UK dominates Euro outsourcing
While the US companies have been the most vocal advocates of outsourcing,
their European counterparts are aggressively yet silently catching up.
According to latest IDC figures, the 100 largest outsourcing deals signed
in Europe for 2003 amounted to 44 billion dollars - up from just 19
billion dollars about two years ago.
Service providers can take a hint and give more focus on England, which
accounted for more than half of the deals made last year.
Private companies are normally perceived as the ones who outsource
heavily. Not necessarily the case in Europe. According to the IDC study,
more than half of the deals came from the public sector.
This indicates that governments in Europe have realized very well the
benefits of outsourcing.
In terms business, IBM was the biggest winner both in the number of deals
signed and aggregated total value.
But the European market remains wide open even to smaller service providers.
IDC predicts the market will continue to grow in the future, only at a
slower rate as operating conditions become more difficult due to a
combination of increased competition, market maturity and pricing
pressure.
