The ability of IT to reduce costs through process automation is not the only benefit it can bring businesses, according to an IBM whitepaper.

Businesses seeking a competitive advantage now need to incorporate an “Information Strategy” in order to stay one step ahead, and IT outsourcing providers are able to offer this.

Such a strategy can guide companies towards a “coherent, integrated environment for managing and delivering information in support of their business goals”, the paper advises.

It encourages businesses to shift away from the present environment in which data is treated as distinct from applications and business process.

This would require a “cultural shift within the IT department” which be more readily instigated if IT operations were to be outsourced.

Industry commentator Beth Bacheldor said in a recent sourcingmag.com article that IT outsourcing providers can bring innovation to clients by implementing systems which can “radically improve the efficiency of businesses”.