OUTSOURCING:
BUILDING TRUST
AND REAPING
THE BENEFITS
As technology continues to evolve rapidly, an
increasing number of organizations are finding
that handling the entire IT stack internally has
become a near impossibility. In many organizations, IT budgets are limited, meaning there
may be just one or a handful or resources
dedicated to keeping the lights on and
simultaneously innovating. But even in places
where IT is more robust, it can be extremely
difficult to hire and retain all of the skill sets
necessary for running modern IT.
Cyber security is an example of a practice area
where outsourcing has become a necessity for
many organizations. A recent CIO.com article,
for example, called out “security takes center
stage” as the top IT outsourcing trend for 2016.
The reason for the surge of interest in outsourcing is simple: organizations simply don’t have
in-house talent with the skill sets necessary to
handle increasingly complex and wide-ranging
practice areas. For example, a recent global
survey of cyber security professionals found
that fewer than 25 percent of cyber security
applicants are qualified to perform the skills
needed for the job.
Statistics like that are driving the outsourcing
market to new heights. In fact, the Cisco 2016
Annual Security Report revealed that 88 percent
of organizations now outsource at least some
of their security functions, such as consultation,
audit, monitoring and incident response. The
top five reasons given for outsourcing in the
Cisco survey were:
• More cost-efficient
• Desire for unbiased insight
• More timely response to incidents
• Lack of internal expertise
• Lack of internal resources