Abstract
There is a recent, but very strong tendency for companies to focus on what they do best, their core business. This follows a previous tendency of vertical and horizontal integration that has led big companies to acquire skills and capabilities distant from their area of specialisation. Sometimes, it has been profitable and has allowed companies to stay on the market and grow, but in most cases there has been an exaggeration that has led to inefficiency, and global costs increase. After a global economic crisis that has led to heavy cost reduction programs in any industry, best practise companies are now returning to focus on their core business externalising peripheral activities. This request for externalised service has led to the empowerment of the outsourcing Industry, that has developed widely its offering. The main driver in favour of the outsourcing of an activity is a cost reduction for the company, that outsource its non-core activities. There are some secondary advantages such as, increase of the quality level, flexibility and scalability and this is explained by the fact that the activity outsourced, is the core business of the outsourcer and there is a service level agreement between the two parties that set the rules of the game.
