A recent poll conducted to gauge the trend of outsourcing—will it move up, down, or remain substantially the same?—indicated that the facilities area is continuing forward without hitting a speed bump. Fifteen percent of respondents indicated an increase in outsourcing budgets for next year, while the majority thinks budgets will remain as they now are (82% vs. 71% last year).
The majority (88%) of respondents represented influential decision makers within their organizations: 43% were final decision-makers, 45% were one of several decision-makers, 11% were in the capacity of an advisor, and only 1% had no role at all in decision making.
The areas of facilities management being outsourced generally follow traditional paths. More than half of the respondents answered that they completely outsource food service, 45% completely outsource their landscaping/groundskeeping, and nearly one-third completely outsource custodial/janitorial services, security, and HVAC/mechanical. These results are all similar to last year’s figures.
What the facilities executives keep within their own in-house domains are real estate and property management, energy management, CAFM/IS support, and construction/project management.
Seventy-six percent of executives responding to the survey will contract separately for each service they outsource. Only 19% will bundle similar services together. A small 5% will contract with a single provider.
The survey, which is reported in full in the November issue of Facilities Design & Management magazine was the collaborative effort of the publication and The Outsource Report newsletter, with the help of Michael E. Corbett & Associates. Although the survey is based on 100 respondents (10% return), the figures if extrapolated picture outsourcing as an entrenched way of the facilities business life. For further information, visit www.fdm.com.
Based on a report from Facilities Design & Management
