EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
HOW SHOULD AFRICAN ENTERPRISE CIOS SELECT AN IT SERVICE OUTSOURCING PARTNER AND WHICH SERVICES SHOULD THEY OUTSOURCE ON A PRIORITY BASIS ?
Top Africa facing executives from HPE , Equinix , Omnix International , Liferay , share their recommendations on how to select an outsourcing partner and benefits and challenges of the decision .
Vendor capabilities , level of agreements , security measures , compatibility , and previous experience of the IT service providers are something CIOs usually keep in mind while selecting their partners . But one thing recommended for CIOs is to consider the evolving market conditions and the impact of global geopolitical developments on the region . Companies need to keep their resources flexible and an eye on their capital expenditures .
Selecting the most suitable IT service outsourcing partner is crucial for enterprises because a wrong choice can adversely impact operations and overall business success . Therefore , CIOs must define their outsourcing objectives and requirements before engaging with an external partner . They need to have a clear overview of what IT services they want to outsource and for how long .
Service level agreement , SLA is another area that CIOs must pay close attention to . It should cover response times , issue resolution , uptime guarantees and performance metrics . They must ensure the partner commits to these SLAs and associated service credits , build these into the contract and confirm that an exit strategy is clear and in place .
The outsourcing partner must have a detailed transition plan and a thorough service improvement plan matching the organisation ’ s IT Strategy . The outsourcing partners must also be able to scale their services to accommodate an organisation ’ s future growth . These metrics must be clearly outlined and tied to the partner ’ s KPIs or metrics of measuring success .
To minimise costs and make efficient use of IT resources for the benefit of business operations , one must select a sustainable solution that helps in reducing capital expenditure and increasing efficiencies at the same time . Sustainable solutions are a priority and should be a priority for every business .
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