Like everything else in an election year, outsourcing-or, more specifically, offshore outsourcing-has become highly politicized. But companies have been outsourcing noncore functions for decades, and they'll continue to do so. In fact, outsourcing of IT functions such as a technical help desk and security, as well as business processes such as human resources and procurement, is expected to increase substantially for the foreseeable future. But all this outsourcing of technology and processes puts a new onus on businesses to manage those outsourcing relationships. "It's difficult to keep services aligned with business requirements," says Denise Underwood, managing vice president and global solutions leader of strategic sourcing for Gartner Inc., a Stamford (CT) research firm that supplies consulting on sourcing and other issues. "If you don't manage and constantly refresh your outsourcing relationships, they can quickly get out of sync." "You can't just sign an outsourcing contract and assume that everything will work out OK," says Barry Wiegler, founder and CEO of Sourcing Interests Group, a Bell Canyon (CA)-based global consortium focused on improving performance through outsourcing. "Both parties need to invest in the relationship to produce an environment that is conducive to success."
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