If you’re in IT, you actually could have a place at the table for many of the outsourcing-related decisions your company makes. That’s the point of "Putting IT in the Director’s Chair," an article by Leon Erlanger, that appeared in the February 27, 2006 issue of InfoWorld.
Erlanger points out that tech folks have many fine qualities, experiences and skills that make them a boon in business process outsourcing decisions. For one, they understand the impact that new technology-enabled systems can have on the technical infrastructure of the company. They’re also accustomed to sifting through the facts and fables when choosing a vendor, which comes in mightily handy when selecting a service provider. Of course, we can’t forget that IT people are typically the smartest folks around when it comes to the security or data privacy implications of certain kinds of outsourcing decisions. Plus, when contract negotiation time comes, a smart IT team can make sure that the seams — those places where internal resources and service provider resources meet — won’t come apart. And nobody understands the meat of an SLA like your friendly IT director.
In fact, Erlanger provides a list of activities where IT can play a role in BPO.
You’ll have to register for free on IDG’s network to get this article in PDF form, but it’s worth the hassle.
(Make sure to read the sidebar, "Dealing with Layoff Jitters." We’ve covered it on this site before, but honesty really is the best policy.)
