The Outsourcing (Security) Conundrum

 

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Outsourcing has been a go-to strategy for many companies in the recent years. In fact, according to Fortunly.com, as compiled from various statistics and sources, 54% of companies use third-parties to connect with clients, driving the outsourcing market towards an upwards trajectory. Majority of these companies are also planning to, or have already adopted, outsourcing for cloud computing, which is important for organizations that use cloud services especially with web-based operations. With more emphasis on remote setup and digital transactions, transferring operations online is imperative for many organizations, in which they must develop initiatives to do such. Here, organizations must face the decision whether or not to source these initiatives or not.

Before delving further, what are the pros and cons of outsourcing the organizations IT needs? Outsourcing allows them to cut costs and focus more on core business strategies, ensure higher probability of success by through the assurance of quality from tech-focused third parties, and roll-out is usually faster. On the other hand, the organization has lesser participation on the creation and development, which can affect the actual output aligning to the needs of the end-users; security may be compromised, since it will provide access to individuals outside of the organization. With these considerations, the organization should weigh the pros and cons, taking into consideration its capacity and immediacy.

When an organization outsources IT security, backdoor access is granted to third-parties, as such, increasing the risk of having trade secrets be released through data breaches as well as entry of malware. To combat this, the organization can implement Non-Disclosure Agreements, vigilant monitoring, installation of their own security features and failsafes, and choosing firms that have a proven-track record in the industry.

Sources:

Dautovic, G. (February 2022). 15 Must-Know Outsourcing Statistics for 2022. Fortunly. Accessed from https://fortunly.com/statistics/outsourcing-statistics/#gref