Is Outsourcing the Right Thing to do?
Despite the anti outsourcing backlash, benefits from outsourcing are very tangible. The very fabric of American success lies in opportunity and innovation, making it very difficult for anyone or anything to paralyze its workers or its economy. It does not matter to which industry an enterprise is in, outsourcing can bring tremendous benefits to any type of business.
Every minute your employees spend on an activity that does not directly add value to your enterprise's business strategy is a cost that can be saved.
CIOs must analyze their organizations' needs and find out if their businesses can outsource. Questions that need to be asked and answered are:
- Is the enterprise finding it difficult to meet its customer needs?
- Does the enterprise want to maximize its impact in the marketplace?
- Does the enterprise's IT function have managers who are not sure about what makes and what loses money?
- Is the enterprise experiencing constant challenges based on operational issues?
- Does enterprise lack the expertise to survive and grow?
- Does the enterprise have important nonrecurring project requirements but no resources to handle them?
If the answer is 'yes' to more than one question, then outsourcing may be in order for the enterprise. Outsourcing can help CIOs to efficiently deal with the challenges of today's business climate. Outsourcing can help you to meet your customer needs on time, increase market presence, make the right decisions about product lines, overcome operational challenges, get access to expert services and benefit from professional resources who can competently handle your projects.
Some of the benefits of outsourcing are:
- Better performance and management
- Process maturity and scalability
- Efficiency and productivity
- Reduced capital and labor costs
- Operational efficiencies without capital investment
- Professional and skilled services Improved processes bring about improved customer satisfaction
- Gain a competitive edge with sophisticated technology and people
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Record Management
Current Rules and Regulations Regarding the Protection and Destruction of Confidential and Sensitive Documents require that any person or company that possesses or maintains such information to take reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to, or use of the information in connection with its disposal. In addition Sarbanes-Oxley requires that records be retained for all audits and legal proceedings.
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Economic realities drive CIOs to get the basics working better
In many enterprises, CIOs are perceived as mere technology managers, while in reality they should be viewed as business leaders. The CIO's focus should be on reducing costs and improving profitability through the strategic usage of IT. It is very important for the Information Technology organization to get out of a transactional mode. If the CIO has the right infrastructure in place, then the CIO can help in directing the strategy of the enterprise, and even shape its destiny. The CIO brings his own perspective, and without IT, you cannot build a robust and business.
With the explosion of technology into every facet of the day-to-day business environment there is a need to define an effective infrastructure to support operating environment; have a strategy for the deployment and technology; and clearly define responsibilities and accountabilities for the use and application of technology. The CIO Infrastructure Tool Kit is comprised of a collection of Janco products that CIOs and Directors' of IT can use to create a strategy and manage in the ever changing business environment.
The CIO Infrastructure Tool Kit versions each contain some of essential tools that your enterprise needs as it creates budgets and sets priorities. The bundles include the IT Infrastructure, Strategy and Charter Template, Janco's latest IT salary data, the Business Impact and Application Questionnaire, Service Level Policy Template with sample metrics, Functional Specification Template, and the Practical Guide for IT Outsourcing.
