include Android and iPhone developers, front-end developers, and UI/UX designers.
- App hosting: About 28 percent use outside firms for application hosting and needexpertise from Salesforce consultants, Eloqua consultants, and software developers in any and all languages.
- App maintenance: About 26 percent employ outsourcing assistance for application maintenance, mainly through consulting firms. Skills sought include software developers (all languages), Salesforce admins, systems analysts, QA testers, performance engineers (especially in the e-commerce space for both B2B and B2C companies, and production support specialists.
- Data center ops: Another 23 percent turn to outsourcers for data center operations, primarily with managed service providers. The skills that are needed include data warehouse architects, data warehouse developers, and data warehouse QA professionals. “The rise of the big data trend is definitely accelerating the need for data warehousing expertise,” says O’Neill. “As every department from marketing to sales to service is looking to use data to make better decisions, companies are investing more in their data center operations.”
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