BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) has been around for decades and has become increasingly popular in the early 21st century. I'm surprised this didn't take place much earlier, and isn't being done by every business today. Ninety percent-plus of all businesses worldwide are not technology companies -- they are simply supported by technology systems. Why, then, are companies spending trillions of dollars on internal technology development and billions on certain human systems, too? Well, one factor has been the rise of a new corporate rock star -- the CIO.

When we developed Upside Magazine , the incubator of Tony Perkins who built The Red Herring Magazine and Eric Knee of Forbes ASAP, I pioneered several events and hosted hundreds of executives around various technology subjects. At an event at Duke University we created one panel focused on the fathers of ASP (Application Service Provider): Jim Worley, a partner of mine and former president of Baan Global Outsourcing; Robert Wenig, then CTO of SAP; and Chris McCleary, the founder and at the time CEO of USinternetworking. The panel covered everything from efficiency, hosting, and application development, and I steered it rightfully up the wazoo of the CIO.

Yes, the rise of the CIO was one major point I made, and predicted the CIO's fate. It was very simple, really: The rise of the CIO, and the belief that all companies needed to be technology first and product second, scared the pants off CEOs and boards. Being mostly control freaks, which they need to be, CEOs wouldn't let this go on for certain. Or would they?

Well, many under-educated executives in technology have continued to adhere to technology executives' every whim. Executives are witness to CIOs and technology teams spending hundreds of millions on systems and software that never really work right and they are always swimming way above their heads. In fact, it is on record that more than 70% of CIOs are in over their heads and hence that's why they are so territorial. The last thing they need is someone who is smarter and more experienced than them coming in and auditing what they have, are doing, and why the hell its being done there in the first place.

Now, that is music to a CEO's ear for certain. The power of the company has been fragmented, and many companies are hostage to five-year SAP implementations that cost tens of millions more than expected and were supposed to be done in two years, and major overhauls and development of proprietary systems pieced together by a bunch of Italian pasta makers. I am certain many businesses are frustrated and feel just sick over it, but what can they do?

I'll tell you what to do -- RIP IT OUT! Like Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society, you need to rip out the pages and that chapter of corporate history right out of the playbook. Many are trending that way because if you employ people, you have workers and moms and dads, etc., who have lives outside of work. Well, if you employ a vendor and you feel your bed shaking from the demons under IT at night, reach out and touch someone at 3 a.m. And guess what? They'll be picking up the phone and making sure you are very happy. Well, most of the time.

What I see more than anything, though, is that companies don't realize what they can do and are definitely advised by the corporate thiefdoms not to bring outsiders in to run "critical apps" or entire divisions. That is exactly why you would want someone else to manage your HR, technology systems, finance and administration, CRM, Customer Care, Sales & Marketing, Customer Service etc. ... It is counter-intuitive to what most engineers and technology executives believe.

In actuality, it will empower CIOs and technology leaders with tremendous resources and capabilities, a constant refreshing of technology, and they will still be able to manage proprietary applications. This includes almost every single division regardless of specialization. Managers of almost every division can get back to doing what they are supposed to do -- MANAGE.

I don't believe this is rocket science or an eye opener for anyone. It has been a long time coming and will be a long time happening. This is good, of course, for the high-priced consultants who can come in and tell you what your opinion is and charge you millions for it. Hell, they have to keep all those MBAs employed. But common sense should tell you that getting back to business means taking all functions -- and that means everything that can possibly be outsourced -- and packaging it all up for outsourcing. Life would be so much easier, and your corporate earnings will go way up -- as will the amount of sleep everyone will get.