According to new research from TNS Gallup, the largest public opinion and market research company in Lithuania, more and more business organizations opt for an outside company specializing in IT, in order to get consulting in the sphere of information technologies (IT).

According to the research, in 2005 the number of businesses which used to consult their IT maintenance companies on the matters of their IT infrastructure had increased by 18 percent – up to 36 percent in comparison with 2004. Six hundred representatives from companies having IT infrastructure were interviewed during the research.

According to IT market experts, changing attitude towards IT outsourcing shows an increasing importance of IT infrastructure and its management capabilities in order to ensure effective business activity of a company. It is anticipated that this year the pace of growth of IT outsourcing services market should not slow down.

According to Kazimieras Tonkūnas, director of Alna Intelligence – the largest IT consulting and services company in the Baltic States, one of the reasons why companies more and more often consult with IT firms and entrust them with maintenance and management of their IT infrastructure, is a growing confidence in outside partners. 

“A considerable number of companies have already been convinced that using the competence of an outside partner is more effective and beneficial. Upon substantial investments, we already achieved the clients’ service level of the European Union, where one IT specialist provides maintenance to approximately 400 computerized work places of a client” says K. Tonkūnas. Not long ago, this indicator in Lithuania was only 60 computers per specialist.

IT consultants maintain, that companies’ limited internal resources is another impetus for IT outsourcing. According to Alna Intelligence director, an increasing business expansion pace and the endeavor of sustaining this pace augment companies’ needs in the sphere of information technologies. Often an internal IT department cannot satisfy these needs.

“If previously business organizations were content getting information systems’ maintenance and handling services, now we have an increasing demand for more advanced complex IT services, such as IT strategy development, contracts management of external partners, and information system data security management,” says K. Tonkūnas.

When collaborating with external partners, companies also realized a good number of other advantages.  According to IT consultants, when using the services of their partners who specialize in IT, business organizations not only tap into the competence of the partners.  Business organizations also have the possibility to absorb the latest knowledge of that particular business area, as well as good management practices much quicker than they would be able to do this on their own.