Monday, February 1, 2010

Outsourcing Potential 2010 – How Does It Look Like? (Part 3)

Gartner, among its altogether 250 predictions, this year makes emphasis on the themes of shifting ownership and revenue flows. As the macro-economic environment adjusts to a new balance between supply, consumer demand and regulation, the focus of this year's top predictions has expanded to encompass shifts in the way that users interact with IT. "As organizations make plans to navigate the economic recovery and prepare for the return to growth, our predictions for 2010 focus on the impact of critical changes in the balance of control and power in IT," said Brian Gammage, Vice President and research fellow at Gartner. "With greater financial and regulatory oversight for all IT investment decisions, few organizations will be unaffected." Although most organizations enter 2010 preparing for a return to growth, financial oversight is unlikely to be lifted anytime soon with CFOs overtaking a more active role.

Although most analysts agree that the year to come brings optimism to the software industry, let’s not make it all milk and honey. Despite the omnipresent upbeat tone of these predictions, the IAOP warns that global economic uncertainty and currency fluctuations still remain and may not be disregarded. According to the analyst house, this is predicted to lead to increasing levels of mergers and acquisitions, which will in turn “drive higher value services and continue to put pressure on other players to be more strategic in their offerings”, says Jagdish Dalal, IAOP’s managing director of thought leadership.

All in all, IT decision makers enter the new decade with hope on the horizon and leave behind one of the most difficult years in memory. According to a report by information and communications technology research and advisory firm XMG Global, “outsourcing will present its full potential once more in 2010.”