| Outsourcing provides an excellent means of buying-in | | | | to work with your IT infrastructure and existing team? |
| expertise and services which also frees management | | | | Do they have the underlying philosophy and mentality |
| from diversionary issues and allows them to focus on | | | | to educate and transfer knowledge and skills to your |
| doing what they do best - running the business and | | | | existing team? |
| making profits. This said, there are several issues | | | | Support |
| connected with outsourcing, not least trust, ability to | | | | Christmas Eve at 11.59pm is a perfectly good time to |
| deliver, reliability and overall business considerations | | | | discover you have a trusted provider with a service |
| including value-for-money. | | | | standard which delivers what you need - it is not the |
| Selecting a trusted solution provider should be a | | | | time to discover the support standard is not worth the |
| pain-staking process because getting the decision right | | | | paper it's printed on! No time is ever the right time |
| saves money, improves competitiveness and frees | | | | under those circumstances! |
| business management to pursue profitable avenues. | | | | The support services are the real-acid test of any |
| Assess the Solution Provider's Business Profile | | | | trusted provider you choose to outsource work to, and |
| Before you short-list a solution provider ask the | | | | how they respond to support requests is something |
| obvious questions - how long have they been in | | | | you want to get to the bottom of very quickly. You |
| business; what is their relative position in the | | | | also should not restrict your enquiries to system |
| marketplace; what is their client base? | | | | related events, but look at how well the provider has |
| You should be especially interested in whether or not | | | | handled new installations and migrations. Existing clients |
| they have a demonstrable track record in delivering | | | | are a good source of this information, so never pass |
| tangible benefits from the projects they have | | | | up the opportunity to speak to them or perform a site |
| undertaken and the financial strength to continue to | | | | visit with them. |
| support their existing and new customers. Project | | | | Value for Money: Cost |
| implementation is usually a minor part of an overall | | | | Cost is an obvious factor, however it is by no means |
| project - ongoing support issues will be the | | | | the most important - what is more important is |
| fundamental insurance policy customers will have to | | | | value-for-money. A trusted provider who costs you |
| ensure the solution delivers the envisaged benefits to | | | | more in terms of their fees, may be a better option |
| the business over time. | | | | than a cheaper competitor because they have access |
| Once you have established the basics, you should | | | | to better software licensing deals or don't try to lock |
| move on to assess how the potential provider will be | | | | you in to solution re-buy arrangements after a period |
| able to work with your own core platform and assets. | | | | of time. Money is obviously an issue for everyone, but |
| How flexible will they be in working with your existing | | | | you must place it in the context of cost-benefit from |
| infrastructure? Do they have the prerequisite skill sets | | | | engaging their services and not from their bill alone. |