In-Depth

Outsourcing Survey, Part 4: Contract and Human Costs

The results of the 2004 Enterprise Systems Outsourcing Survey are in. In the last two sections of our report, we look at contracts (size and duration) and explore the human costs of outsourcing.

• By Stephen Swoyer
• 11/04/2004

Over the last three weeks we've highlighted results of the 2004 Enterprise Systems Outsourcing Survey. There are two additional areas discussed in our complete report, which is available as a downloadable PDF this week (short registration required).

Contacts: We examine the size and length of contracts, breaking out the results by IT function. What we learned: regardless of company size, single-year contracts are the norm, with nearly half of all respondents signing outsourcing contracts of no more than one year. So far, enterprises are treading lightly, too: nearly one-third of respondents told us their most recent outsourcing project had a value of less than $100,000.

Human Resources: The big cost savings in outsourcing is often said to be the salaries saved. So which IT professionals being hardest hit? Hint: Help desk support personnel may need the most help finding new positions. Also of interest is the outsourcing provider chosen: IT professionals are most likely to lose their jobs when an offshore provider is involved

Among the other results: slightly more than one- third of organizations that outsourced their IT operations didn't eliminate jobs.

The complete report, "Outsourcing: Who, Where, and Why" is available as a downloadable PDF immediately (a very brief registration from must be completed -- but it truly is short). To download the report, visit: