Outsourcing, South, Africa

Outsourcing matures in South Africa

27 Jul 2005 | (News)

Outsourcing continues to attract attention in South Africa. Supplies and recipients are learning to work together to achieve greater efficiencies, and recent surveys in the IT outsourcing sector in South Africa reveals a general maturation in the outsourcing market, with some significant shifts.

Most notably, outsourcing has moved away from being an option only for large corporations to being an accepted resource for midsize companies. In turn, this has resulted in an increase in the number of outsourcing service providers in the local market.

Even companies with less than 150 employees find it worthwhile to outsource IT services. By outsourcing, these SME’s can achieve world-class IT service without worrying about keeping IT staff contented in a job with limited room for growth. Additionally, SME’s can focus on their core competencies.

Another core shift in South Africa is towards multi-vendor outsourcing. According to Gartner, the good news is that as outsourcing has become more established, enterprises have gained experience and a better understanding of their business requirements. As a result, they are now more mature and feeling more confident in their own ability to select and manage the most appropriate vendor for each of their IT requirements.

Not everyone has been satisfied with their outsourcing experience. In a recent survey, 46% of respondents confirmed that they had been involved in an IT outsourcing deal that had gone sour. But as the market matures, both sides of the outsourcing relationship are realizing that they need to place importance on managing the relationship, and understanding each other’s needs. Outsourcing providers should work to understand the culture of their client’s organizations, and top management of recipient businesses need to support the project from the start to achieve organizational buy-in and ease resistance.

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