New Approaches to Staffing the IT Function Your Corporation

Outsourcing Solutions “… Outsourcing, as a business strategy and a relationship model, has evolved during the past decade to become a dominant force in enterprises' IT strategies... Growing recognition of the imperatives to align IT and business strategy has been a significant driver for the adoption of a "business-focused" approach to IT -- and, thus, outsourcing strategies… outsourcing has gained a broader foothold in some organizations to encompass the responsibility for the underlying IT-enabled business processes and even business outcome…” -Gartner

Partnership Solutions Many corporations enter strategic partnerships to leverage core strengths and enter new markets. Relationships are formed in which organizations compliment each other’s capabilities and achieve outcomes that were previously not possible.

Strategic Solutions Strategic outsourcing is gaining strength in the marketplace. More and more companies are looking at the activities that add value to what they provide to their external customer and where they need to focus their limited resources to make sure they make a difference.”

Sourcing Resources Employees Consultants Contractors Outsourcing ASPs ?

Employee Candidates +More readily available +Skills & expertise levels higher +Seeking security -Harder to eliminate if “bad fit”

Contractors vs. Consultants Is there a difference ?

Uncommon Solutions Consultants Provide guidance – technical or management Hired for discrete task or project Leave at end of task or project Examples: –System integrator –Internet security certifier

Uncommon Solutions Consultants Contractors Provide guidance – technical or management Hired for discrete task or project Leave at end of task or project Examples: –System Integrator –Internet Security Certifier Perform job defined by firm Hired to perform a specific task or role over time Can be hired Examples: –System Administrators –Trainers

Consultants & Contractors Engaged when… –Duration of need is limited –Requisite skills don’t exist in-house –Required manpower doesn’t exist internally

Using Contractors Benefits: –Provides quick way to staff functions –Pushes brunt of hiring effort to vendor –Off-loads some personnel management responsibilities –Serves as good source for hiring employees (“Try before you buy”) –Option during hiring freeze

Uncommon Solutions Outsourcing Growth is projected to be high in next 3 years, especially as organizations seek to increase operating efficiency

Reasons to Outsource Opportunity to control costs Gartner “On an apples-to-apples, service-level-to- service-level basis for typical IT services, an efficient IS organization will show costs less than that of an outsourced price by 20 percent or more.”

Quality Management We at Uncommon Solutions consider project management to be one of our company’s strong points. We have a Software Engineering Process Group (SEPG) looking into the quality process on a regular basis The Quality Process in Uncommon Solutions ensures to deliver products, which meet customer needs deliver these products within specified timeframes make teamwork more effective deal with changing customer requirements raise the quality of the products Project Management Team All our project managers and team leaders have strong development backgrounds and comprehensive knowledge of modern software technologies. Their wide experience allows them to make prompt and sound decisions. Quality Process Though the quality processes at Uncommon Solutions are assessed at ISO 9001:2000, we have adopted the SEI Software Capability Maturity Model (CMM) as a framework for continuous software-development-process improvement. Uncommon Solutions has a definite road map to achieve CMM Level 4 by the end of the year.

Quality Goals Anticipate and meet customer needs and exceed their expectations Relentlessly improve how we work—to deliver the world's best software solutions, faster and more cost- effectively than our competitors Lower cost of ownership, involving systems that avoid cost overruns, are more maintainable, and easer to apt over time to changing corporate needs On-time delivery, avoiding the unplanned use of resources Meeting service level requirements

Uncommon Solutions Outsourcing Drivers 1. Access to Critical IT Skills 2. Quality of Service 3. Scalability 4. Focus on Core Competencies 5. Capacity on Demand 6. Cost Savings

Outsourcing Drivers 1)Complex and evolving Federal, State and Local regulatory compliances. 2)Increasing demand of IT service availability. 3)Convergence of IP services such as Identity and Access management. 4)Expanding Internet threats such as viruses and Spyware / malware.

Clarify reasons for Outsourcing Identify and commit stakeholders Develop Outsourcing objectives and strategy Perform Cost- Benefit analysis Define project plan Develop requirements‘ specification Evaluation of long list Conduct RFQ process Develop short list Find „Best Fit“ Outsourcing partner Negotiate and finalise contracts Define new processes Develop detailed specification for Outsourcing Define and implement SLAs and Service Level Management Prepare organisation for new processes Implement new processes Manage Outsourcing Partner Control Service Level Agreements Decide on upgrades/functional extensions Investment decisions Evaluate results with respect to initial objectives Evaluate planned vs. actual cost Review objectives Review/re-negotiate contracts Extend/maintain/ter minate relationship with OS Operational dimensionStrategic dimension Implemen- tation RunReview Define Outsourci ng strategy Select the Outsourcin g partner Outsourcing typically contains five distinct phases The five phases of Outsourcing It has a strategic as well as an operational dimension with a continuous feedback loop

The Outsourcing strategy is a dynamic process continuously adapting to changing requirements and searching the best partner for a particular issue The strategic decisions regarding Outsourcing are typically done by the IT sstrategy department The Outsourcing Strategy must deal with all aspects of Outsourcing as well as the components to be outsourced The selection of components to be outsourced should be one-by-one based on a business case for each one, i.e. networks, help desk, applications, processes Selecting the Outsourcing partner must be a process which aims at continuously evaluating the existing and/or new partners Strategic dimension Define Outsourci ng strategy Select the Outsourcin g partner The strategic dimension of Outsourcing

The selection of components to be outsourced should be done one-by-one based on a business case for each step Degree of business influence Economical potential Component C Component D Component B Component A The strategic decisions regarding Outsourcing are typically done by the IT Strategy department The Outsourcing Strategy must deal with all aspects of Outsourcing as well as the components to be outsourced Selecting the Outsourcing partner must be a process which aims at continuously evaluating the existing and/or new partners The decision for components to be outsourced

The operational dimension of Outsourcing The operational dimension of Outsourcing is typically done by a project or delegates of the line organisation For each Outsourcing initiative a Service Level Management must be set up involving all concerned parties Careful preparation of the organisation for the new processes is crucial The review process must be a periodic task whereby the Outsourcing results are evaluated against the initial objectives and fed back to the IT Strategy department Operational dimension Implement ation RunReview Implementing an Outsourcing initiative requires careful management. Review results must be fed back to the IT Strategy department Feedback into IT Strategy

What Can / Should be Outsourced? Examine technology initiatives re: –Criticality of the service / function –Appropriate skills and expertise among staff –Available/approved staffing levels

What Can / Should be Outsourced? To compare costs, get understanding of current in-house costs of service / function: –Staffing and related issues (training, management, etc.) –Hardware –Software –Space

Watch Out ! “As many as 25% of all outsourcing relationships fail because the client doesn’t clearly communicate its needs, costs exceed expectations, and quality of service is poor.” Dun and Bradstreet