Multinationals cut down on outsourcing
The wave of outsourcing that has engulfed the global economy over the past few years is showing signs of abating as multinational companies opt for shorter and smaller deals, according to a study to be published on Thursday.
The outsourcing industry has just experienced its worst quarter in four years and is unlikely to match the $81.9bn in contracts won in 2005 by the end of this year, data from the consulting firm Technology Partners International shows.
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A slowdown in 2006 would mark the second consecutive yearly fall in the volume of outsourcing contracts since their $84.7bn peak reached in 2004.
The results suggest that, following the drive to curb costs and streamline operations by contracting out non-core functions, multinationals might be running out of major operations to outsource.
Although companies appear to be buying a wider range of services from a larger number of providers, their preference for shorter deals is heightening competition among outsourcing groups. The average contract length is down to four years from about 10 years in the recent past.
“In some sectors, especially information technology, companies perceive that there has been a commoditisation of services, leading them to opt for shorter-term contracts of lower overall value,” said Peter Allen, a partner at TPI. “We just don’t see enough big deals in the pipeline to cause us to believe the levels of last year will be reached”.
The trend is likely to raise concerns in countries such as India and China and among groups such as IBM, Accenture and Electronic Data Systems, which have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the outsourcing trend.
A slowdown in the transfer of jobs and business units to developing countries and outside providers could quell anti-globalisation and protectionist urges in the US and Europe.
According to TPI, which tracks worldwide deals worth more than $50m, outsourcing contracts signed between July and September totalled $13.4bn, a fall of more than 20 per cent on both the previous quarter and the same period last year. The weakness of the past three months has left the total for the year at $55.3bn, more than $26bn below the figure for the whole of 2005.
However, the total number of contracts awarded so far this year has risen slightly over the same period a year ago, a sign that companies are still willing to outsource services but for shorter periods of time.
研究：全球外包热降温
据一份将于今日发布的研究报告称，过去数年间席卷全球经济的外包热潮正显现出减弱的迹象，原因是跨国公司选择期限更短、额度更小的交易。
咨询公司Technology Partners International(TPI)的新数据显示，外包行业刚刚经历了过去四年中最糟糕的一个季度，到今年年底，该行业不太可能获得与2005年持平的819亿美元合同额。
如果2006年合同额下降，将是该行业自2004年以来连续第二年下滑。2004年，外包合同额达到847亿美元的峰值水平。
上述结果表明，由于跨国公司此前通过外包非核心职能来削减成本和简化运营，在此之后，它们手头可能没有可供外包的主要业务了。
尽管企业所购买的服务范围似乎更加宽泛，外包服务供应商的数量也有所增加，但它们更倾向于进行期限更短的交易，这加剧了外包集团之间的竞争。外包合同的平均期限从不久前的10年左右，降至目前的4年。
“在某些行业中，尤其是信息技术行业，企业认为服务已经‘平价商品化’，这使得它们决定选择期限更短、总价更低的合同,”TPI公司合伙人彼得?艾伦(Peter Allen)称。
“我们发现，正在进行的大额交易的数量，不足以令我们相信今年将达到去年的水平。”
这一趋势可能引发印度和中国，以及IBM、埃森哲(Accenture)和Electronic Data Systems等外包服务集团的担忧，它们都在全球外包潮的最大受益者之列。
与此同时，如果向发展中国家和海外服务供应商转移就业岗位和企业部门的速度减缓，美国和欧洲政客们反全球化和保护主义的呼声可能会有所平息。
