Solution Provider Logicalis Offers Insider Secrets for
Assessing Your IT Outsourcing Partner
Farmington Hills,
MI, June 29, 2010 – Organizations that
have already gotten their feet wet outsourcing IT services are
leaps ahead of competitors just putting a toe in the water.
Outsourcing extends the reach of enterprise computing environments,
changes the scope of available IT services, and empowers internal
IT staff to focus on more strategic tasks. But how do you know
whether the IT outsourcing partner you’ve tested the waters with is
the one who can help you fully leverage outsourcing to work in your
favor?
To help you assess your outsourcing partner,
Logicalis, an international provider of integrated information and
communications technology (ICT) solutions and services, has
identified key “insider secrets” that you can use as a
benchmark:
1. Make sure you’re expectations are met.
2. Ensure your services are delivered around
best practices.
3. Survey your team.
4. Check your ROI.
“As evolved as technology outsourcing has
become, getting the most for your outsourcing dollar really comes
down to knowing that you have the right outsourcing partner, and
the right service-level agreement to meet your business objectives,
delivered at the right price,” says Mike Alley, Logicalis’ Director
of Outsourcing. “If you don’t have these things, it’s time to
change providers.” To help clients and prospective clients
assess an outsourcing partner, Logicalis’ outsourcing specialists
have provided this insider’s guide.
Insider Secrets for Assessing Your IT
Outsourcing Partner
1. Make sure your expectations are met.
Take a look at your current contract and compare your expectations
with what is being delivered. Are the services really meeting the
end results you were trying to achieve by outsourcing the service?
Many find themselves dissatisfied with the service they are getting
but choose to just live with it. When you find yourself in this
position you need to meet with your provider and determine if it
can adapt and deliver the service you really need. If not, find an
IT outsourcing partner that can.
2. Ensure your services are delivered around best
practices. How do you compare the services being
delivered against the services defined in your contract?
High-quality outsourcing partners deliver their services through IT
service management (ITSM) tools that connect agreed upon
service-level agreements (SLAs) to actual service delivery. If you
find that your current provider is not meeting its SLAs it is time
to dig in and uncover the underlying problem. Processes and
communication are the foundation for outsourcing success. If you
feel this foundation is missing from your current provider it is
time to reevaluate who is performing your services.
3. Survey your team. Your team often
knows how well the relationship with your IT outsourcing partner
is, or is not, working. Get them to provide honest, critical
feedback to help determine whether you’re working with the right
partner or whether you need a new one.
4. Check your ROI. One of the main
reasons for using IT outsourcing in the first place is to reduce
costs and get a clear return on your investment. Is your current IT
outsourcing partner enabling your team to invest time in projects
that provide clear value – and support revenue – for your
organization? If not, you have another reason to reconsider the
relationship.
If you determine that it’s time to move to a
new outsourcing partner, don’t make this critical mistake: “Quite
often, people sign an outsourcing contract and think, ‘Ok, I’m
done.’ In reality, a service provider has to be managed just like
employees do,” explains Logicalis’ Alley. “With outsourcing,
you are going to get out of it what you put into it, so if you are
not communicating with your provider, if you are not informing it
about changes within your company’s business units, don’t expect it
to be able to make recommendations to help you incorporate the
change into your service.”
Logicalis technologists also say if you find
that you need to make a partner change, be prepared to work with
both your current partner and your new partner for a defined
transition period. Of course, the length of time for a
transition varies depending on the complexity of the tasks being
outsourced, but expect between 30 and 60 days.
About Logicalis
Logicalis is an international
provider of integrated information and communications technology
(ICT) solutions and services founded on a superior breadth of
knowledge and expertise in communications and collaboration; data
center optimization; application development and integration; and
outsourcing and managed services.
With its international headquarters in the UK,
Logicalis Group employs over 1,900 people worldwide, including
highly trained service specialists who design, specify, deploy and
manage complex ICT infrastructures to meet the needs of over 6,500
corporate and public sector customers. To achieve this,
Logicalis maintains strong partnerships with technology leaders
such as Cisco, HP, IBM and Microsoft.
The Logicalis Group has annualized revenues in
excess of $1 billion, from operations in the UK, US, Germany, Latin
America and Asia Pacific, and is fast establishing itself as one of
the leading IT and Communications service providers, specializing
in the areas of advanced technologies and services.
The Logicalis Group is a division of Datatec Limited, a $4.2
billion revenue business listed on the Johannesburg and London AIM
Stock Exchanges (LSE/JSE: DTC).
For more information about Logicalis, visit
http://www.us.logicalis.com/.