One of the most substantial trends in IT support services is that small and medium-sized companies prefer to shift their data to the cloud and let a third party handle the facility management, in Consolidated Data Centers.
Cloud computing blurs the lines among what had been conventional outsourcing and internal operations, and it will test IT’s management and control policies. After all, it’s all about expertise. IT outsourcing service professionals can deal with many tasks (such as data storage) more efficiently than in-house employees are able to.

By taking advantage of cloud support services, both small/medium-sized companies and large enterprises can cut costs and free up staff to keep the organization moving forward. Additionally, cloud technology is delivering the competitive advantage to SMB/SMEs which allow them to focus on their core competencies, enabling them to satisfy their client’s demands and compete with larger enterprises.

Cloud provides new ways in which you can provide outsourcing services to a company, but public and the hybrid cloud models require you to be aware of certain compliant issues you might need to address.

According to Information Services Group, there are 5 essential tips for making outsourcing risk management a part of your governance process:

1. Identify risk obligations in the contract.
2. Identify and document added risks in the engagement.
3. Rate the risks.
4. Manage your identified risks.
5. Publish your risk tracking tool, which can be as basic as an Excel spreadsheet.

Cloud computing migrations over the next five years will create an immense opportunity for IT outsourcing which will create a very different IT outsourcing marketplace.

Generally, IT service outsourcers provide the following types of cloud-based services:

• offer consultancy around integrating organization IT with private and public clouds to create a hybrid environment
• implement and manage private clouds to consolidate and optimize infrastructure
• migrate organization applications to the cloud and the related testing, certification, and governance for risk and compliance
• develop custom applications for the emerging cloud software platforms
• develop new applications that integrate collaboration, communication, and cloud platforms

Cloud-based services will substantially change the outsourcing business from the service providers’ point of view. Many more complexities will appear that are involved in a provider’s offering to take control of your IT services and move it to the cloud.

The future of IT outsourcing services implies there will be vendors with a variety of cloud-based services that will include a large component of the customer’s IT infrastructure.