Bill Thomas, Executive Director, Europe & Asia Pacific

European buyers of IT services who participated in EquaTerra’s 2009-10 Service Provider Performance and Satisfaction Studies have cast their votes and declared that outsourcing is proving to be an increasingly popular tool, enabling businesses to effectively manage their IT operations by reducing costs, improving process quality and providing access to skills.

Evaluating 2000 outsourcing contracts with a minimum annual contract value of €1 million held by over 750 of the top IT spending organisations across Europe, the research results provide real insight into the European IT outsourcing market and clearly identify how specific service providers are performing in different areas, across various geographies.

Outsourcing buyers participating in this study were asked to score their satisfaction with their service providers’ performance across a range of key performance indicators. Headline conclusions are as follows:

• 84% of buyers are satisfied with their providers and 86% would recommend their providers to other buyers
• Penetration of outsourcing through buyers spend is increasing with 82% of buyers aiming to hold or increase their spend in outsourcing, 54% of buyers intending to probably or certainly outsource more, and only 10% intending to outsource less
• Drivers for outsourcing are clear:
  • 67% of buyers outsource to reduce costs
  • Access to skills drives 39% of buyers
  • Improving service levels drives 38% of buyers
  • And moving to flexible cost models drives 29% of buyers
• The industry is maturing with 73% of buyers now stating that outsourcing arrangements are delivering on the expected outcomes
• Fifty five percent (55%) of organisations are making use of offshored services, with the UK market the most active at 71%

So, in terms of market trends, the results tell a definite success story. Generally, most service providers are doing a good job, and outsourcing is delivering results — so much so that most buyers expect to at least continue outsourcing at their current rate or increase their levels of activity in the near future. But the results are certainly varied for the individual providers evaluated in the research.

Find out more:
Click here to view EquaTerra’s European Service Provider Performance & Satisfaction Report Management Summary.

Click here to learn about EquaTerra’s Research programs, including other Service Provider studies.

Filed under: Information Technology (IT), Market Trends and News, Outsourcing by EquaTerra