The need to relocate

A primary driver for many early IT outsourcing deals has been the need to relocate. For many organizations the 1980s was a time when internal IT departments grew rapidly. Very often these IT departments grew at a much greater rate than all the other functions in terms of employees and demands on resources.

When the time came to seek out new premises, the senior IT executives often found it difficult to justify their excessive use of scarce resources and were frequently unconvincing in their estimates of future requirements. Given such circumstances it is not surprising that management sometimes took the safe way out and outsourced.