Clients And Vendors Weigh In On The Future Of Offshore Outsourcing

The offshore outsourcing trend and practice is due for transformation. The proliferation of "as-a-service" offerings and trends related to mobility, social tools, and sustainability make demands for innovative technology partners more important than ever. Yet these trends create new challenges for sourcing and vendor management (SVM) professionals, who must drastically change the way they work with offshore providers. Most North American and European clients have invested in three or four key offshore relationships and one or two key MNC relationships. Yet they must now re-evaluate these relationships to determine if their vendors are positioned to meet their needs beyond 2011. Our recent interviews with clients and vendors confirm that leading offshore vendors are making real progress on their attempts to close the gap with their larger competition. Yet clients' concerns about changing business objectives, the proliferation of "as-a-service" offerings, and demand for deep industry specialization, suggest only the most collaborative, innovative, and trusted partners will succeed.