Anyone doubting the impact of offshoring on the outsourcing market should check the latest figures from advisory specialist TPI. Across the globe, the percentage of contracts with an element of offshore delivery continues to increase. According to TPI:

• 59 per cent of outsourcing deals involve an element of offshoring, up from an average of 43 per cent over the previous four years
• So far this year, India-based service providers have won more than 24 per cent of all the deals on which TPI has advised, up from an average of 13 per cent during the previous four years
• Asia Pacific, meanwhile, represents 16 per cent of all major contracts in 2007, up from an average of almost 9 per cent across the previous two years. The region has also seen a 72 per cent rise in its share of the value of new contracts, compared with the first nine months of 2006

Multisourcing is certainly the way forward, with users selecting a broad selection of sourcing strategies - including offshoring - for particular IT and business process needs. And IT directors are selecting offshoring as a best-fit model, not just a way of reducing cost and hiving off intractable challenges.