For years, offshoring was the de facto model for outsourcing IT services — and for a time, it delivered on its promise of cost savings. But today, European enterprises are rethinking their sourcing strategies, opting for nearshoring as a more strategic and sustainable approach. Turns out that proximity matters — not just in geography, but in culture, communication, and compliance.
From Offshoring to Nearshoring: Market Data
The move toward nearshoring is more than a tactical adjustment — it’s a structural shift. While cost was once the primary driver behind offshoring, we’re now seeing a pivot toward value: faster coordination, tighter integration, and greater alignment between internal teams and external partners.
According to recent research sponsored by Comarch and conducted by IDC, “2025 Trends in Managed IT Services,” 42% of large European enterprises plan to transition from offshore to nearshore IT services within the next 18 months. In Western Europe, nearly half already prefer onshore models, with another 27% actively adopting nearshoring.
Those numbers don’t just signal a trend — they reflect a realignment. As IT leaders, we’re being asked to deliver speed without compromising standards, and flexibility without introducing new risk. Nearshoring is emerging as a practical, lower-friction alternative to traditional outsourcing models.
5 Reasons Why Businesses Choose Nearshoring
1. Skilled Labor Shortage
Recruiting and retaining top-tier IT talent has become a persistent challenge for over 41% of businesses, according to the IDC research mentioned earlier — especially for roles in cybersecurity, cloud engineering, data architecture, and DevOps. The talent gap isn’t just a hiring issue; it’s a delivery risk. Nearshore providers offer access to deep, specialized talent pools without competing in overstretched local markets. For IT leaders under pressure to deliver outcomes with lean teams, that access is no longer a luxury — it’s a necessity.
2. Cost Efficiency Without Compromising Quality
Over 39% of companies surveyed by IDC choose pricing as one of the main factors encouraging them to use an external managed IT provider.
Keeping high-performing IT teams in-house can become cost-prohibitive — especially when scaling quickly or supporting non-core systems. Nearshoring offers a more sustainable cost model: competitive pricing combined with quality execution. It enables organizations to rebalance their IT budgets, freeing up internal capacity for strategic initiatives while maintaining service levels.
3. Supporting New IT Service Demands
As business needs evolve, so do IT service requirements. As reported by IDC, 28% of companies need additional or specialized IT services. Whether it’s expanding automation capabilities, launching a new platform, or ensuring 24/7 infrastructure monitoring, internal teams often can’t cover it all. Nearshoring helps close the gap, providing specialized capabilities that would otherwise take months to build internally. It’s a flexible way to scale capacity and bring in niche expertise on demand.
4. Local Alignment
When teams share a similar approach to communication, collaboration, and decision-making, things move faster — and with less friction. It’s no surprise that 17% of IT leaders surveyed by IDC are prioritizing providers with local capabilities. That operational alignment minimizes missteps and keeps projects on track.
5. Strategic Shift Toward Managed Services
As shown in the “2025 Trends in Managed IT Services” research, 17% of enterprises are already realigning their IT strategies — moving away from full in-house control and toward managed services that offer greater agility and focus. More CIOs and IT Directors are redefining their operating models to focus internal teams on innovation and business enablement — not just system upkeep. Nearshoring supports that transition. It allows for a controlled, low-friction handoff of operational responsibility while preserving oversight and flexibility.
Nearshoring is a Catalyst for Digital Transformation
With the rise of AI, digital transformation has become a buzzword — but the reality is, the shift is happening whether we call it that or not. As IT leaders, we’re under pressure to modernize legacy systems, accelerate cloud adoption, and deliver real-time, data-driven services. Nearshoring plays a strategic role in enabling that shift.
By partnering with nearshore teams, organizations gain faster access to the specialized skills required to execute transformation at pace — from cloud-native development and DevOps engineering to data modernization and platform integration. These are not just tactical resourcing needs — they’re foundational to evolving the IT function from service provider to business enabler.
Equally important, nearshoring offers the agility to stand up cross-functional teams that can iterate quickly, without the latency that often hampers traditional offshore models.
That speed — combined with closer cultural and operational alignment — helps avoid the bottlenecks that derail transformation programs.
Put simply, nearshoring isn’t just a sourcing decision. It’s an enabler of the broader IT mandate: to transform the business with technology while managing risk, cost, and complexity along the way.
What Does That Mean for the Future of Managed IT Services?
The IDC findings suggest that nearshoring isn’t a passing trend — it’s becoming the default mode for enterprises seeking to balance speed, compliance, and cost-efficiency. Nearshoring offers a pragmatic, scalable model that supports tighter integration, lower risk, and faster time-to-value.
Final Thoughts
The promise of nearshoring isn’t just proximity — it’s predictability. In an environment where agility and control are non-negotiable, partnering with teams that understand your business context, regulatory landscape, and delivery priorities can make a measurable difference.
For IT leaders navigating transformation under pressure, nearshoring has become a strategic lever, offering clarity, speed, and control when it’s needed most.
To explore the full picture, the IDC research, sponsored by Comarch (Feb 2025), examines how European enterprises are adopting nearshoring, backed by data, analysis, and practical insights.
This is a contributed article by Paweł Wojas at Comarch. Click here for more information about the company’s solutions.