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Outsourcing Toolkit

Unrest at BBC shows need for better outsourcing management

Gartner Gartner

Published: 23 Aug 2004 12:10 BST

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The BBC may find the union backlash has an adverse effect on the quality of services in the short to medium term. For SBS, the deal may prove to be an expensive way to develop a new market segment, and burden it with the management of a problem workforce.

From a broader perspective, this agreement demonstrates the increasingly exposed position of many internal IT services organisations. Many of them will be subject to "insourcing" -- being spun off as separate entities. Gartner believes that 70 percent of IT insourcing over the next three years will involve three business models. A fifth of internal IT organisations will become joint ventures; 30 percent will turn into brand service companies, and the rest will be fully outsourced or sold to vendors. For many service providers, acquiring a client's internal IT operation in exchange for a long-term outsourcing contract has become an explicit business strategy.

Tactical Guidelines
Organisations considering insourcing should carefully manage their approach. Those considering such deals should:

  • Ensure any insourcing decision is part of a broader sourcing strategy.
  • Engage with unions as stakeholders in any potential outsourcing decision.
  • Manage the internal IT organisation as if it were already an external service provider.
  • Apply contractual and management best practices to the internal IT organisation. This will create a framework for good relationships that can be maintained if the internal IT organisation becomes an outsourced provider.
  • Service providers should:

  • Make the most of any acquisition to strengthen understanding, and focus on selected verticals, processes, countries, and so on.
  • Pay particular attention to potential financial risk. The balance between secure revenue (the outsourcing contract) and new sales (both to the client and the open market) must be managed carefully.
  • Manage human resources (especially unions) early to avoid employment liabilities that could endanger profitability when it is too late to leave the deal.
  • Treat unions as stakeholders in any potential outsourcing agreement. Engage with them early and be consistent.P>

    Key Issues
    What are the key trends, market forces, drivers and inhibitors that are shaping the infrastructure outsourcing market?

     

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