Introduction

Abstract

Modern organizations and their IT functions are increasingly choosing to rely on external service providers for IT hardware, software, telecommunications, cloud computing resources, and automation tools, a practice known as information technology outsourcing (ITO). Meanwhile especially since 1999 and several landmark human resource outsourcing deals, business process outsourcing (BPO), has also increasingly spread across fundamental back office functions like finance and accounting, procurement, legal, real estate, human resources, insurance claims and general administration. By early 2014, global outsourcing contracts for ITO and BPO services exceeded US$648 billion (ITO $344 billion; BPO $304 billion), according to HFS Research. By the beginning of 2015 the combined total exceeded US$700 billion (Fersht and Snowden 2014). By the end of 2016, the global ITO and BPO services market was estimated to be US$1,007 billion (ITO $657 billion; BPO $322 billion) (Snowden and Fersht 2016). There are many, often wildly diverging, estimates on market growth. Much depends on the assumptions made. However, taking a conservative route through many estimates, we follow Snowden and Fersht (2016) in seeing the market experiencing a 2.2% ITO and a 4.0% BPO compound annual growth through 2016 to end of 2020, reflecting more activities being outsourced, and new service lines and delivery locations added.