Successful IT Outsourcing

The concept of IT outsourcing has gone past the stage of proving its worth and significance, which is evident from the many scholarly papers that you see from a single search on Google Scholar. Still, you will find that many a times managers complain about failures when they decided to outsource their IT tasks. While there are definitely quite a few factors at play in almost all such cases, one of the most important things is the selection of a good IT service provider. Let’s see how we can do our homework in this regard, to help make outsourcing a profitable experience for us.

First of all, you are actually forming a strategic partnership when you select an application service provider. So you need to think long-term and have to take into account things that your business may go through in the coming few years at least. Selection of a service provider isn’t any less hassle than selection of bright in-house employee. You don’t want to wake up one day to find that your Indian service provider can’t fulfill your needs any longer because he isn’t upgrading his knowledge of the latest technologies. So do you planning and understand where you will be standing one year from now. Then go search for a service provider who will grow his skills with more or less the same pace.

Secondly, it’s essential for you to appreciate the boundaries of your service provider’s responsibilities with respect to yours. This is very vital when you share some of the responsibilities and manage a couple IT tasks in-house or on your own. You need to tell your service provider exactly what you expect from him AND what you don’t expect from him (the latter being easy to forget, almost always). If you pay by the hour and the other guy spends his time on something you didn’t want him to do, you will be the loser at the end of the day. In addition, it is better to have these responsibilities in written somewhere, even if you have them electronically. It is easier to show him that document anytime if you realize he isn’t doing his job as agreed.

Another very important thing is reliability of your IT service provider. If you close a deal with a firm that has invested $50,000 in an offshore set up, then you don’t have to fear them running away with your money or packing their bags anytime soon. Yeah, I know we have our share of Satyam and Madoff, but believe me they aren’t everyday newsmakers. You need to get your hands on qualifications of the staff who will be working on your project. For instance, ask the other party if you can view resume of PHP developer and if you can select the one you want to work on your project. It’s essential to have the ability to communicate with the very people who will be working on your project. And you better get dedicated staff or the developer may give preference to that other higher-paying client if there’s a deadline clash.

Finally, make sure that your selected service provider will be available when you need him and where you need him. Even $100,000 aren’t worth a penny to a dead man when it’s too late.