The following is a quote from a recent  article in the Financial Times :

"Nowadays the theory that maximum integration is desirable has been turned on its head, principally by two factors: the specialisation of knowledge and cheaper communications. It is impossible for a company to be expert in everything. .. Technology has cut sharply the costs of communication to the extent that the outsourcing of many activities from IT to business processes is becomingly increasingly standard. The result, in practical terms, is that organisations are maintaining many more relationships than previously. It is the age of the middleman."