The document discusses the history and growth of the IT outsourcing industry. It began in the 1990s to help companies cut costs and access efficient resources. The global IT outsourcing market was worth $92.5 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a 4.5% CAGR through 2026. India is a leading destination for outsourced IT services, with the industry contributing around 7.7% to India's GDP currently. The document then outlines some common issues with outsourcing like selecting the right vendor, uncertainty regarding business needs and technologies, inaccurate cost estimates, security and compatibility concerns, and poor communication due to cultural differences. Solutions provided include thorough vendor assessments, clearly defining requirements and budgets,

2. As a phenomenon, IT outsourcing started in the 1990s to enable
companies to cut costs and increase the availability of efficient
resources. In the past few years, rapid changes brought about
by the global pandemic have made organizations realize that
outsourcing IT services allows them greater flexibility and
access to top-quality talent from across the world.
According to Statista, in the year 2019, the global market size
of outsourced services in the IT industry was $92.5 billion. The
IT-Outsourcing market is expected to register a CAGR of 4.5%
during the period between 2021–2026, primarily in the Asia-
Pacific region.
India is the leading global destination for IT-outsourced
services. The current contribution of the Indian IT industry to
the country’s GDP is around 7.7% and this is expected to
increase to 10% by 2025, which amounts to approximately $350
billion.
Despite its many advantages, IT outsourcing comes with its
share of problems. Some of the top issues and their solutions
are -

3. 1. Incorrect choice of vendor/ team
It requires a lot of diligent planning and assessment to select
an experienced IT outsourcing vendor who understands your
business processes and/ or performance standards. In the
initial stages, the outsourcing vendor will not be familiar with
the parent organization’s workflow, best practices, and
business processes. The parent organization must be prepared
to withstand sudden changes in the vendor’s personnel or
organization and build new partnerships if required.
The best solution is to conduct an in-depth assessment of the
vendor’s expertise and background. Ideally, this assessment
needs to include the CTO and a team of in-house experts
capable of providing a comprehensive view of their
requirements and expectations.

4. 2. Uncertainty in Business / Technology
Emerging technologies are consistently driving the existing
systems towards extinction in the IT industry. The main job of a
CTO is to maintain pace with the latest tech developments
without going blindly after every new idea. For every new and
upcoming tech idea, the CTO should analyze whether or not to
pursue it. In the race for popular technology, a bad decision
can be disastrous for the CTO.
The lack of a clear understanding of the differences in
technologies and solutions often leads to poor decisions. To
minimize this risk, it is critical to identify what to outsource.
For example, suppose outsourcing is done with the intention of
minimizing costs or converting fixed costs to variable costs. In
that case, the parent company is likely to lose some crucial
competencies or capabilities, which an in-house team could
best handle.
Outsourcing decisions must deliver cost-effective solutions, but
the organization must retain in-house talent to define
requirements and assess results accurately.

5. 3. Defective cost-estimate or Hidden costs
When cost-reduction is the primary aim for outsourcing, early
cash flow benefits and long-term cost savings are expected.
However, the parent organization may not foresee future cost
escalations due to unexpected reasons like technological
discontinuities.
Most companies also underestimate the initial setup costs, like
redeployment and relocation costs, and the costs related to
running parallel operations until the new setup is up and
running.
Accurate cost estimation is one of the most challenging issues
with outsourcing. The solution to this lies in clearly defining
project requirements. Explain your budget limitations to the
vendor to minimize future misunderstandings.

6. 4. Security and Compatibility
The data security and compliance requirements in the IT
industry are constantly changing. A CTO must ensure that the
company’s products are operating smoothly and are compliant
with international security regulations and policies.
Since data security has the highest priority, managers must
ensure confidentiality and integrity of information assets. Yet,
they need to maintain transparency, coordination and easy data
access between the vendor teams.
Take the example of Cloud computing services — they share
their resources with other vendors. This helps to cut costs and
makes IT scalable, but it also means that other companies use
some of the same servers and devices, thus creating security
concerns. Also, the compatibility of IT services is another big
concern, especially if a company maintains some of its IT
services in-house but outsources a significant chunk.

7. The solution to this lies in creating a seamless knowledge transfer
plan. In the case of the cloud-computing service provider, the vendor
may outsource some of the services covered in the contract to a
third-party service provider. The third-party vendor needs to
understand and accept the deliverables. The involved parties must
clearly understand the agreement and other legal documentation.
While most IT businesses are well-aware of the first type of provider,
sometimes they fail to consider the security concerns involved if
their provider outsources to a third party. All these issues need to be
understood and clarified through a contract.
5. Poor communication or Cultural differences
More than lack of technical ability, poor communication has emerged
as the biggest reason for disputes between outsourcing partners.
Communication is the backbone that supports the association
between two parties in a contract and minimizes risks due to delayed
delivery or poor output quality. Communication failure could be due
to cultural diversities, language barriers, and time-zone differences,
especially in overseas contracts.

8. When it comes to communicating with offshore teams, both
teams need to understand and appreciate their differences and
select a mutually agreeable time for setting up meetings.
The five risks described here are not universal because they do
not affect all outsourcing decisions. Most of these issues can be
avoided or reduced by implementing the necessary suggestions
and by carefully selecting the outsourcing team.
As corporate knowledge about IT outsourcing increases each
year, the strategy of “smart sourcing” is fast becoming the
norm. The usual reasons for outsourcing IT services — cost
reduction, greater business focus, and subcontracting of the
legacy systems — are still relevant and reasonable goals for
most big IT companies.
Like other businesses, if you too are looking to develop IT
Solutions, Mindfire Solutions can be your partner of choice. We
have gained significant experience over the years working with
a diverse clientele. We have a team of highly skilled and
certified software professionals, who have developed many
custom solutions for our global clients over the years.

9. Content Source: Medium
Contented by: Mindfire Solutions