Outsourcing has definitely seen an evolution process over the past decade, and new trends are shaping the way global companies succeed in the future. According to the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals, U.S. companies spent $4.2 trillion on outsourcing in 2006, up from $3.1 trillion in 2003. But looking back at their outsourcing experiences, many of those companies will tell you that the savings weren’t as great as they had hoped.

When PricewaterhouseCoopers surveyed 300 global companies, 66 percent said they will continue to outsource even though they did not see expected benefits. In other words, not many are eager to bring the work back in house. But how can they be more strategic about the way they outsource? The answer may be found in four of the biggest trends in outsourcing today. These four show how the most experienced players are not only succeeding today, but positioning themselves for the future.

1. Outsourcing beyond India and China.

Now that other contenders are entering the outsourcing arena, companies are beginning to see advantages in Russia, the Philippines, Eastern Europe and Viet Nam. Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest outsourcing company, now has 5,000 employees in Latin America and recently added a facility in Mexico to accommodate an increasing number of American companies who want their outsourcing companies working in the same time zone as their internal corporate employees.

2. Outsourcing knowledge-based work.

Beyond billing and payroll, more companies are outsourcing their core business processes that are traditionally performed in house. By outsourcing product development teams, for instance, companies can do more custom design work for their customers at a lower cost.

3. Outsourcing as a partnership

Many companies today don’t merely hand off their work to strangers; they develop strategic relationships with their providers. To do this, corporate leaders need to move from a mostly cost-driven customer-supplier model toward a full-fledged partnership. This must include communicating regularly and dedicating managers and time to the relationship so that companies can better leverage and maximize the value of their provider’s capabilities.

4. Selective outsourcing

Smart companies are discovering that it is much easier and more beneficial to move from a multitude of vendors and providers to a few. Though there is not a movement toward a one-provider-does-all model, having a handful of key global business partners gives companies a more streamlined and efficient way to manage the business. In order to facilitate consistency, companies are using global standardized processes like management tools and process flow.

As outsourcing evolves and matures, these trends show us how companies are becoming more strategic in the way they work together with their partners outside the U.S. And that’s a trend that makes a lot of sense.