IDG Contributor Network: What does the future hold for the IT services industry?

It would probably be an understatement to say the IT services industry is spooked by the recent financial results reported by major IT services providers. Both the top and the bottom lines have been under pressure. The medium-term future, and even the shorter term, have become unpredictable. Results are inconsistent, and companies have softened their guidance on future growth rates.At the same time, tech spend around the world is increasing. At the NASSCOM Product Conclave in Bangalore a couple of months ago, I was struck by the buoyancy of the start-up market. India alone is home to more than 5,000 start-ups, and this number is slated to more than double by 2020. There is no doubt the tech love affair will continue to heat up as new innovations continue to spring from both unlikely garages and sophisticated computer labs alike.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: What does the future hold for the IT services industry?

It would probably be an understatement to say the IT services industry is spooked by the recent financial results reported by major IT services providers. Both the top and the bottom lines have been under pressure. The medium-term future, and even the shorter term, have become unpredictable. Results are inconsistent, and companies have softened their guidance on future growth rates.At the same time, tech spend around the world is increasing. At the NASSCOM Product Conclave in Bangalore a couple of months ago, I was struck by the buoyancy of the start-up market. India alone is home to more than 5,000 start-ups, and this number is slated to more than double by 2020. There is no doubt the tech love affair will continue to heat up as new innovations continue to spring from both unlikely garages and sophisticated computer labs alike.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Dealing with multiple service providers: A necessary evil

It takes a technologically nimble and well-managed enterprise to take advantage of today’s fast-changing market conditions. Eschewing the plodding, monolithic business models of the past, today’s best-run businesses rely on interchangeable, best-of-breed approaches that allow them to adapt on the fly and seize market opportunities others miss.Multi-sourcing brings speed, but also complications At the heart of such speed and agility is the practice of multi-sourcing, a business model that has been on the rise for many years and is now considered a secular trend. But many enterprises still struggle with managing and integrating so many service streams to achieve their desired business outcomes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Dealing with multiple service providers: A necessary evil

It takes a technologically nimble and well-managed enterprise to take advantage of today’s fast-changing market conditions. Eschewing the plodding, monolithic business models of the past, today’s best-run businesses rely on interchangeable, best-of-breed approaches that allow them to adapt on the fly and seize market opportunities others miss.Multi-sourcing brings speed, but also complications At the heart of such speed and agility is the practice of multi-sourcing, a business model that has been on the rise for many years and is now considered a secular trend. But many enterprises still struggle with managing and integrating so many service streams to achieve their desired business outcomes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Automation: Disrupt or be disrupted

IDG Contributor Network: Is the IT services industry at a crossroads?

Much ink has been spilled over the changing IT services industry. Indeed, it is an industry well acquainted with—and perhaps even born out of—change. But the velocity of technological advancement happening today is unprecedented.Is the industry truly at a crossroads?The established industry players are dealing with two distinct macro shifts. IT outsourcing provider Infosys calls them “Renew” and “New.” Allow me to explain.+ Also on Network World: $1 trillion in IT spending to be ‘affected’ by the cloud +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: The future of BPO services: Embrace automation or perish

The outsourcing of business processes—save call centers and payroll processing—began in earnest in the mid-1990s. Business process outsourcing (BPO) walked pretty nicely in the footsteps of the IT services industry, garnering attention as a potential growth engine for both pure-play BPO providers and IT providers offering BPO services.But despite early predictions, this service segment did not grow as fast as expected and in recent years has slowed. What happened to this shiny new toy?+ Also on Network World: Top 5 factors driving domestic IT outsourcing growth +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: The future of BPO services: Embrace automation or perish

IDG Contributor Network: The rise of captive centers: Is it the death knell for outsourcing?

I’m sure it has not gone unnoticed by those who keep a close eye on the industry: Several large companies have announced they will set up or expand captive centers in countries like India to take on new work or, in some cases, existing work from their outsourcing partners. The companies are from a range of industries, including financial services, retail and oil, and gas.Captive centers have long been considered a superior choice when the nature of certain work is proprietary, too complex to hand off to a third party, or requires a higher degree of control. It often means a company is weighing value over cost efficiency for a particular project or line of work.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Will new technologies put us out of work? A peek into the future

IDG Contributor Network: Will new technologies put us out of work? A peek into the future

Over the past year, questions about how emerging technologies will impact employment have taken on a new tenor. Will robots take over our jobs? One thing is indisputable: automation and artificial intelligence (AI) will displace workers in the IT and business process outsourcing services industry.But this is not a new trend.+ Also on Network World: The 6 hottest new jobs in IT +Such tectonic shifts have occurred every few decades over the last two centuries. With each wave of new technology and each accompanying paradigm shift, jobs have disappeared. During the Industrial Revolution, people feared the loss of farm jobs. When industrial jobs went away, people flocked to the service sector. Then computers, telecom networks, ATMs and the internet made their way into the world, and people feared massive job loss in this sector. Manufacturing work moved to low-cost countries, such as China and Taiwan, and service-sector jobs soon moved to India and the Philippines.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here