Progent has produced a white paper that summarizes the benefits a small
business can derive from outsourcing IT services. You can view this
document online or download and print a PDF file.
To view the white paper online, select a section:
To download a PDF file of the complete IT Outsourcing White Paper, click:
Small Business IT Outsourcing White Paper: Outsourcing Advantages
(140 Kb PDF file).
White Paper: Small Business IT Outsourcing, Section 1 of 4
Outsourcing Statistics: A Plan for ALL Seasons
In the year 2000, the Information Technology industry reached an important milestone. For the first time, more than half (54%) of IT services purchased in North America were outsourced. A surprising feature of outsourcing
statistics is that they show that outsourcing's momentum is continuing even after the red-hot economy of the millennium has simmered down. Gartner Group projects that by 2005 outsourcing will represent 59% of IT services.
Enterprises have discovered that it’s always a good time to outsource. As Gartner Group commented in a report published in December, 2001:
During the economic boom, demand for business transformation and scarce IT skills drove outsourcing. The present economic decline has brought cost reduction back to the top of enterprise agendas, and outsourcing can provide this benefit.
Whether it involves designing network infrastructure, setting up a help desk, rolling out a new
email system, or building an on-line business application, outsourcing can contain costs and risks, allowing IT service expenses to grow in a more linear fashion than is possible by building up an all-purpose in-house IT staff.
How Best Practices Save Time and Money
In the same report, Gartner made another interesting prediction: “By 2003, after the economy revives… even small enterprises will tap outsourcers.” It may seem obvious that something that makes such good business sense for big companies should make sense for everybody. In fact, outsourcing can be even more appealing to small businesses, since it gives them access to expertise they couldn’t otherwise afford. But by implying that small businesses will be latecomers to the outsourcing party, Gartner recognizes that the traditional outsourcing model is ill-suited for smaller organizations. As Gartner point out:
A classical outsourcing deal takes, on average, nine months to set up. This simple fact will lead to the decline of classical outsourcing and the rise of new sourcing approaches.
Progent’s model for IT outsourcing is the result of almost two decades of working with small businesses. All outsourcing involves defining and managing risks, evaluating and recommending technology, and understanding the client’s needs as they evolve. As in any healthy outsourcing model, Progent’s approach is based on the core belief that outsourcing is a very special type of business relationship that requires the motives and goals of client and vendor to stay in close sync. But unlike the classical approach, Progent has refined a model for outsourcing that makes it easy for a client to engage Progent’s services quickly, adapt as needed, expand when appropriate, and terminate if necessary. This flexibility addresses a critical difference between large businesses and small ones: small businesses have a much harder time recovering from big mistakes.
End of Section 1
If you are interested in using Progent's outsourcing, consulting or support services, call 800-993-9400 or send email to information@progent.com
