Some of the more intriguing data points about the InformationWeek 500 concern how many companies are doing offshore outsourcing and using H-1B visas. It suggests the outsourcing shuffle-companies sending work out, others hauling it back in-continues. But while one in five companies have pulled outsourced work back in-house the past year, that hasn't dimmed interest in global IT.Offshoring continues to grow in popularity. Among the 500 companies on our list, 36% have outsourced new work offshore in the past 12 months to improve efficiency, more than those who've done so domestically. Still, 20% have brought outsourced functions back in-house for the same reason. In total, two-thirds of companies use offshore outsourcing. Fifty-nine percent augment U.S. IT staffs with foreign workers on H-1B or L-1 visas.
For more details on the IW 500's global IT and other strategies, a more in-depth analysis is here.
In terms of globalization, the trend from the research is unmistakable: there's no letup in the march toward global IT. Every single measure we took of global activity among the InformationWeek 500 is up over recent years. H-1B visas are one clear example: used by 59% of companies on this year's IW 500 list, that figure was just 43% three years ago.
