Brokers will continue to outsource IT, predicts SSP

SSP has reported a 20% growth in users on its fully outsourced managed service solution, 21 for Broking, claiming brokers are using IT to cut costs and drive operational efficiencies.

In the last 12 months it said users have increased to over 4000 as brokers across every sector of the market have outsourced their IT.

The company claims that as the economy has deteriorated and with no significant hardening of rates to drive income growth, brokers have become increasingly focused on reducing costs across their business, putting IT expenditure under the microscope.

"For many brokers this has meant a root and branch review of their existing systems and their overall approach to IT," it added.

SSP claimed that by taking away the burden of managing local servers and network infrastructure, outsourcing minimises IT hardware costs and also eliminates the hidden internal costs of IT ownership - the cost of time incurred when staff support the system, load insurer rates and software updates and perform backups.

SSP director, Jonathan Davey, said: "In the current economic climate and with no sign of commission income increasing, cash-flow and reducing costs have become key issues for brokers of all sizes. With no up-front costs and brokers paying on a per user, per month basis, 21 for Broking significantly reduces the cost of ownership. Our research and experience with brokers over the last four years has shown that cost savings of over £35 000 per year can be achieved by an average ten user brokerage.

"Since 21 for Broking was launched in 2005 we’ve continued to see double-digit growth and now host over 4,000 broking users, from one-man operations, up to large regional and national broking operations with hundreds of users across multiple sites. With connectivity improving all the time and the cost of broadband falling year-on-year, we expect similar growth over the next few years. It won’t be too long before a majority of brokers, both big and small, will be outsourcing their IT.”