11.6 Outsourcing for Management Simplicity

With a storage domain management framework in place and the appropriate set of policies implemented to maintain ongoing administration, IT managers can decide whether outsourcing makes sense for their organization. Outsourcing has long been used in the business community, both as a means to achieve lower costs for services and, more importantly, as a means to leave management attention free to focus on competitive differentiation.

Referring back to our discussion of core and context, IT professionals would be well served to consider the questions outlined in Figure 11-11. The answers to these questions will help determine if outsourcing portions of the storage domain, such as backup and recovery functions, will provide the IT team with time to focus on core -enhancing functions.

Figure 11-11. Considerations for outsourcing. (Source: The Chasm Group)

If the answer to both of these questions is yes, then outsourcing will likely make sense. However, there is a distinct possibility that a series of questions such as these could lead to outsourcing as well as elimination of resources within the IT department. Travel this road of exploration appropriately.

Justifying the outsourcing decision requires a careful look at labor, capital, utilization, and opportunity. A simple calculation will typically weigh the cost of labor and capital. The guiding principle is that an outsourcing firm will be able to provide services across a wide customer base at a lower cost than any single customer could do individually. Therefore, weighing labor and capital into the equation typically justify the effort. However, the opportunity component, specifically the time, talent, and management attention that can be refocused on core-enhancing opportunities, is where the real returns lie, as shown in Figure 11-12.

Figure 11-12. Outsourcing- related costs and opportunities. (Source: The Chasm Group)