Outsourcing main driver for IT growth

Outsourcing has become a mainstream business practice for companies of all sizes and is currently the main source of growth in IT services, according to industry research.

Analyst Gartner said that outsourcing will account for just over half of the total worldwide IT services market this year, rising to 56 per cent by 2007.

"Outsourcing is becoming the dominant way that enterprises buy IT services," said Allie Young, research vice president for Gartner's sourcing group, in a statement.

"The outsourcing industry continues to evolve, but the imperatives for enterprises considering outsourcing are constant: focus on core business, access to critical technical expertise and optimised IT operations."

Gartner predicted that for the average enterprise, the rise of shorter-term "selective" outsourcing will give way to a "best of breed" approach.

The IT services market is also in the middle of "unprecedented change" as companies rush to reduce costs though deployment of a global delivery model (GDM), according to the analyst.

"A GDM means that enterprises can use IT resources from anywhere in the world to ensure that they have the right skills at the right price at the right time, with managed risk," explained Young.

"Only the largest global corporations will rely on captive centres to bring a global labour pool to their IS organisations. Most enterprises will do so via outsourcing, tapping into the GDM of an outsourcer."