An academic qualification in
outsourcing is now available through the National Outsourcing
Association (NOA).
The qualification has been in development for three years and is
accredited by Middlesex University. It will enable businesses to
benchmark skills and help them recruit and train individuals that
will manage outsourcing contracts.
Demand for outsourcing is growing and suppliers and users of
outsourcing services want best practices guidelines.
According to Gartner, there will be £180bn worth of IT
outsourced in Western Europe by 2011. In the UK, research firm
Nelson Hall said there was $3.6bn worth of business processes
outsourced overseas in 2007. It said this will grow 25% every year
and reach $8.8bn in 2011.
Martyn Hart, chairman of the NOA, said businesses need to have
the right
skills in place to understand outsourcing as the practice
becomes more common. "Until now, there has been no common best
practice standard or benchmark for outsourcing and there is no way
of recognising whether staff involved know their subject or
not."
He said it will improve the process of buying outsourcing
services and selection process and improve how suppliers and
customers work together.
Duncan Aitchinson, head of Europe at
sourcing consultancy TPI, said
the ongoing management of outsourcing contracts is a challenge for
businesses. "The whole area around service management and
governance is still relatively young and these skills are still
being developed so there is a shortage," he added.