The publishing industry has been undergoing a transition. Starting with increasing costs of production and print, the industry is struggling to address the increasing demand of digital content as opposed to print. In the midst of this transition, the global economic slowdown prompted lesser spending by consumers and corporate spenders.  Over the past few months, we have seen publishers try a variety of approaches – going digital, reducing print publishing, and cutting costs.

In spite of these measures, one thing comes across very strongly – the industry is yet to find that one formula/method that addresses all their problems. The lack of such a formula forced us to ask the question – will publishers outsource? Sure, some publishers already outsource certain aspects of their operations. But will they outsource more? Will they end up offshoring? And if they do want to outsource/offshore, what are the primary reasons for doing so? Are they hoping outsourcing will  be the ‘X’ factor while re-defining their business model?

To understand and evaluate where the industry is heading, we have been running a publishing survey. Our main objective here is to gain clarity on the following factors:

• Are more publishers considering outsourcing?
• What functional areas are publishers looking to outsource?
• What are the primary drivers for outsourcing?
• What are the cost savings publishers expect?

We have conducted an initial analysis of the survey results, and if you would like to know more, please do leave us a comment, and we’ll get back to you on the latest analysis.

Also, if you would like to participate in our survey, please follow this link. Feel free to pass on this survey to anyone and everyone you feel might take this survey. As always, we will be happy to share a summary of our findings once the study is completed.