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In light of further corporate customer measures and IT departments downsizing,
outsourcing is growing at a steady 6 to 8 percent per year, according to tech consultancy Gartner Inc. As highlighted in an earlier post, IT outsourcing partnerships are not always success stories. According to annual surveys conducted by business information provider Dun & Bradstreet, one in four outsourcing arrangements fails within two years because of unrealistic expectations, the wrong vendor, or poor oversight. Here are six things you can do:
1. Do your homework. Portals such as OutsourcingCentral.com and The Outsourcing Institute (www.outsourcing.com) offer provider directories and information on available services, how to choose a vendor, and how to write a service agreement.
2. Figure out where you need help. According to the Aberdeen Group, a Boston-based IT market analysis firm, 30 percent of all IT outsourcing is for simple help desk support. But you can outsource virtually anything, from basic Web design to enterprise resource planning application maintenance, freeing your technical staff to develop new ways to streamline your business.
3. Consider cost. The range and cost of outsourced services vary widely. Inforonics, a managed services provider based in Littleton, Massachusetts, charges anywhere from $2,000 a month for hosting a simple Web site to $1 million a year for managing a full-blown e-commerce operation.
4. Pick on someone your own size. Find a specialist who is used to dealing with companies your size, and make sure to ask for client referrals. If you're a $5 million business, do you want to go to huge company to manage a couple of departmental Web applications? Probably not.
5. Get it in writing. After you've picked a vendor, you'll want a detailed service agreement that spells out exactly what the outsourcer will provide and at what cost. Include performance goals as well as incentives and penalties for missed goals.
6. Start slowly. Begin with a pilot project and phase in core business functions as you develop trust in your outsourcer.