“The past 12 months have seen growth in the mid-market sector for IT Outsourcing, and I expect that to continue during 2014. The development of this market over the past few years has been connected to the emergence of the heavily marketed term ‘cloud’, which prompted many organisations to think differently about traditional in-house IT, and led them to the concept of IT as a service. This concept sees an increasing number of organisations hand over the responsibility of their IT to a service provider, either as a Managed Service or complete Outsource, where any number of ‘cloud’ technologies and delivery models can be used.

Outsourcing in the mid-market sector will continue to be an increasingly desirable prospect for businesses over the next year, particularly as the economy picks up and organisations want agility and flexibility from their IT, while at the same time to keep costs to a minimum. The increasing complexity of IT also continues to make it difficult for mid-market businesses to retain skills in house, making IT Outsourcing a sustainable solution to having access to a diverse range of expertise.

I also expect to see development in IT Outsourcing with Fast Growth businesses during 2014. At Esteem Systems we are seeing an increasing number of rapidly growing organisations turning to IT Outsourcing as a way of freeing up in-house time to focus on core business strategy. More and more organisations are questioning the cost and time implications of managing their own IT Estate, particularly as they become increasingly reliant on the performance and capability of their IT infrastructure. As well as being able to focus more on business growth, developing a long term partnership with an outsourcing provider will continue to benefit growing businesses by ensuring that their IT can perform and adapt to support business objectives and the business size.

Another area of growth for IT Outsourcing in 2014 will be Selective Outsourcing. Selective Outsourcing has emerged as a popular solution for medium to large organisations in both the commercial and public sector. These organisations prefer to engage multiple partners for different applications and IT services, rather than engaging with one large traditional outsourcer, as they are attracted by the more flexible and competitive environment that it creates.

As a result of these areas of growth, at Esteem Systems there has been a change in demand for a flexible approach to IT Outsourcing. An increasing number of businesses are looking for bespoke services to fit directly with their business needs. In an increasingly competitive market, this will require IT Outsourcing providers to be more flexible in their service offering moving forward. IT Outsourcing Providers must now think innovatively about what services can be developed for businesses, and what ‘cloud’ services best fit as part of an IT Outsourcing agreement.”