Dive Brief:

• Three-fourths of enterprises employ third-party service providers for IT services, according to a new survey from Clutch. Clutch surveyed 582 U.S.-based enterprise IT decision-makers that work at companies with more than 500 employees for the report. 
• Objective perspectives and industry-specific skills were the two major reasons enterprises partner with external providers for IT, the study found.
• The most commonly outsourced services are data security, integrating cloud technologies and mobile support.

Dive Insight:

There are certainly many benefits to using a third-party to help an organization get the IT services it needs, including reducing internal resource investments and streamlining processes. Third-party services also come in handy when companies are looking to complete a specific project, such as building out an internal facing application or portal. 

But using third-party providers can also present risks, as an external party may not take proper precautions to protect a company’s data. When third parties work with an organization, they often have access to proprietary information that needs to remain secure. Ensuring any external vendor that handles company data does so securely should be of utmost importance to IT leaders.

For most companies, the risk of using third-party providers is worth the reward. But the Clutch study indicates there could be a shift coming to the third-party market. Half of the enterprises surveyed say they plan to bring more IT services in-house in 2017.