Progent's Outsourcing Model
Progent has developed a dynamic outsourcing model that helps small companies solve their two biggest IT problems: cost containment and access to skilled personnel. Better yet, the model is based on continuous knowledge transfer from Progent to the client’s in-house staff so that advanced technology can quickly become a core competency.

Progent focuses on Microsoft .NET enterprise servers, Internet-based wide area networking, virtual office technology, BackOffice, and service-driven help desks. These are all fields that are evolving too fast even for big companies to keep up. Progent’s president Les Kent compares the firm's outsourcing model to the technique of drafting in team racing where the leader breaks down air resistance for a teammate. "We've geared up to provide access to people who operate at the cutting edge," says Kent. "Our staff consultants can absorb new technology quickly and use it to deliver solutions. By continually transferring knowledge and best practices to our clients, we enable them to keep up with the accelerating pace of information technology without exhausting their resources."

Of course, for this to work requires that Progent and its clients stay closely in sync. This means breaking through the fundamental tension between client and consultant. "Everybody has seen bad consulting relationships," observes Kent. "The client's in-house staff naturally tries to protect their turf, and the consultant tries to create dependencies by being stingy with information. It's the old story of Not Invented Here vs. Job Security. When you've got two organizations pulling in different directions, you rarely end up where you're supposed to be headed."

The key to Progent’s outsourcing model is that it keeps Progent's business goals in sync with the goals and needs of clients. "We invest heavily in our intellectual assets and information infrastructure," says Kent. "We recruit highly skilled and motivated people, provide them with what's probably the world's most sophisticated virtual office infrastructure, organize advanced and often custom tailored training from the major vendors, and offer lots of mechanisms that allow our entire staff to share information and experiences." The purpose of all this investment is to help Progent deliver its basic products: best IT practices, high value services, and knowledge transfer. This in turn allows Progent to satisfy its clients' primary motives for outsourcing: save time and money, access expertise, and enhance core in-house IT skills.

How Best Pracrices Save Time and Money
When clients are determining IT strategies or making decisions about system architecture, Progent’s diverse experience brings a broader perspective than the in-house IT staff of a small business is likely to have. This perspective is further enhanced by the fact that Progent often acts as a testing ground for new technologies. All of this experience helps to counteract the tendency customers may have to develop tunnel vision in their IT strategies. The old familiar bromides and rules of thumb are often inapplicable to new IT paradigms such as the virtual office, web-based applications, and centrally managed network resources. Without expert guidance, it's easy for early adopters to become early casualties.

With many companies, attempts to pilot or deploy advanced technologies fail because of immature or non-existent infrastructure for support and education — not because of some basic flaw in the technology itself. Because Progent is frequently called upon for piloting and implementing leading-edge technologies, Progent’s consultants have developed proven methodologies and best practices to assure success. Clients get where they want to go faster, and avoid the costly scenario of spending significant amounts of time and money only to end up where they started.

One way Progent can stay sensitive to the needs of a small company is that Progent is a small company that use the IT technology it consults on. Progent invests significantly in Microsoft technology in order to run its own business efficiently. Progent currently have has 10 Windows 2000 Server computers that provide e-mail, PBX/voice mail, Voice Over IP gateway support, help desk management and tracking, client billing and service reporting system, accounting, Internet firewall, tape backup, VPN and modem remote access, and file/print sharing services.

Progent also takes advantage of a state-of-the-art virtual office infrastructure that allows consultants to respond quickly to problems and to marshal the resources required to find solutions. Because Progent has an inside track with many vendors, Progent's staff has access to early beta software, special training on leading-edge technologies, and special support programs. This advantage is passed on to Progent’s clients, who can use Progent’s expertise to avoid being blindsided by new technology.

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If you are interested in using Progent's outsourcing, consulting or support services, call 800-993-9400 or send email to information@progent.com

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).