IT outsourcing can be a tremendous boon, especially for companies trapped between aging traditional legacy systems and the urgent need to modernize. It’s imperative to get rising costs under control. But you also have to address rapidly rising data volumes and concurrently rising user expectations regarding service levels and quality.
IT outsourcing is looking better than ever. But how can you ensure a successful transition? Carefully consider all these factors:
Your organization’s immediate needs.
IT outsourcing has to keep you going smoothly and – hopefully – seamlessly, or it’s of little value. Think in terms of capacity, user quality, increasing mobility and remote computing, security. Are you making any enterprise-wide changes in the near future that will affect IT functions?
Your long-term goals
Outsourcing isn’t a quick fix, it’s a future-proofing commitment. To be successful, your arrangements must be fully reliable, but also scalable and agile enough to flex with market-driven changes and meet internal growth and even course corrections.
Self-assessment.
It’s time to take inventory. Good decisions require good background information and intelligence. You can’t tell what you need without adequately analyzing where you are now. How does your IT functionality compare to your competition?
Outsourcing options.
Fortunately, you do have alternatives. You can arrange a complete overhaul of your IT program that migrates data and management offsite. You can select only certain commoditized services to fill in gaps, boost weak areas or improve quality. You can test the outsourcing waters without diving into the deep end right off the bat.
Costs vs. benefits.
Choosing what’s best has to consider costs. You’ll want to compare IT outsourcing vs. retaining functions in-house, and also compare costs of your favorite outsourcing options against one another. Think about ongoing operations expenses and capital needs, but also consider potential risk mitigation improvements. In the long run, it’s the total cost of ownership that counts.
You’ve chosen the functions you want outsource and evaluated predicted costs of your options. But without the right “who” your future vision will never come to life. The marketplace offers several provider choices and potential outsourcing partners. You have to find the right fit.
Your corporate culture.
How flexible are your people when it comes to change? Are they ready for something significant? If they’re heavily tech-oriented in their personal lives, they’re probably chomping at the bit to expand their mobility, incorporate BYOD policies, etc. But maybe they’re still reliant on legacy systems and procedures, hesitant about the value of consequences of radical change.
C-suite support.
When it comes to IT outsourcing, leadership absolutely comes from the top. It has to be more than just a nice concept, because you’re making decisions that will transform the way things are done from now on throughout your company. So approval isn’t enough. Your top execs – and maybe that’s you – have to proactively and visibly support change.
Should you go it alone or get professional help?
Successful IT outsourcing depends on full knowledge – of yourself and of available options. It’s complex and even for your top IT staff it can be confusing. And time-consuming. Even if you think you’ve done your homework, bringing in an unbiased professional consultant can provide valuable guidance.
A consultant can help thoroughly evaluate your current situation. They can help you source the right provider. And they can help determine what SLAs and other contractual expectations you should insist on, as well as what optional-but-desirable elements could benefit you.
With a more thorough, faster IT outsourcing process based on unbiased advice and recommendations, you can make the most successful decisions.
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