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New Articles
11 July 2008
So You Think you Want to Outsource Your IT?
Outsourcing key information technology (IT) functions is becoming increasingly popular for manufacturing companies, but the ultimate decision of whether to outsource still requires an in-depth evaluation of your in-house IT capabilities, notes Melinda Elmowy, vice president of global marketing for CargoWise edi, a provider of supply chain logistics management systems.
11 July 2008
Outsourcing from mid size IT companies chasing India
Global recession has come as a blessing for Indian IT companies as now mid size US IT companies have started turning towards India for their work. Describing this as a golden opportunity for Indian IT companies, Ashish Bahuguna of Bitscape IT Solutions Company said that now Indian companies had opportunity to get the best of their talent in terms of quantity and rate for their work.
07 July 2008
Outsourcing infrastructure applications for SMBs
The promise of rapid time-to-market combined with lower total cost of ownership continues to drive the adoption of software-as-a-service (SaaS) among small and mid-sized businesses. This on-demand or hosted application model delivers significant benefits through quick adoption, reduced IT costs and increased budget flexibility. Better yet, outsourcing allows staff to focus on business-related initiatives rather than spending valuable energy selecting, implementing, and maintaining complex on-site solutions.
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New Links
26 March 2007
offshoring.fuqua.duke.edu
2006 ORN survey report: Next Generation Offshoring: The Globalization of Innovation.
02 August 2005
e-isn.com
ISN (India Software Network) is a leading IT research and offshore advisory firm, which helps clients, leverage the offshore opportunity in the IT outsourcing process. Since 1998, ISN has taken a lead in outsourcing procurement & since then developed and maintained a network of quality Indian software & BPO outsourcing service providers.
11 July 2005
Oxford BPO Research
The latest news and research on outsourcing and offshoring.
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So You Think you Want to Outsource Your IT?
Posted
on
Friday, July 11, 2008 (EST)
Outsourcing key information technology (IT) functions is becoming increasingly popular for manufacturing companies, but the ultimate decision of whether to outsource still requires an in-depth evaluation of your in-house IT capabilities, notes Melinda Elmowy, vice president of global marketing for CargoWise edi, a provider of supply chain logistics management systems.
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"A company's cultural alignment and cross-departmental communications capabilities, especially as they relate to rapidly advancing technologies, will provide the deciding factors in determining whether it should keep supply chain management systems in-house or outsource them to an expert third party software provider," she advises.
According to Elmowy, companies should consider the following five strategies when deciding whether to outsource their information technology (IT) needs:
- Examine the status of your in-house IT capabilities.
Elmowy suggests companies start by asking, "How state-of-the art is our current IT system?" If your company does not have optimal cross-departmental communications, it probably will not be able to provide the proper in-house operating platform to meet your customers' supply chain requirements, she notes. "You probably need to outsource your IT functions or lose customers." Companies should ask: "How do I remove the risk from IT projects and obtain outcomes that drive the business?"
- Determine your company's commitment to needed capital expenditures.
Information technologies today are dynamic and advancing rapidly. You may find some company cultures simply do not support the type of commitment and budget necessary to provide optimal IT solutions for your customers. If this is the case, Elmowy suggests, you may have no choice but to outsource your IT process to a software provider rather than pay extra to add-on to an outdated legacy system -- which typically is far more expensive than simply outsourcing.
- Evaluate your company's ability to provide in-house training.
"If your in-house tech support is unable to adapt to your growing supply chain needs and provide adequate training for new technologies, you should consider outsourcing your company's logistics data and integrating it with that of a service provider that specializes in customized supply chain solutions," she says.
- Compare IT costs to results.
The fixed costs of building and maintaining a vibrant IT system in-house could be far more costly than outsourcing it to a software provider that is able to offer flexibility in responding to market dynamics, Elmowy advises.
- Understand the true metrics of IT ownership.
"Most companies vastly underestimate the cost of providing in-house IT solutions," she observes. "If you are debating whether to develop or upgrade your in-house IT functions or outsourcing them, you should ask: ‘What is the true total cost of in-house ownership of our IT operation?' Whatever your startup costs are, you can expect them to increase dramatically if you try to enhance your in-house system later with newer technology."
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