SOURCING
CIO Plus’s general assertion on mainstream IT outsourcing, long seen as a tactic of choice for CIOs, is that wholesale outsourcing ought to be one of last resort for an organisation of sufficient critical mass. If an organisation’s IT function and its leadership is good enough, then it should be delivering these services to the organisation itself; and if it’s not then time and resources should be put into making it so. Opting not to outsource can then lead to significant cost savings as the outsourcer’s profit is eliminated, unnecessary interfaces are removed and greater flexibility and control is retained. There is now an emerging realisation that this approach is the correct one to take as more companies choose to Backsource services in order to regain these lost benefits.
However, there are several exceptions to this general principle where outsourcing could definitely be the right solution:
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Partaking of centralised systems and only incurring marginal costs.
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Access to scarce skills. Avoiding large capital intensive investments to free up funds for better use.
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Sharing resources between organisations.
Sharing IT resources between organisations is particularly relevant to the Public Sector where Hospitals, Police, Councils etc... stand to gain substantial benefits in terms of improved service levels and reduced costs.
CIO Plus has built up a sound reputation of delivering a Right-Sourcing strategy. We can advise you of the best way to structure the delivery of IT within your company. Typically, outsourcing contracts last between 5 and 10 years; don’t make the mistake of outsourcing in haste and repenting at leisure. For existing outsourcing deals that are not going according to plan we offer a Relationship Review service where we examine both the supply side and also the demand side of the contract. In any effective outsourcing relationship you need to have a good supplier but you also need to be a good client too.
Our impartial review and advice has resulted in significant step change improvements for our clients. Typically savings are in excess of 50% together with SLA improvements; but these benefits can be further enhanced to circa 70% when combined with the use of Global In House Centres (GICs).
CIO Plus have always advocated an approach to sourcing where any potential outsource deal is measured against a 'bottom up' build based on Best Practice to identify the real benefits of the proposed contract against a 'do it yourself' scenario. This method is unique to us because we have experts from both client and supplier sides of the industry coupled with a proven ability to transition services from underperforming contracts back in house. This experience based approach clearly differentiates us from Sourcing Advisory Companies who typically perpetuate the outsourcing cycle by advocating renegotiation or moving to another supplier.
"Don't forget, if you are Big Enough you should be Good Enough!"
John Berney, Co-Founding Director of CIO Plus
What our clients have said:
"I'm delighted with the outcome that CIO Plus has helped us achieve - there's been a step change improvement in IS performance and a step change reduction in costs and the business perception of IS has improved beyond recognition."
Jon Ozanne, IT Director QinetiQ plc
Case Study - Equiniti
Leading UK Share Registrar
Learn how profits were increased by 15% and SLA performance improved through the use of a GIC coupled with Backsourcing.
View the full case study here.
Case Study - QinetiQ
World Experts in Security and Defence
Learn how significant savings generated by a change in sourcing strategy led to QinetiQ being nominated for 'Turnaround of the Year' in 2012 and the role that CIO Plus played.
View the full case study here.
Case Study - Multi Sourcing in Financial Services
Understand how a FTSE 50 company achieved a material increase to their profitability by adopting a Multi Sourcing strategy and the role that CIO Plus played.
Click here for details.
See which other companies are 'Big Enough' to handle their own IT and have taken out-source contracts back in house.
Click here to see the full list and read the reasons why.
Relevant Collateral
Please Register to access our latest White Papers on Relationship Review, GICs and Backsourcing or download our presentation IT Sourcing Strategy explaining the CIO Plus mantra "If you are big enough you should be good enough" which demystifies the approach to outsourcing.