A new survey from the business process outsourcing (BPO) company Syntel reveals that more than half (53 per cent to be precise) of companies plan to increase outsourcing spending in 2008, up from 38 per cent in 2006 and 48 per cent in 2007. This was a survey of 250 IT professionals, presumably in the US as that’s where Syntel is based.

Commenting on the new survey, Bharat Desai, chief executive of Syntel, said: “In a weak or uncertain economy, companies look for technology solutions that will increase productivity, efficiency and savings.”

We all know what he is getting at. You can’t pick up a newspaper or listen to the business news on the radio these days without finding some concern that we are about to enter a global economic slowdown. The credit crunch in the US that leaped the Atlantic and subsequently caused a run on our very own Northern Rock bank is contributing to fears that a global recession is on the way.

Yet, the outsourcing suppliers seem to be rubbing their hands together. When times are good, big companies engage in strategic outsourcing largesse to improve their service offering and when times are hard they use outsourcing to cut costs to the bone, so the suppliers might argue that it’s a case of “heads I win, tails you lose” as far as they are concerned.

This feels like is has to be a step backwards for the industry in general. How many times have we all listened to the supplier community tell us vehemently that outsourcing is not about cost control, it’s about flexibility, access to improved services etc, etc… If a recession really is on the way then it would seem that there should be a new boom in offshoring, as companies that are still shy about the process decide to explore it just to save money. Which torpedoes the notion that offshoring can really be about anything more than just labour cost arbitrage.

So does that mean that the marketing efforts, advertising, and attempts to build credibility by the offshore suppliers are all wasted? Only time will tell, but it remains a fact that the original strategy of Tesco supermarkets, as defined by its founder Sir Jack Cohen, was “pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap”. It worked for Tesco, but are we really heading into a world of nothing more than “value” outsourcing?