The Top Eleven IT Activities Which Are Outsourced

Outsourcing of IT activities has been a key point of discussion amongst industry analysts. Some are for it and some are against it. Despite opinions, there are many Fortune 500 organizations which have chosen IT outsourcing for some or all of their IT functions.

According to the IT outsourcing statistics 2010/2011 compiled by Computer Economics, the top eleven IT activities which are outsourced by organizations are

11. Help Desk Activities in which companies outsource the job of providing the first level response to customer queries either by phone or email. Most of the times, consumers require some simple help to solve their problem. So while the simple response is outsourced, the company executives can handle the second level response or complex issues.

10. Database administration in which companies outsource the job of database tuning and performance monitoring.

9. Desktop support where companies outsource the work of installation and maintenance of desktops or laptops, which can be done with a combination of on-site and remote resources. This is a low level, routine task which is outsourced by many companies.

8. IT security functions such as assessments, regular testing and other security services

7. Network operations like network monitoring, repair and maintenance of voice and data networks. If these activities are non-core to the organization’s main business, they are conveniently outsourced.

6. Data center management is outsourced by companies either for self-owned facilities or hosted infrastructure

5. Disaster recovery services, including data backups, redundant storage, and other business continuity services are outsourced by companies.

4. Application maintenance activities such as bug fixes, updates and performance management are usually outsourced by companies. While the company’s core product management team works on the next version and new features, the maintenance and support of the older stable versions can be outsourced with minimum impact.

3. Website development and maintenance is a popular outsourced activity

2. Application development services are commonly outsourced by companies for various business reasons including reduced costs and reduced time to market. Non-availability of skilled resources in-house or the pressures of meeting a project deadline are reasons for which many US organizations look to Indian companies for outsourcing.

1. Software as a service is the most widely outsourced function for companies where they pay for the software hosted or maintained by the service provider. SaaS applications are among the fastest growing market segment. With software being available as a service, organizations can now really focus on their core business and leave the technology management to the technology providers.

For an organization to take a decision on outsourcing, it must identify its non-core activities and assess the impact of outsourcing certain functions.

Resource

Cygnet Infotech, an India based Microsoft Gold Partner provides offshore software development and skilled resources to its clients in 20 countries globally. Having developed a mature global delivery model, Cygnet has also earned ISO 9001, ISO 27001 and CMMi Level III certifications. Visit http://microsoft.cygnet-infotech.com


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