Skills for sale
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- The managed services advantage, April 2003
Outsourcing is not just about containing costs – it's about getting access to the right skills
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“Generally, outsourcers have a pretty good depth of skills,” says John Whitworth, a former CIO and consultant who is now marketing manager at BT Ignite. The larger outsourcers have capacity and expertise in a wide range of areas and can bring in partners for the more specialised skill sets that they don't cover. Because of their size, he says, they can frequently aggregate services from a portfolio of suppliers and shield the cost of managing these contracts - typically between 3% and 7% of the overall deal size - from their customers.
That is not to say that organisations should steer clear of smaller, specialist providers. However, outsourcing consultants such as Morgan Chambers and TPI warn that niche companies should be used on a project-by-project basis. For example, security specialist Aventail produces its own virtual private network system that runs on SSL - a potentially high-risk project that requires highly specific security development and management skills that a larger outsourcer may not be able to provide. Customers can approach Aventail directly, or go through its far larger partner IBM Global Services.
Equally, some specialist outsourcers exist purely to provide and even showcase cutting edge technologies and skills. Microsoft and Accenture together founded Avanade to develop applications based on Microsoft's .Net application development platform. “We often take part in Accenture's outsourcing deals,” says Avanade's VP of strategy, Mick Slattery. “Some companies do have fantastic people, but we have a broad experience of business across the globe and a range of 'premium skills'.”
Finally, one of the greatest challenges of running new technology projects is ensuring they come in on time and within budget. Since outsourcers have to run any number of technology projects concurrently, these are skills they have in abundance.
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