IT Outsourcing
Outsourcing IT –
It’s Good for your Business
John McCarthy tells us why
his is a huge topic and the ‘what’ and the ‘how’
T
depend on the size and nature of your
organisation. This article deals specifically with the
issue from the perspective of an SME and how the issue
should be approached in this sector. Decisions to be
made are common to all organisations, large and small.
In large organisations, however, certain approaches are
viable which would just not make sense at the SME level.
Consider your options
When looking at the electricity requirements for your
business, would you consider designing the wiring,
installing it, maintaining it or even generating the power
from your own resources? Hopefully not!! (unless of
course this is the business you are in). This is a no brain
decision – of course you would outsource the design
and provision of this utility to someone outside your
organisation – because electricity is not what you do. It
is not your core business. It is however core to your
business so you would and should spend time on
deciding for what you are going to use the electricity and
how it will benefit your organisation. You would not
employ an electrician fulltime in case something goes
wrong. You would enter into a maintenance/support
arrangement whereby the electrician will respond in an
appropriate manner should anything go wrong.
Providing the basics
That kind of pragmatic thinking should also apply to
the utility end of computing. i.e. the provision of the
basics To make effective use of IT in a business, there are
particular needs such as cabling, server(s), internet
access, electronic mail, word processing, spreadsheets,
printing, etc – and you can take it as a given that all staff
have the same basic needs.
For example, electronic mail will fail to deliver benefits
if all staff does not have access to it, so, it is
counterproductive to only give electronic mail to some
staff and not to others. All you need to do is decide how
much or many of the above that you require – as such
requirements necessitate a certain IT infrastructure. In
the right hands this bit of it is like Lego – don’t let anyone
pretend it is not. However, just like Lego, it needs to be
put together correctly if it is to remain stable – so you
need to choose the right IT partner.
Achieving reliable infrastructure
Properly implemented, you really can achieve a stable
and reliable infrastructure. This basic infrastructure will
need to be reviewed/renewed every three to five years,
so – like the electrician mentioned above – why would
you employ fulltime staff for this ‘just in case’
eventuality?
Recognising expertise
If Information Technology is not your core business
then why do you need fulltime IT staff? – or, even worse,
have unqualified staff that are paid to do something else
in the business distracted by the time-stealing nature of
IT? There are many businesses whose accountant is
responsible for IT. What this often means is that they
have probably worked with computers longer than
others and so have been assumed to be the expert.
‘Expert’ is a very powerful and overused word and of
course, its use leads people to assume that just because
a person can make effective use of a computer, it then
stands to reason that they can fix them as well.
Ongoing developments
There is constant change happening in hardware and
software. This change can cause issues which are difficult
for inexperienced staff to resolve but which are straight-
forward for experienced IT professionals. The simple
reason for this is that, no matter how good your IT
person happens to be, the reality is that the experience
they gain from working in an SME is limited.
Staff who deals with a higher volume of installation
and support issues are much more likely to have the
answer quickly – simply because there is a good chance
that they have seen it before. In this way, you are
leveraging their wider experience into your business
without having to pay for it fulltime. This has become
45
 IT Outsourcing
even easier to do now with the emergence of very good
and reliable products which allow external parties to provide
server and desktop support remotely.
Benefits of remote support
This has to form part of your support and maintenance
contract with your suppliers. If a supplier cannot offer to
support your business remotely, then move on to one who
can. There is a huge mutual benefit for both parties in this
model. The supplier gets to make more efficient use of their
staff, and guess what? – so do you! Why should you have
to wait for an engineer to get in their car and travel to you
before they can start diagnosing your issue? All suppliers
with whom I work must now offer this facility. Otherwise, I
simply will not use them. It should not be your problem
that their engineer is stuck in traffic and so cannot start to
get your business back up and running until they arrive on
site. Or, on the other hand, that they have to spend time
talking you through an issue ‘blind’, just because they
cannot see your screen.
There is a huge range of issues that can be resolved
efficiently by use of remote support technologies. This
approach can also be used to monitor your site to ensure –
(a) that backups are being done and, (b) to perform
preventative maintenance tasks which prevent issues
occurring in the first place.
“There is no point in buying technology
unless you are clear about its purpose and
how it should work.”
Managing the business
Managers need information about their business in order
to improve the performance and delivery - thus ending up
with a continually improving business. That is surely the goal
of any business. Contrary to popular myth, this can be done
without the use of technology by using ‘old fashioned’ core
management skills, understanding and experience of your
particular business. To design a Management Information
System (MIS) that works requires a significant input from
the people experienced in the business. Management
information systems can be developed without technology
and MIS does not equal IT.
So what has this got to do with
outsourcing IT?
It’s got everything to do with it. In my opinion, it is one of
the main reasons why you should outsource your IT
support and installation requirements. MIS and IT often get
confused and a lot of people see them as the same. They
are not. IT can and does support a MIS - and that’s it.
The purpose of IT
Information Technology is just the technology and most
technology these days will work, provided it is designed to
do what you are asking of it. And that is the key.
46
There is no point in buying technology unless you are
clear about its purpose and how it should work.
I would contend that your business will benefit more
from investing in staff who understand the importance of
well thought out processes in your business and how they
can be connected for the benefit of the business. It is only
when you have a clear view of how your business works (or
you would like it to work) that you are ready to consider
adding technology to the mix. Technology does not of itself
deliver benefits. Unless it is used in a planned and
consistent fashion you will not reap the rewards. Remember
the infrastructure (email, internet, etc.) that I mentioned
earlier is a given, so, what we are talking about now is
technology that will make your business better.
Analyse and decide
When you have analysed your business requirements,
then and only then, should you consider selecting
technology to support this clearly stated requirement. This
is another point at which you can buy in the right advice
when you need it. By engaging the right person at this point
to advise you on the technology purchase to support your
stated need, you will greatly enhance your chances of
purchasing right and succeeding in your project.
Importance of teamwork
Business projects which require the implementation of IT
succeed best when they are managed as a shared vision
between the business and their IT people. For people to
share a vision, all parties must accept the responsibility for
success (or failure). Remember that there are many
reasons, other than technology, why a project might fail to
live up to expectations. When embarking on a project which
applies technology, it is worth reaching consensus in the
project team that the real success of the project relies on
teamwork.
The one sure thing that will greatly increase the chances
of success of your next project, which is supported by
technology, is to make sure that both the business and IT
people understand the common objective. Equally, that the
project is being undertaken to achieve specific measurable
business benefit(s) – which justifies the investment – and
that this can only happen with the proper alignment of the
people, the processes and the systems.
In conclusion, the approach you take to implementing
Information Technology can depend on available budgets
and other restrictions in your business. It really is worthwhile
to take a step back and objectively question all aspects of
the implementation. One very important question is:
‘Do I need the ongoing expense of employing and
training my own IT staff, or, can I leverage someone else’s
investment in this area and spend my training budget on
improving my line managers’ approach to and use of
systems which, through their analysis, have been closely
aligned with the needs of your business?’
I know how I would answer this question. How would
you?
John McCarthy is a Director of DWC Consulting:
www.dwc.ie