IT service providers - News, Features, and Slideshows

It's not just cheaper prices pushing down IT outsourcing contract values. The 'new normal' for outsourcing presents risks and opportunities for customers and IT service providers.

IT outsourcing experts talk about what to expect in the year ahead. And if they're right, this could be the year customers - and a few robots - take greater control of the IT outsourcing space.

Last year, we predicted that 2013 would be the year that outsourcing governance finally grew up. We said outsourcing customers would take the reins with do-it-yourself deals. And we forecasted that local support would be a critical differentiator for service providers. Now it's time to see how those predictions panned out.

After a relatively quiet first half of the year, outsourcing deal activity picked up considerably in the third quarter of 2013, according to the quarterly index compiled by outsourcing consultancy Information Services Group (ISG).

There's a growing shift from tier 1 offshore outsourcing providers to midsize IT services players. Scale and price are no longer the sole interest of outsourcing customers. They are seeking agility, flexibility, vertical alignment, responsiveness and trust -- all of which they are more likely to find in a smaller, more focused provider.

It's been business as usual for IT outsourcing providers in Ukraine, though the ongoing military and political uncertainty has had a public relations impact.

Follow these simple steps to show your IT outsourcing provider a little love and get more attention than other customers in return (without giving away too much).

Though IT outsourcing vendors and clients cite concern over the potential H-1B visa reform currently heading to the senate for a vote, they are, for the most part, taking a wait-and-see approach and are doing very little to prepare for the possible effects of the visa changes.

In part 2 of our two-part series on IT offshoring lessions, we look at seven more examples of successful IT outsourcing offshoring best practices.

The need to remain competitive has kept offshoring an essential part of nearly every company's sourcing strategy. The questions that remain are what and how to offshore. Offshore pioneers who have navigated the changing IT offshoring terrain have some answers based on a decade's worth of lessons. In part 1 of a two-part series, we look at seven of those lessons.