One of the first decisions you must make before proceeding with a deployment is whether to use your own internal IT resources or to outsource the deployment to a skilled and experienced vendor. In many circumstances, and depending upon the scale of the deployment, you may end up doing a combination of both. Some of the factors that may help you make this decision are listed in the next sections. Internal StaffAdvantages to using internal staff for your deployment include the following:
Conversely, utilizing limited internal resources also has several disadvantages. These include but are not limited to the following:
Outsourced ResourcesAn alternative strategy to using internal resources is to retain outside help. Many large enterprises choose to engage an outside vendor either for the complete deployment or to provide additional resources for the implementation phase. Some advantages of using external vendors include the following:
Following are several of the disadvantages:
Of course, many of these disadvantages associated with using external resources, can be mitigated. For example, additional cost of using external resources may be offset by the savings you make by utilizing the vendor's local presence in a large national or international deployment. The time spent to develop and increase the wireless skills of your internal staff may pay dividends later with improved troubleshooting and technical abilities in-house. Security concerns with using external vendors for sensitive network infrastructure projects can be mitigated or entirely addressed by careful management. Carefully consider whether to use in-house or outsourced resources before you start. Many internally resourced deployments have encountered problems only to resort to calling in assistance later, while some outsourced projects have had costs spiral out of control. If you have tasked a program management office (PMO) with the implementation of the WLAN, ensure that the PMO carefully monitors and manages relationships with external vendors, and ensures smooth workflow between all stakeholders and teams. |