Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd.(link is external) has been recognized on Newsweek’s 2025 list of America’s Best Cybersecurity Companies(link is external).
The IT outsourcing industry is evolving faster than we think. In the fast-paced digital age, organizations continue to leverage their business strategies along with IT outsourcing to meet the growing demands of their customers.
Last year, supplier risk was the primary trend that hit the industry as companies became aware of the risks that their IT provider faces. Multisourcing also became commonplace, as more customers have sought the services of multiple vendors for their several business functions.
This blog takes a look at the trends that can potentially shift the continuously evolving industry of IT outsourcing. With a focus on security, cloud computing, and multi-speed IT, here are the trends to watch out for in 2016.
Security Takes the Spotlight
The cost of security breaches continues to increase. According to a global study by IBM(link is external), $3.79 million is the average cost of data breach. The world had also experienced a 23% increase in total costs since 2013.
As cybercrime become more prevalent with increasing sophistication, security then becomes the #1 priority in the IT outsourcing industry for 2016. With million dollars at stake every time a cybercrime attack occurs, IT service providers are finding more ways to increase their clients’ security.
On this note, the rise of specialized security service providers is expected. Organizations are looking for more vendors that offer Security-as-a-Service (SaaS) capabilities.
Data Centers Migrate to the Cloud
This year, cloud computing takes a firm hold in the IT world as organizations invest long term in cloud migration. The platform’s capability to integrate infrastructure, software, and core business functions entices organizations to use cloud-based technologies.
Aside from this, flexibility, scalability, and a lower cost expenditure also drive them to submit to this trend.
Full Service Development Providers Are on Demand
As organizations realize their customers’ demands, as well as the increase in their workload, the necessity for service providers offering full service development has become greater than ever.
Nowadays, organizations do not only seek the coding services of their provider, but also for people who can partner with them in the entire development process. From brainstorming or ideation to software development, maintenance and design — a full service development provider is expected to work diligently with the client.
Vendor Management Offices (VMOs) Are More Popular
Multisourcing is nothing new. But, as the list of their suppliers grows longer and becomes more diverse, organizations start to fumble when it comes to overseeing the work of their several vendors/providers. This is where vendor management offices (VMOs) come in to provide the solution.
As the practice of multisourcing becomes more prevalent, the demand for VMOs also grow higher.
It's More Than the Price Quote
Organizations seek to establish a long-term relationship with their service providers. However, providers realize that gone are the days when companies can be easily swayed to their direction by simply lowering the price of their services.
As the competition in IT outsourcing gets increasingly stiff, service providers attempt to find more amenable ways to keep their customers while enticing large companies at the same time.
Agile Sourcing and Development on the Rise
IT outsourcing already moves at a fast pace, but even more so in 2016. Digitization paves the way for this, as clients try to close deals faster before a competitor could come in the picture.
Similarly, agile development is also on the rise since it involves fast delivery of applications. In contrast to delivering one large application, developers send small, functional bits of the software for the client to test and approve as the project progresses.
The Shift to Multi-Speed in IT
The growing consumption of IT demands organizations to work in multi speeds to keep up with the varying requirements of the business. IT organizations have already been operating at two speeds for a while, but as technology progresses, it is no longer enough.
To adopt to the multi-speed IT capability, organizations need to shift gears in terms of operational model, governance, architecture, and organization.
The IT outsourcing industry is continuously evolving, and it remains a challenge for everyone to keep up. However, with these trends in mind, you can ensure that you won’t get left behind!
Carol Rhiza is a Customer Service Consultant at Merlin.
Industry News
Red Hat announced enhanced features to manage Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
StackHawk has taken on $12 Million in additional funding from Sapphire and Costanoa Ventures to help security teams keep up with the pace of AI-driven development.
Red Hat announced jointly-engineered, integrated and supported images for Red Hat Enterprise Linux across Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure.
Komodor announced the integration of the Komodor platform with Internal Developer Portals (IDPs), starting with built-in support for Backstage and Port.
Operant AI announced Woodpecker, an open-source, automated red teaming engine, that will make advanced security testing accessible to organizations of all sizes.
As part of Summer '25 Edition, Shopify is rolling out new tools and features designed specifically for developers.
Lenses.io announced the release of a suite of AI agents that can radically improve developer productivity.
Google unveiled a significant wave of advancements designed to supercharge how developers build and scale AI applications – from early-stage experimentation right through to large-scale deployment.
Red Hat announced Red Hat Advanced Developer Suite, a new addition to Red Hat OpenShift, the hybrid cloud application platform powered by Kubernetes, designed to improve developer productivity and application security with enhancements to speed the adoption of Red Hat AI technologies.
Perforce Software announced Perforce Intelligence, a blueprint to embed AI across its product lines and connect its AI with platforms and tools across the DevOps lifecycle.
CloudBees announced CloudBees Unify, a strategic leap forward in how enterprises manage software delivery at scale, shifting from offering standalone DevOps tools to delivering a comprehensive, modular solution for today’s most complex, hybrid software environments.
Azul and JetBrains announced a strategic technical collaboration to enhance the runtime performance and scalability of web and server-side Kotlin applications.
Docker, Inc.® announced Docker Hardened Images (DHI), a curated catalog of security-hardened, enterprise-grade container images designed to meet today’s toughest software supply chain challenges.
GitHub announced that GitHub Copilot now includes an asynchronous coding agent, embedded directly in GitHub and accessible from VS Code—creating a powerful Agentic DevOps loop across coding environments.