A new survey reveals that the ability to concentrate on core business processes and cost savings are crucial reasons why firms opt for IT outsourcing.
Over half of the firms surveyed (51pc) were Irish SMEs, employing between one and 250 people.
According to the survey, 63pc cited the capacity to focus on core business in the top two reasons for outsourcing. Cost saving was the second most popular reason, mentioned in their top two choices by 51pc, while releasing internal IT staff for more strategic work was highlighted by almost half (47pc) of respondents.
The most common IT function outsourced is hardware support (72pc) followed by web hosting (41pc). Network management and security/virus protection (both 38pc) are in the top four outsourced IT functions.
“Irish firms have an increasingly sophisticated approach to outsourcing,” explains John Kennedy, marketing director, Hibernia Evros Technology Group.
“Market perception has been that Irish companies have been reluctant to outsource, but the results of this survey suggest otherwise, with 71pc already outsourcing some element of their IT support. It may be that the economic downturn is encouraging companies to focus more on their core business and explore ways to reduce internal costs.”