Friday, February 15, 2013

IT Outsourcing Consulting: Your Guide to Project Success

Outsourcing

IT outsourcing has become a popular and effective method due to the significant reduction in time needed for project completion, as well as providing companies with direct access to world-class IT resources, skills and experience. But to ensure your company receives all the benefits of an IT outsourcing experience, it`s necessary to consider the possible hidden risks.

The IT Outsourcing Boom

Today, it seems like IT outsourcing is at the peak of its popularity. The results of a recent survey of ?The State of IT Outsourcing? conducted by Bluewolf indicated that an average company spends about 10%-25% of its budget on IT outsourcing. In addition, 32% of the respondents said they plan to increase their IT outsourcing budgets in 2013.?

Even though cost reduction continues to be an important factor for IT outsourcing, the reason why a growing number of companies throughout the world choose to outsource is more complex. IT outsourcing has become a popular and effective method due to the significant reduction in time-to-market, as well as providing companies with direct access to world-class IT resources, skills and experience.

Cliff Justice, a partner in KPMG?s Shared Services and Outsourcing Advisory, recently stated in his report titled ?The Death of Outsourcing,? that since 2006 companies have started moving ?from outsourcing as a commodity that?s very price-focused to a service that?s much more value-oriented?. Meaning, companies worldwide are moving from task or issue-oriented engagements to an ?extended global enterprise? ? thus shifting to integration with service providers and managing this integration in a way that achieves business goals.

Why the Need for Shift in Outsourcing Relationships?

In order to minimize any potential project risks both the client and the service provider should be experienced in starting offshore projects. They should also be familiar with industry best practices, as well as have full visibility into both the client`s and service provider`s environments.

But this is usually not the case.

An average company (especially if it?s a technology-enabled company, not an ISV) planning to outsource has no experience in offshore project management or a set of processes to govern outsourcing relationship. As a result, these companies mainly focus on the delivery phase of the outsourcing lifecycle and ongoing operations, with a special emphasis on scope and specifications, development and system environment aspects. However, the ?hidden depths? of an IT outsourcing relationship are usually overlooked ? like project planning, expectations, communication, standards and many more. Sooner or later in the project they`ll have to be addressed, but leaving them unmanaged until the end of a project may lead to missing deadlines, lost revenue and damaging the relationship of potential customers.

Mitigating the Hidden Risks

In order to ensure your company receives all the benefits of an IT outsourcing experience, it`s necessary to consider the hidden risks listed above. When choosing an outsourcing provider, remember: a reliable software development and quality assurance provider always starts with considering the product quality aspects at the very beginning of a project.

Source: http://www.executivebrief.com/outsourcing/it-outsourcing-consulting-success/

prometheus grand canyon skywalk tonga pid corned beef hash the walking dead season 2 finale born free

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.