For most enterprises, IT is quickly becoming one of the costliest departments, draining revenue, and, more importantly, human resources. In order for organizations to reduce expenses and optimize business productivity, IT management must take a significant leap forward. Four key trends will be paramount in driving its evolution next year: the insourcing boom, a service desk refresh, the continued uptick in platform integration, and increased automation. Each will play into IT department changes in 2013, setting the stage for overall business innovation in the years to come.
- The Death of Offshoring
With rising costs in areas such as India and China, not to mention the impact of gas and shipping expenses and poor communication with outsourced employees, offshoring in 2013 will no longer offer sustainable cost-savings over in-house IT support.
IT outsourcing contracts have already dropped 20 percent since last year, as more companies recognize the need for quality work that’s often achieved under in-house control. This shift away from “cheaper is better” is already taking root in the United States. In fact, an HfS Research survey showed that the country is currently seen as the world’s most desirable region to expand IT with more service delivery centers over the next two years. Plus, with increased automation and diminishing incremental benefits from labor arbitrage, the global labor pool for IT outsourcing services will only continue to shrink. According to a recent Gartner report, the combination of these factors will result in outsourcing services dropping by at least 15 percent through 2016.
Of course, as companies pull infrastructure management back in-house, it’s unlikely they will immediately have the necessary support to maintain their IT systems. At the same time, pre-outsourcing expense levels are impossible, so companies must figure out how to support infrastructure at a lower cost and with fewer people. Here is where IT management technology will play an important role, supporting administrators on a smooth transition back in-house.
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