Outsourcing has established itself as a strategic management practice that leading companies around the globe are increasingly using for high-value, knowledge-based processes, according to survey results from the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP).

Released today, the results of the IAOP global membership surveys conducted with support from Accenture over the past 18 months, show outsourcing is a thriving competitive industry that is being used strategically with increased C-suite decision making. The industry is also rapidly adopting technology such as cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS) according to responses from the association’s members.

“Increasingly, companies are outsourcing to do more than cut costs but to add value, increase business flexibility and prepare for future growth,” said IAOP Chairman Michael Corbett. “Companies that are using outsourcing are poised to emerge from the current economic crisis stronger.”

The estimated $6 trillion* global outsourcing industry also expects continued growth. A January 2010 poll of members showed 56 per cent of respondents planned to increase outsourcing activities in the future, up from 47 per cent who answered a September 2009 poll.

Some of the key findings include:

 Outsourcing Becomes More Strategic: Strategic issues are playing an important role in outsourcing decisions at most companies. In January, about 50 per cent of respondents indicated that greater business flexibility and preparing the company for future growth have become more important reasons for them to use outsourcing.

 C-Suite Driving Decisions: Outsourcing decisions are being made at higher senior executive levels, the results show. Two-thirds of respondents indicated in January 2010 that senior executives were increasingly involved in outsourcing versus only 13 per cent who said that senior executives were less involved.

 Smarter, Skilled Profession: Knowledge-based outsourcing is becoming more important to companies and the industry is filling this demand. In both the fall of 2009 and January 2010, 40-plus per cent of respondents indicated that the outsourcing at their organizations was increasingly focused on knowledge-based activities compared to less than 30 per cent who said they were increasing the outsourcing of lower-skill level positions.

 Rapid Technology Adoption: Cloud computing and SaaS are being examined by 88 per cent of outsourcing customers surveyed in January and 66 per cent of providers are exploring these technologies for the delivery of services to their customers.

 Bundling Services: This January, 45 per cent of survey participants stated that their company was more focused on bundling services with fewer outsourcing services providers versus 18 per cent who indicated that they were doing more multi-sourcing.