Enterprises Split on Outsourcing and Network Security

Source: MarketWatch 

Past VanDyke Software®-commissioned surveys of enterprise IT managers and network administrators executed by Amplitude Research® indicated a less than comfortable feeling among enterprises regarding how outsourcing technology overseas affects their network security. But a shift in sentiment may be occurring according to findings from this year’s survey of 350 enterprise IT managers and network administrators.

In 2011, more than one-fourth (26%) reported that their employer outsources technology jobs to an offshore location such as India, China, or another foreign country — similar to the results in 2010 (28%) and 2009 (29%). Those whose organizations outsource technology jobs offshore were largely divided in 2011 over whether this has a positive impact (36%) or a negative impact (36%) on their organization’s network security. At the same time, 28% felt there was no impact. Said Steve Birnkrant, CEO of Amplitude Research, “Many of those who felt there was a negative impact described a feeling of uncertainty or concern about the potential network security risk involved in outsourcing technology jobs offshore. In contrast, many of those who felt there was a positive impact explained that outsourcing technology jobs offshore has worked well for their organization and/or there were cost savings.”

Survey respondents whose organizations outsource technology jobs were not as evenly divided on this issue last year. In 2010, nearly half (48%) thought that such outsourcing had a negative impact on their organization’s network security. On the other hand, only 21% in 2010 felt this had a positive impact. Birnkrant said: “Sentiment may be shifting toward greater comfort with the network security of offshore outsourcing. In some cases, those who have experience with outsourcing technology jobs offshore have found that it works well for their organization.”

When asked specifically this year which offshore locations are used by their organization, nearly eight-in-ten (79%) of the survey respondents named India. In a distant second place, 40% mentioned China, while Mexico came in third place (selected by 26%) as a location for outsourcing technology jobs. In addition, notable proportions mentioned the Philippines (18%), Malaysia (15%), and Russia (13%).

Approximately half (51%) of the organizations that outsource technology jobs offshore named multiple countries when asked where their organization outsources technology jobs. When asked which types of IT services they outsource, the most common response was IT user support (62%), followed by application development / programming (52%), and then database administration (42%), application management (36%), data storage / backup (35%), system administration (35%), and network monitoring (33%). Nearly eight-in-ten (79%) outsource multiple types of IT services.

About the Survey Methodology

The 2011 study was administered by Amplitude Research over the period September 7th to September 9th, 2011 among its nationwide technology panel. In total, 350 surveys were completed by respondents who confirmed working as an IT executive, IT manager, or network administrator for their company / organization, with a “maximum sampling margin of error” of +/- 5.2 percentage points.