Still in a downward spiral

In ISG's view, there are many reasons for this: Service providers continue to systematically automate everything that can be automated. This ranges from patching servers to rewriting old programming code. In addition, providers are focusing on further broadening their personnel pyramid by hiring primarily young professionals. At some providers, career starters and university graduates currently account for a quarter to a third of new hires. In addition, many service providers are expanding their network of locations and offering the option of working from a home office.

Among other things, this is intended to attract junior staff worldwide who live in smaller and less expensive cities. Another reason for the price declines is the continuing high competitive pressure in the market for IT services. This is putting pressure on prices, especially when managed services providers want to win new customers. Against this background, cost rates in IT outsourcing have been on the move. For server management, for example, they fell between 2 percent and 4 percent in the current year-on-year comparison, primarily due to the increasing degree of automation and standardization of this service.