Outsourcing will force changes in IT industry

Most UK firms believe the increasing trend for outsourcing will lead to the demise of the traditional IT department.

A survey of 250 senior executives, from best practice group the National Outsourcing Association (NOA), revealed that 72 per cent of end user companies and 82 per cent of supplier organisations believe outsourcing is the ‘end game’ for IT departments.

Martyn Hart, chairman of the NOA, said: “Even though this may seem like a blow to the IT industry, it is purely indicative of the changing nature of how companies are doing business.

ÒMany companies are now looking to outsource IT functions to specialist providers –  it means that increasingly, IT workers will be working at specialist IT houses rather than in-house for companies.”

However, the NOA warned that losing all internal knowledge of an outsourced process can be dangerous.

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“Retaining a degree of knowledge of IT within an organisation that has outsourced is crucial,” said Hart. “The role of the IT director is changing from a more operational ‘hands on’ approach to a more strategic function – in the future their main responsibility of the director and the IT team will be to deliver the smooth provision of IT services from a third party.”