For consultancies, outsourcing used to be a relatively straightforward proposition. The consultant would be paid to take over one of the client's back-office IT functions so the client could focus on its core competencies and make more money.
That was the idea, anyway. Things didn't always turn out as planned. Outsourcing contracts are often difficult to manage, and many clients hadn't the time or talent to do the job properly. A March 2007 report from TPI, the global outsourcing advisory firm, noted client-maintained outsourcing contracts typically delivered 28 percent less value than originally anticipated. Not that the providers were necessarily to blame. More than half the buyers interviewed faulted themselves for expecting too much.
Source: Baseline, http://www.baselinemag.com