Melanie Longman, associate principal at LCP Consulting, commented on this issue for a recent issue of Business Reporter.: “Outsourcing in the technology and cloud sector continues at pace. We also see some of the high-end skill sets such as analytics being outsourced.”

Overall she believes businesses are taking a far more measured approach when it comes to outsourcing, and looking at it from a much more thoughtful and balanced perspective, regardless of whether the technical skills through outsourcing can
add value to the firm.

There are certain things a company should consider before outsourcing services to another firm.

• First of all, they should be very clear on what the rationale, goals and cost benefits are for choosing to outsource.
• Secondly, they should examine whether or not they have the capabilities and technology to do the job and understand the risks associated with potentially outsourcing it.
• Thirdly, there should be a focus on building skills to manage outsourced relationships.

 “It is more than looking at the pure commercial elements, but how does this relationship work and what can we get out of it? We see a lot of emphasis on how to manage outsourcing relationships better.”