IT Infrastructure: What to outsource?

The more I read and listen about the issues companies face in managing their IT Infrastructure, the more I get convinced that outsourcing IT Infrastructure services is the right thing to do. Last time I talked about my reasons supporting this move in any small or medium corporate.

So the next question arises, what to outsource and what not to?

The answer is simple. Let’s break down IT Infrastructure services into sub-services:
- Monitoring & Support: PC’s, Servers, Middleware, Database, Network & Applications
o Onsite Support, mainly for PCs and mission critical issues
o Remote Support
- Audits: Application Audit, Server Audit, Database Audit, Network Audit, Security Audit
- Consulting: Performance Engineering, Infrastructure Planning and Implementation
- Policies: IT Security, Network Setup, IT Access, IT Asset Management & Control

For each these services, the next step is to check if you answer the following questions as a “YES”:
1. Do you need global experience on a particular service?
2. Do you require 24/7 support for your Systems?
3. Do you need ongoing support?
4. Do you need an unbiased viewpoint?
5. Do you have cost pressures?

And these questions as a “NO”:
1. Do you have time and bandwidth to manage a multi-skill IT team in-house?
2. Do you have in-house knowledge base and expertise?

If that’s the case than you can outsource that particular section/service without any hesitation.

Simple isn’t it?

Ok..so now we know when to outsource your IT infrastructure services and what all to outsource. Next we are going to talk about where and whom to outsource.

“The journey of outsourcing is interesting if it results in value addition”