This is the time of year for trend lists and predictions. Usually they are mostly wrong or well, predictable. There are some that are worth paying attention to however. One is the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals’ Top Outsourcing Trends for 2012.

For instance, IAOP says we should watch out for more M&As and consolidation “as providers struggle with tight access to capital and to meet growth expectations given the uncertain economic and political situation worldwide.”

IAOP also says to expect sourcing close to home as “higher unemployment, economically blighted urban areas and local government incentives will drive more companies to stay on shore, especially in the U.S. Nearshoring, rural sourcing and domestic sourcing will be on the rise.”

But also watch for a surge of the BRIC nations as outsourcing destinations, especially Brazil.

It occurs to me that those cover-the-base trends have appeared on various year-end lists for several years now. They are pretty much continuing trends since the Great Recession.

But what really got my attention was when IAOP talked about “collaborative and strategic” trends. It said that models “where customers and service providers work collaboratively to develop performance-based partnerships will be increasingly used.”

Yes! The need for collaboration became a top topic for discussion in 2011 and maybe it reaches critical mass—can you say Vested Outsourcing?—in 2012.

Collaboration pops up again when IAOP talks about technology convergence: “The convergence of social networking, collaboration and mobility platforms will create a significant demand for value-added outsourcing services.”

So however you think about it—collaborative sustainability, or sustainable collaboration—I’m betting that 2012 will be a watershed year for collaborative outsourcing.

And, in my humble opinion, the Vested Outsourcing model is on time and positioned to help lead the charge to a more collaborative, sustainable and long-term win-win outsourcing environment. There are two Vested books—and another on the way—that present a comprehensive program and framework for achieving the long-term win-win in this difficult global business environment in a new, flexible and innovative way.

I hope your New Year’s resolution is to get Vested with your most strategic business partners in 2012!

Happy New Year!