Outsourcing to move up the corporate agenda?
Jinfo Blog

1st July 2009

By Tim Buckley Owen

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Outsourcing of research and information jobs continues to cause apprehension among information teams. Despite these concerns, a new FreePint VIP Survey on Outsourcing (free to VIP subscribers, other purchase details at http://web.vivavip.com/go/shop/report/1402), shows that, even among those who are outsourcing, 75% of their work remains in-house. Conducted jointly with outsourcing specialist Integreon, which recently won the 2009 Frost & Sullivan Award for Excellence in Knowledge Process Outsourcing (http://digbig.com/4yyrr), the survey constitutes an initial effort in understanding how information centres engage with the issue. Of its 71 respondents, over 50% were outsourcing some of their information services while 16% had never considered it. Among the respondents who reported that they were not currently outsourcing, quality of outsourced work rated as the highest concern, followed by cost and perceived risks over benefits. But of those who had taken the plunge, most indicated that they were pretty satisfied with the outcomes and the relationships Generalist and specialist research were the commonest services to outsource, while the least common were presentations and legal support. Senior managers were actively interested in outsourcing, although – perhaps not surprisingly – the work teams were not. Outsourcing is an emotive issue among information staff, and the signals surrounding it are frequently mixed. A report from Outsell earlier this year suggested that the practice might be extending from research into core information activities like vendor portfolio management (http://www.vivavip.com/go/e15646) while the last Business Information Review survey indicated that previous outsourcing activity might be contributing to a talent shortage at home now (http://www.vivavip.com/go/e16627). Then there’s the recession. Following its own recent survey of outsourcing, the law firm Pinsent Masons indicates that sourcing options have not yet been given the priority they merit (http://digbig.com/4yyrq). ‘Businesses are concentrating on more traditional measures to save costs and this may impact the ability of a business to respond when there is an upturn,’ suggests Garfield Smith, the partner specialising in outsourcing. ‘Our expectation is that once traditional measures have been exhausted, sourcing will move higher up the corporate agenda.’

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