Digital Urgency Driving Demand for Outsourcing Services, ISG Report Says
The need for speed, innovation and agility expanding the market for outsourcing
STAMFORD, Conn., April 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The growing urgency of enterprises to digitally transform their business operations and enhance customer experience was the driving force behind much of the growth in outsourcing innovation, contract awards and spending in 2017, according to the ISG Momentum® Annual Report released today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.
Digital transformation contributed to a revival in large contracts with a single service provider, the report said, but noted the overall trend of shorter, limited-scope contract awards continued in 2017 as enterprise buyers sought to maintain flexibility and maintain leverage over service providers.
"Enterprises increasingly see outsourcing as a way to increase their pace of innovation and support their strategic initiatives," said Paul Reynolds, ISG partner and chief research officer. "This is expanding the market for outsourcing services, not cannibalizing it. Digital technologies are unlocking new value from traditional outsourced services, and the need for companies to have a flexible, digital-friendly IT infrastructure is spurring new sourcing for cloud and other services."
Not that cost-cutting is no longer a primary focus, Reynolds said. "Enterprise customers do not want either innovation or cost savings. They want both. And they are increasingly seeking greater than 10 percent savings on service prices when renegotiating with incumbent service providers."
To meet this requirement and keep customer engagements profitable, service providers will need to rely more on automation and other innovations and change how they work with customers to collaborate more closely, the report said.
A prime example of this change is the growing customer preference for outcome-based contracts. Service providers, the report said, would do well to proactively propose new metrics and pricing structures to their customers, or risk losing their business.
Approximately 65 percent of current outsourcing engagements are at risk of not being renewed with the incumbent service provider, the report said. Such market volatility—driven by competitive pricing and offers of greater savings and innovation—will play a key role in determining which providers win their share of the $25 billion of outsourcing contracts up for grabs in 2018.
Higher levels of automation and other innovations are becoming table stakes in service proposals, which reduces the opportunity for them to be differentiators, the report said, citing the example of analytics now being built into many solutions.
ISG expects automation to play a greater role in outsourcing services that focus on IT support and customer engagement and support. Service providers' automation capabilities and intellectual property are becoming more important during the selection process, the report noted.
For their part, service providers expect as-a-service offerings, robotic process automation and intelligent automation to exert the most downward pricing pressure on outsourcing services in 2018.
Agile development capabilities are an increasingly important area of consideration for enterprises. Two-thirds of enterprises expect to have DevOps teams in place within the next 18 months, ISG research has found, and they are looking to contract with providers that will help them make the transition to more agile environments. To meet the demand, providers will have to be more flexible in how they price and deliver Application Design and Maintenance (ADM) services, the report said.
The ISG Momentum® Market Trends & Insights® Annual Report documents overall 2017 contract award and spending totals by region, vertical industry, ITO, BPO, specific service line and service provider, and provides up to 10 years of historical data for perspective. With a blend of ISG's proprietary data, original market research and market intelligence, the report provides insight into what is driving outsourcing activity and what new opportunities are emerging. To view an executive summary of the report, click here.
The latest ISG Momentum® report is part of an ongoing series of market research reports that focus on outsourcing activity by service line, vertical industry and geographic location. To learn about these or other ISG Momentum® services and information products, please visit the ISG Momentum® Research page on the ISG website.
About ISG
ISG (Information Services Group) (Nasdaq: III) is a leading global technology research and advisory firm. A trusted business partner to more than 700 clients, including 75 of the top 100 enterprises in the world, ISG is committed to helping corporations, public sector organizations, and service and technology providers achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm specializes in digital transformation services, including automation, cloud and data analytics; sourcing advisory; managed governance and risk services; network carrier services; technology strategy and operations design; change management; market intelligence and technology research and analysis. Founded in 2006, and based in Stamford, Conn., ISG employs more than 1,300 professionals operating in more than 20 countries—a global team known for its innovative thinking, market influence, deep industry and technology expertise, and world-class research and analytical capabilities based on the industry's most comprehensive marketplace data. For more information, visit www.isg-one.com.
SOURCE Information Services Group, Inc.
Share this article