2010 has started off with a bang as the National Outsourcing Association has released its annual predictions. Apparently, amongst others, things to watch out for are a surge in public sector outsourcing, shrinking multisourcing deals (mini-multisourcing) and a boom in business process outsourcing. That said, the festive season has brought a mixed bag of sourcing news.

The start of the week saw a report released showing one in seven manufacturing companies have brought its offshore operations back to the UK in the past two years. So it seems the NOA’s predictions have not come into fruition yet. It is only the eighth of January after all.

The study was conducted by EEF and revealed that manufacturers were moving production back to the UK due to concerns about poor quality and higher freight costs.

The NHS was not left unscathed over the festive period either. It has been criticized for spending around £1m on outsourcing to consultants, according to Express.co.uk. I think it is fare to say that the NHS is not new to bad publicity. Rest assured they will take it on the chin.

India has also had a rough start to the year with major players like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro losing contracts to nearshore rivals, including Ness Technologies of Israel, CPM Braxis of Brazil and Mexico-headquartered Softtek.

Emerging destinations are becoming increasingly attractive for top outsourcing customers as companies seek to work with local, specialised vendors instead of sending all projects to offshore locations like India.

It seems that the Round Up is full of doom and gloom on its return. However, the NOA have predicted good things for the year ahead and I have a sneaky suspicion they know what they are talking about.