What's Hot and What's Not in 2010
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Business Issues
in 2010
» Demand for outsourcing
» Flexibility
» Optimization & renegotiation
» China as an offshoring location for Asian countries
» Social Media
» Recession obsession
» The number of top tier service providers
» The dollar
» Mega deals
Sourcing Market
Observations 2010
» Global sourcing
» Cost-effective service provider solutions
» Talent acquisition and retention
» Financial services
» Multinational HR solutions
» Procurement outsourcing
» Public Sector spending
» Business spending
» India's dominance as an outsourcing destination
» Transformation
» Infrastructure Outsourcing |
From Talent Retention to the Latest Outsourcing Destinations and Social Media for Business
While many business trends in 2010 will undoubtedly be heavily influenced by the economic events of 2009, there's sure to be a kaleidoscope of routes to business optimization and improvement through innovation, internal improvement, outsourcing and capitalizing on local and global events and trends.
In 2009, EquaTerra's advisors helped leading organizations around the world achieve significant cost savings and process improvement. Insights gained through these client engagements combined with information from EquaTerra's research team have been used to create the following 2010 predictions.
Business Issues in 2010
Going Up
- Demand for outsourcing. Over 75 percent of the service providers polled in EquaTerra's 3Q09 IT Service Provider Pulse Survey reported continued growth in their deal pipeline, up 10 percent from the last quarter and an impressive 34 percent rise from the same time last year, the highest levels of pipeline growth cited since 3Q 2005.
- Flexibility. Nico Boot, Executive Director, Information Technology Advisory, observes, "Organizations are increasingly seeking flexible commercial arrangements to cope with unpredictable levels of demand."
- Optimization and renegotiation. "While many organizations remain keen to avoid the costs of new capital and migrating to new suppliers, investment is being made in ensuring existing suppliers and internal processes are delivering optimum value," advises Tom Schramm, Managing Director Finance and Accounting. Results in EquaTerra's 3Q09 Pulse Survey* also support this.
- China as an offshoring location for Asian countries. Shanghai-based consultant, Vibhash Ranjan said, "Where China can demonstrate its language advantage it will be the destination of choice for organizations in Japan and other Asian countries."
- Social media. "In 2010, social media tools will become far more common in business life. Increased usage is inevitable so organizations should have user policies in place and focus on maximising their positive impact," says Stan Lepeak, Managing Director of Global Research.
Going Down
- Recession obsession. Mark Toon, Chief Executive Officer commented, "Recession fatigue has set in and talk is turning from surviving the downturn to succeeding in the upturn."
- The number of top tier service providers. "Consolidation at firms including HP, EDS, Dell, Perot, ACS and Xerox may represent an opportunity for their competitors. From acquiring former staff of top tier providers, to snapping up now empty chairs at the bidding table, competitive providers may be able to leverage this chance to grow capability and market share in 2010," observes Charles Arnold, Managing Director, Information Technology Advisory, Americas.
- The dollar. Peter Iannone, Executive Director for the Americas, commented, "With the continued decline in value of the dollar, and sluggish employment, I would expect to see more US-based sourcing solutions evaluated by private and public sector clients across the globe."
- Mega deals. "Billion dollar programmes have been joined by more flexible, incremental approaches to change," commented Lee Ayling, Managing Director, Information Technology Advisory, UK. "In 2010, we will see many contracts focused on core processes with shorter, less expensive transition periods and reduced return on investment timescales," added Brad Everett, Executive Director, Human Resources Practice.
Sourcing Market Observations 2010
Going Up
- Global sourcing. Stan Lepeak, Managing Director of Global Research, "Contrary to what is widely believed, global sourcing activity will continue to grow in 2010. There are several reasons for this, the most obvious being the desire to reduce costs. While there is greater protectionist sentiment, there is a lack of action in the market, and therefore this is not materially impacting most organizations."
- Cost-effective service provider solutions. Service providers will continue to invest in robust pre-configured solutions, in order to bring economical solutions to the market," noted Brad Everett, Executive Director, Human Resources Practice.
- Talent acquisition and retention. Bill Thomas, Executive Director, Europe and Asia Pacific, commented, "While many organizations are seeing wage deflation and stagnation, all organizations are trying to identify, nurture and retain their high performing talent - especially as salaries are accelerating rapidly for this group. As a result, we will see a rise in demand for specialized on-demand talent management solutions in 2010."
- Financial Services. This looks set to be the leading growth area for Business and Financial Processes outsourcing in 2010. "This is due to the sector now having reorganized its ownership structures. The focus now switches to delivering the efficiencies necessary to survive in the new trading environment," observes Claudio Altini, Managing Director of Finance and Accounting Advisory Services in Europe and Asia Pacific.
- Multinational HR solutions are on the rise. Bill Thomas, Executive Director, Europe and Asia Pacific, said, "Demand for proven multinational HR solutions coupled with a tailored HR administration and payroll service will continue to grow as organizations seek to exert control over their companies globally and introduce agility into their operations."
- Procurement Outsourcing. Rick Bertheaud, Managing Director of Procurement Advisory Services stated, "As the discipline matures, the use of and demand for procurement outsourcing is growing - and is currently the fastest growing outsourcing segment. A value driver fueling the demand is the inclusion of sourcing activity such as indirect spend management "Organizations that include strategic sourcing of indirect goods and services in their procurement outsourcing scope seek, and are achieving, double-digit savings on managed spend."
Going Down
- Public Sector spending. "In 2010, the UK government will be needing to deliver increased efficiency and lower costs in the public sector and will therefore be likely to show a greater interest in sharing services and alternatives to in-house service provision," commented John Mackie, UK Public Sector Lead. Glen Davidson, Managing Director, Public Sector (North America) added, "In the US Federal Government, there is a deliberate effort to reduce their dependence on outside contractors. Agencies and departments, instead, will endeavor to bring critical positions back in house. As a result, there is an opportunity for firms to assist with 'insourcing'."
- Business spending. Buyer sourcing strategies remain focused on cost cutting and avoidance of future investment as we approach the end of the year according to EquaTerra's Q3 Pulse Survey - a trend which Mark Toon, Chief Executive Officer, expects to continue into 2010.
- India's dominance as an outsourcing destination. India will continue to be a leading outsourcing destination, but destinations such as Central and South America, the Philippines; and in the longer term, China will offer an increasingly credible alternative to clients." commented Stan Lepeak, Managing Director of Global Research.
- Transformation. "Optimization is the new transformation. Ultimately, organizations still want to "transform" how they deliver back office services, but they typically want to move in pragmatic, incremental steps and focus on achieving best in class, standardized and optimized delivery models," says Mark Toon, Chief Executive Officer.
- Infrastructure Outsourcing. "Market share will shift towards global and more remote infrastructure management outsourcing where benefits can be achieved from doing so. However, maturity in this market has led to organizations identifying certain processes which are better delivered more locally and selecting service providers on flexibility and customer intimacy as well as price, creating new and interesting opportunities for new midsized service providers" noted Paul Cornelisse, Managing Director, Information Technology Advisory (The Netherlands).
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