Verizon, one of the leading names in communication is set to enter the world of offshoring providing through the 8.5 billion dollars worth acquisition of long distance carrier MCI.
Verizon remarked that they would enter the offshoring market through a management service in which the targeted market are business customers that are tired of leaving their IT-related functions to incapabe outsourcing firms and offshore management companies. Managed services are defined as a set of responsibilities which are transferred to a third party such as a carrier or an outsourcing firm by a corporation. Most of the services included in this industry includes network management/data management which is needed to complete its responsibility for a firm’s computing infrastructure.
Verizon said that it would make use of the skills that they have acquired through the acquisition in order to support the core IT resources of firms. The decision to outsource was brought about by the said acquisition and the growing demand for IT-specific offshoring skills. MCI, the acquired firm which is a long-distance telecommunications service provider had a strong background of network support for large corporations and government agencies. Through the experience of the acquired firm, Verizon is confident that they would be able to provide the quality service that these firms need in their decision to join the offshoring trend.
Rick Dyer, the IT director of the firm regarding IT solutions product management that they aims to target firms that needs to outsource specific IT functions and not every core business functions. The IT directos was also quoted stating that: we are taking managed services down-market a bit. We are managing the operating system but letting the customer manage the applications.
Thoughts and Insights
Through the jumping of Verizon in the offshoring market, IT offshoring would never be the same again. I guess that when the chance for offshoring was brought about because of the acquisition, Verizon did not decline the chance to expand their business and to prove that they have what it takes to make it big in the Offshoring market. This is a big chance for Verizon because their specialty lies on IT functions, something that is quite in demand and critical to handle. If Verizon would be able to hold its own for the first few months of their operation then the only left direction to tackle would be the road to success.