North American Applications Outsourcing Market Overview For 2008

Though a mature market, applications outsourcing in North America continues to expand and evolve. Buyers show little sign of reducing their appetite for outsourcing services despite the economic slowdown. Value propositions of the major provider segments continue to converge, and increasing buyer sophistication demands ever-increasing levels of value from suppliers. The technology landscape is far from static, and the impact of new technologies and philosophies, including service-oriented architecture (SOA), Web 2.0, and software-as-a-service (SaaS), becomes increasingly clear. Although the roster of leading suppliers has not changed of late, certain tier two players have made significant inroads and market consolidation is accelerating. This market overview report describes the market trends and recent directions and will be followed by a Forrester Wave™ update report on the segment. Sourcing and vendor management professionals should be aware of these shifts to make optimal selection decisions.