To take your points one step farther, outsourcing can go far beyond email delivery as well.

Arkansas State University were challenged by several years of declining enrollment and decided that a CRM was going to be a vital element in helping them make critical changes to improve things. Few schools I have spoken with have the experience and/or ability to take on the comprehensive management of a full CRM system (which is why so many have failed in the corporate world).

In short, they essentially outsourced all of their CRM duties (including copywriting, design, and ongoing maintenance). A 27% overall increase in enrollment in just 3 years demonstrates that their decision to ‘outsource’ areas they are not experts in can pay huge dividends.