"IT outsourcing" means hiring somebody outside your company to provide IT services. Outsourcing is most common for companies whose IT needs are well known in advance. IT outsourcing can also mean hiring someone to be your IT department. Such a partner must have people who can work closely with your staff to understand your unique business problems so that you can deliver, implement, and service unique solutions.

Top Five Strategic Reasons For Outsourcing

Improve Business Focus Outsourcing
this allows companies to focus on broader business issues while having operational details assumed by an outside expert. For many companies, the single most compelling reason for outsourcing is that several of the ‘how type’ issues are siphoning off huge amounts of resources and attention from management.

Gain Access To World Class Capabilities
By the very nature of their specialisation, outsourcing providers bring extensive world- class resources to meeting the needs of their customers. Partnering with an organization with world-class capabilities can offer access to new technology, tools and techniques that the organization may not currently possess; more structured methodologies, procedures and documentation; and a competitive advantage through expanded skills.

Accelerate Benefits of Reengineering
Outsourcing is often a by-product of another powerful management tool; business process reengineering. It allows an organization to immediately realize the benefits of reengineering by having an outside organization that is already reengineered to world-class standards/procedures.

Sharing the Risks
There are tremendous risks associated with the investments an organization makes in information technology. When companies outsource they become more flexible, more dynamic and better able to change themselves to meet changing opportunities.

Redirect IS Resources To More Strategic Activities
Every organization has resource limits. Outsourcing permits the redirection of resources from non-core activities toward activities that provide a greater return in serving the customer.

 

Top Five Tactical Reason For Outsourcing

One Off Applications
Applications that need to be developed or modified for a specified time require high manpower. To facilitate this, the organizations need to ramp up / ramp down in a relatively short time, this in-turn, is expensive and for this reason outsourcing is the best solution. For eg. Y2k, Euro, porting from one-platform to another etc.

Reduce Or Control Operating Cost
The single most important tactical reason for outsourcing is to reduce or control operating costs. Access to an outside provider's lower cost structure is one of the most compelling short-term benefits of outsourcing. In a recent outsourcing Institute survey, companies reported that on average they experienced a 9% reduction in costs through outsourcing.

Make Capital Funds Available
Outsourcing reduces the need to invest capital funds in non-core business functions. This makes capital funds more available for core areas. Outsourcing can also improve certain financial measurements by eliminating the need to show return on equity from capital investments in non-core areas.

Generate A Cash Infusion
Outsourcing can involve the transfer of assets from the customer to the provider. Equipment, facilities, vehicles and licenses used in current operations all have a value and are, in effect, sold to the provider as part of the transaction, resulting in a cash infusion

Secure Resources Not Available Internally
Companies outsource because they do not have access to the required resources within the organization. For example, if an organization is expanding its operations, especially into a new geography, outsourcing is a viable and it is an important alternative to building the needed capability from the ground up.