2024 BeLux IT Sourcing Study
The 2024 BeLux IT Sourcing Study represents the largest survey to date. With close to 300 participants from the region’s leading IT-spending organisations, this year’s report provides insights on the top-performing IT service providers and cloud platform providers, with over 750 unique IT sourcing relationships and more than 800 cloud platform relationships evaluated.
The growth of the IT services market in Belgium and Luxembourg is expected to continue in 2024.
The majority of clients (75%) intend to either increase or maintain their IT budget allocation for external providers over the next two years. Conversely, 15% plan to reduce their IT budget spent on external providers, while 10% are uncertain about their sourcing plans. For the first time in this study, financial attractiveness is the primary driver for insourcing, marking a 15% increase from the previous year and mirroring a trend observed in other European countries towards the end of 2023.
Scarcity of talent, focus on core and scalability in a more uncertain economy are the main drivers for growth.
For a second consecutive year, the primary driver for using external providers is access to resources and talent, cited by 61% of respondents. This underscores the persistent global competition for skilled professionals. Second in priority is a focus on core business (50%), followed by scalability (46%), reflecting clients’ emphasis on adaptability in a dynamic market. Notably, cost reduction has seen a significant decline in importance, dropping by 14% to its lowest recorded level. This suggests a decreased interest in achieving cost savings through the use of IT providers.
Security and automation top the investment agenda of CIOs in Europe; (Generative) AI investments see biggest increase.
Security continues to be the primary focus for investment, with 69% of clients intending to increase security measures and cyber defence capabilities over the next two years. Automation closely follows at 52%, with 42% planning investments in solutions to optimise expenditure. Investment in AI/Machine Learning solutions has increased by 18% compared to last year, indicating growing recognition among clients of the competitive advantage that AI technologies offer.
Client investment areas:
In 40% of organisations, the adoption of AI/GenAI has already impacted the business; no transformation of business yet.
The survey indicates a diverse landscape in AI/GenAI adoption among organisations. 44% of organisations are using AI with either a minor (36%) or significant (9%) impact on their business. 27% are still in the experimentation phase, and 21% have limited AI usage, highlighting a gap in widespread adoption. None of the organisations have indicated that AI/GenAI has transformed their business as of today.
Clients plan to increase nearshore to complement offshore/onshore; however, capacity may prove to be an issue.
Demand for nearshore delivery is up significantly: 38% of organisations expect nearshore to grow (versus only 7% of organisations who predict a decline). However, capacity in nearshore will not be able to cater for this significant increase in demand. Clients should be aware that pressure on rates and attrition are likely to increase; complicating large transitions to nearshore.
The satisfaction level among respondents has significantly increased. Out of the 779 sourcing relationships evaluated by clients, 76% reported being either satisfied or very satisfied. This marks an improvement of eight percentage points compared to 2023, indicating a substantial increase in client satisfaction.
Overall satisfaction:
Eight service providers have achieved exceptional performer status across one or more IT service towers, with satisfaction scores exceeding the market average and above the standard deviation.
The exceptional performers are:
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Application services: Cegeka, Hexaware and TCS
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Digital transformation: Deloitte and PwC
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Cloud & infrastructure services: Kyndryl
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Workplace services: Computacenter
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Network & connectivity services: Cegeka and GTT
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Security services: Cegeka
General satisfaction: Computacenter, Hexaware and TCS
Top 3 providers by IT service tower:
Our final report includes full rankings for the six IT service towers. Please contact Whitelane below for more information.
Application Services
Digital Transformation
Cloud & Infrastructure
Workplace Services
Network & Connectivity
Security Services
Among the 817 cloud platform relationships evaluated by clients, 69% were satisfied or very satisfied, indicating a 10% decrease from the previous year. Notably, this marks the first time cloud platform provider satisfaction (69%) has fallen below that of IT service providers (76%). Amazon Web Services (AWS) remains the frontrunner in the infrastructure cloud platform ranking with 79%, while Microsoft Dynamics 365 claims the top spot in the software cloud platforms ranking with a score of 78%.
2024 BeLux IT Sourcing Study – Final Report
The 2024 final report encompasses the latest sourcing and governance trends specific to the BeLux region. It includes rankings by six IT service towers, Key Performance Indicators spanning four dimensions, and cloud platform provider rankings. For further details, please reach out to info(@)whitelane.com.
