The New Year will bring new business realities, delivery models, destinations and technologies to the outsourcing industry, according to the fifth annual trend predictions released today by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals® (IAOP®).

While the uncertain economy and the elections will impact the industry, the winners will be: locations in the U.S. and near shore as well as the BRIC countries; collaborative delivery models; and companies using converging technologies, IAOP’s thought leaders say.

Here are the top trends to watch for:

Sourcing Close to Home: Higher unemployment, economically blighted urban areas and local government incentives will drive more companies to look to stay on shore, especially in the U.S. Nearshoring, rural sourcing and domestic sourcing will be on the rise.

BRIC Surge: Look for the BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – to surge as outsourcing destinations in the coming year. Hosting both the 2012 World Cup and the Olympics will bring tremendous visibility to Brazil, making it a strong Latin America country in the coming year.

Collaborative and Strategic: Models where customers and service providers work collaboratively to develop performance-based partnership will be increasingly used by companies. Customers will move outsourcing out of the back-office and into more customer-facing processes and more strategic opportunities.

M&As: Expect to see more consolidation as providers struggle with tight access to capital and to meet growth expectations given the uncertain economic and political situation worldwide.

Technology Convergence: The convergence of social networking, collaboration and mobility platforms will create a significant demand for value-added outsourcing services. Companies will increase their emphasis on social media to source talent globally, position their products and services, and collect intelligence around their end users that goes significantly beyond SEO.

Cloud Concerns: As cloud computing solutions continue to proliferate worldwide, customers and suppliers will continue to struggle to comply with increased government regulations, the real risks of cyber-security and threats of eco-terrorrism.

About IAOP

The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals® (IAOP®) is the global, standard-setting organization and advocate for the outsourcing profession. With more than 110,000 members and affiliates worldwide, IAOP helps companies increase their outsourcing success rate, improve their outsourcing ROI, and expand the opportunities for outsourcing across their businesses.