CIO OPINION as the true cost of a service is not only related to the money that is paid for it . scale , which means that , while IT services are key , they do not amount to full-time jobs for each role .
IT services have become critical to business , so the cost of getting them wrong will far outweigh the expense of procuring them .
When it comes to outsourcing there may be concerns over loss of control , particularly when it comes to quality and timing of deliverables , as well as confidentiality and security risks around sensitive data . There may also be communication challenges around using external providers , especially if they speak a different language or are located in another time zone , which can affect outcomes .
In today ’ s world , there is also a growing risk from insider threat , which outsourcing effectively removes – the service provider has a pool of resources delivering a service , and not a single person in a role , which reduces the likelihood of this type of threat . In addition , outsourced service providers will have documented and controlled processes , which enhance business continuity and efficiencies .
South Africa has an undeniable shortage of many core IT skills , which makes resources difficult firstly to find and secondly to retain in-house . Added to this , many local businesses are on the smaller end of the size
The result is often that an IT employee will end up wearing many hats , becoming a generalist over many roles that require specialist skills . There is also a significant risk here for businesses , since if that singular resource moves on to a new role , business continuity can be severely affected .
IT outsourcing has become an effective and costbeneficial model for addressing the skills challenge . Not only do businesses have access to a broad pool of specialised skills , but they pay only for the services they need when they need them . This is because the service is linked to a Service Level Agreement , SLA which guarantees levels , and IT is not tied to a single person , which improves business continuity .
Service providers will also ensure processes are documented so that tasks can be seamlessly handled by members of a team , and SLAs are not affected by leave or illness . Since delivering the service is also the core business of an outsourced provider , they will also ensure they are up to date with skills , enhancing their service delivery .
On the surface , IT outsourcing can appear to be more expensive than hiring an internal resource . However ,
www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA 39