What's the best support model - 2021 (In-source / outsourced / hybrid)
Has COVID-19 changed preferences for IT delivery models?
Back in 2019, we posted an article about various IT delivery models and how to decide which one is right for your business. We looked at the pros and cons of an in-sourced IT team, an outsourced IT team and a hybrid model. Given the challenges faced by businesses globally in the past couple of years, we wanted to revisit this conversation and take a look how things have changed in these since COVID-19.
Ultimately, in our experience, we’ve found that the pandemic hasn’t necessarily led to an acceleration in the trend or a big change in terms of preferencing an internal IT teams versus outsourcing. We’ve found that what has changed, more than anything, are expectations. People are expecting even higher service quality from their IT teams. The two key areas we’re seeing this are general service levels from the service desk and strategic advice that is aligned to business goals.
Executives are realising more and more that technology is more than just a source of efficiency – it plays a significant strategic role in the overall business. Increasingly, the role of an IT team is less about managing the core infrastructure of your business and more about helping your business achieve its goals. Your IT team needs to be focused on delivering business objectives through innovation and technology enablement, and the CIO, in particular, needs to have greater involvement in executive decision-making from the get-go.
Additionally, the pandemic has caused businesses in all industries to adapt and innovate faster than they’ve ever had to before. With digitalisation occurring at an unprecedented rate, IT teams are expected to deliver better and faster service, and be able to implement solutions that allow businesses to meet new demands such as innovative online services for customers and seamless remote working for employees. As a result, there is a need for businesses to use more advanced technologies with a broader range of technology talent to be able to meet these changing expectations.
Accordingly, when you’re deciding on an IT strategy and delivery model, the original pros and cons we discussed still stand, however, there are certain things you need to take into account that might not have been top priorities two years ago. For instance, in the COVID-19 landscape, you might want to more thoroughly consider which model best delivers on:
Growth. In our new normal, rapid change and consistent growth is critical. This means, now more than ever, simply managing technology is not enough. Digital strategies and corporate strategies need to be one and the same. Which model will help you achieve both sustained and accelerated growth?
Agility and scalability. Another important consideration is which model will help you best manage volatility. Will your internal IT team, an outsourced team or a combination of both help you not only maintain, upgrade and support your IT systems but allow you to stay competitive by rapidly responding to changes in market trends and customer expectations? Changing needs and ongoing uncertainty mean you need to be ready to upscale or downscale as the need arises in order to maintain operational and cost efficiencies. Outsourcing offers flexibility and agility which may allow you to more readily scale your IT operations than a purely internal team.
Insight and access to the latest technologies. A recent McKinsey study found that the companies who have been most successful during the pandemic have a diverse talent pool, are using cutting-edge technologies and were among the first in their industries to experiment with new digital technologies. Does your company have the time, capacity and resources to build and manage an internal team with the right skills and insight to implement advanced technologies? Or would you be better off working with an external team who are already equipped with an advanced technology toolkit and a broad global talent pool and are invested in staying ahead of trends?
Remote working capabilities. Many are predicting that remote working will become a normal part of life moving forwards and an expectation of employees in many industries. Accordingly, your IT delivery model needs to have the ability to effectively address the associated issues of the modern remote workforce and be able to continuously support ongoing needs. For a business to ensure remote working is operating efficiently, teams need to have access to the same systems and data they would have in the office. When deciding on your delivery model, consider which will have the best insights into systems, structures and best practices that will allow for higher productivity off the bat. Additionally, consider which will best allow you to assess and define governance and control structures as well as deal with any major threats that may arise as result of multiple remote environments.
Security. On a related note, COVID-19’s challenges, remote work and rapid digitalisation has led to increased security risks and therefore the need for heightened security. Which delivery model will be most adept at ensuring your current IT infrastructure can be adapted for optimal security, that security is consistently maintained, and that your business is ready to deal with unpredictable threats?
Cost efficiencies. To avoid unnecessary expenditure on an ongoing basis, consider which delivery model will enable you to identify which systems are no longer beneficial to the running of your business as things continue to change. Which model will consolidate existing systems and leverage new technologies as quickly as possible?
As we said in our original article, no two businesses are the same, which means there’s no single answer when it comes to questioning which delivery model is the best option. Ultimately, whether you are choosing an internal or external IT team or a mixture of both, you want to make sure you are working with IT partners who are genuinely invested in helping you succeed in our rapidly changing world. If you’d like to chat about delivery models and which might be the best fit for you, don’t hesitate to get in touch.