Dear Outsourcing Expert:
I am looking to modernize our IT infrastructure.  Is there a way to outsource the effort while retaining control?

Laura

Dear Laura;

Every outsourcing engagement is a balance between assignment of risk and retention of control. Consider your team's strengths and limitation, then leverage the vendor who can compliment your current limitations. Don't limit your thinking to an all or nothing strategy. If your strength is engineering with limitations of time, build on the design capabilities of your team. Negotiate with vendors to partner on the design elements where they take on the documentation of your engineers' design followed by implementation of those designs. Often your vendor will see the documentation component as a pre-sales activity that ensures a successful implementation which lowers the overall cost and allows you to maintain control over the design requirements.

Dear Outsourcing Expert;

How important is the RFI, RFP process to selecting the proper outsourcing vendor?

Allison

Dear Allison;

The information gathered through the Request for Information (RFI) or Request for Proposal (RFP) process is only as good as the information you draw from the vendors. The question to ask is how well does your organization know itself and its desired outcomes before you go into the RFI/RFP process? Often times organizations make the mistake of finding outsourcing solution and then look around for problems to solve rather than stepping back and identifying all the business, technical and human drivers that will lead to the selection of the right solution for their situation.