Cost optimisation will be the biggest outsourcing issue for large multinational enterprises this year, but many could make significant savings by consolidating onto a single global mobile provider, according to telecoms consultancy Hudson & Yorke.

Harry McDermott, chief executive at the firm, told vnunet.com that most clients want to know how to optimise costs, despite pressing issues such as service level enhancements, best practice governance and business agility.

"Even if you have a five-year partnership deal with a vendor, there is great pressure to demonstrate cost optimisation in the first year of the deal," he said. "In the past you could take a more strategic view, but now it's all about the short-term impact."

McDermott explained that multinational firms could reduce mobile service total cost of ownership by splitting out this particular element of their telecoms deals, and aggregating onto a managed deal with a single global mobile provider.

However, challenges still remain because few providers have the international scale to provide such deals, he added.

Chief information officers may also face a struggle trying to convince local IT managers in various geographical regions that the business case for a single global provider adds up, as many will be happy with their local supplier.