Keeping the data center in house is becoming an increasingly expensive and risk-laden endeavor. Outsourcing the data center can ignite all sorts of fear, uncertainty and doubt. So which is better? Specifically, which is better for your organization? Perhaps reflecting on the tradeoff between each can help you choose a path that is prudent and wise.
Some studies have indicated that the real benefits of offshore outsourcing can be diminished by issues in communication, skill sets and accountability. But if managed properly, offshore IT projects can reap substantial rewards.
An organization running a fully outsourced PMO?! Crazy talk, right? Not so fast. Read on for a case study of an unusual PMO model--and what all PMOs can learn from it.
Like all complicated issues, outsourcing has valid pros and cons. There is no universal right answer or way, only tradeoffs that must be weighed and balanced in context to an organization’s own needs and circumstances.
An ITO transition is the complex first phase of the IT outsourcing contract that has strategic importance for the success of the contract. This paper provides an understanding of the transition phase along with the specific attributes that make an ITO transition different from many IT projects; and the key success factors to successfully achieving an ITO transition implementation.
For many corporations, outsourcing has become business as usual, a key way to reduce costs and increase flexibility. While many debate regulation and controls, outsourcing presents an opportunity for project managers primed to seize it.
There are many reasons and benefits from outsourcing work. Here are some of the top reasons for looking outside of your organization for expertise and assistance in executing projects.
Question: My organization outsources to save money, but it creates communication issues and other problems for my agile team. Can offshoring (outsourcing) work effectively for non-collocated agile groups?
| A. | Yes, but success may depend on how far away from your collocated team the outsourced resources are located. |
| B. | No. Agile practices stress collocated teams. If you are not based together, there is no way for an agile approach to be effective. |
| C. | Yes, but only if the teams switch the locations where they live every six months so that each group learns the language and culture of the other. |
| D. | No. Agile was created in the United States, and therefore it is only intended to work for American teams. |
| A. | You are being “taken” by sales people from your hardware vendors who are behaving like used car salesmen. They quote you a low price to get your management’s approval, but when it comes time to actually install you have to add on many necessary extras you really need that they never revealed. |
| B. | It is probably you and your team if you are only figuring initial hardware costs in your project budget. The total cost of any new installation should be calculated both in immediate costs and in long-term costs over the life of the equipment, including non-tangible expenses. Only then can vendor offerings be fairly compared and evaluated. |
| C. | Management should not expect project teams to be pricing hardware. This should be done exclusively by someone from the purchasing department. Your only role is to install whatever arrives on the dock. In this way, if the costs go up you and your team escape the blame. |
| D. | Since recent costs for information technology (IT) items have quadrupled over the life of the equipment, you should multiply any future vendor contract pricing by four and alert accounting how much cash to have on hand in the immediate future. Always pick the lowest bid, as in today’s market all hardware is basically the same. |
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"More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly." - Woody Allen |
