Key Risks to consider when Outsourcing your Network Services: #2 Retain Key Roles In-Sourced.
Retain key decision making roles within direct control of your Enterprise.
Some roles are best suited for in-sourcing.
Your level 1 and 2 Technician and Engineer roles can readily be replaced with outsourced resources or automated tools.
However, the Architect and Level-3 Engineer roles will provide the best value to the Enterprise when in-sourced. Ideally, these roles should be able to decouple the outsource supplier from the Enterprise if necessary.
Architecture:
Key design and strategy decisions require a resource that can freely interface with all Enterprise lines of business. It is critical the Architect be free from outsource supplier interference and constraints when making key decisions for the Enterprise.
Level-3 Engineering:
The network engineering labor provided with managed network services will often perform simply as "keyboard jockeys", limiting request fulfillment to tasks no more complex that enabling an interface. Your senior engineer acts as a stakeholder for design & strategy decisions and will fulfill more complex engineering tasks, free from constraints of the outsource supplier.
Key Architect & Engineer Role Capabilities.
Communicate freely with Enterprise lines of business.
Make strategic design decisions free from constraints or influence of outsource suppliers.
Free to assist with Problem or Incident Management activities, on demand as required by the Enterprise.
Long-term career investment in the Enterprise as an employee, not as a 3rd party serving an "account".
Ensure key "knowledge" is retained within the Enterprise, and leverage that knowledge to support Services through all stages of the IT Service Management (ITSM) life-cycle.
Drive outsource suppliers to innovate, deliver services that meet industry best-practices and provide value to the Enterprise.
Challenges:
Your outsourcing supplier, driven by price pressure, will likely lead with off-the-shelf service management offerings. Whilst these offerings may present great value per the Service Level Agreements (SLA), they often lack any Architect or Senior Engineer services.
Allowing your outsource supplier to fulfill these roles can lead to a conflict of interest, with the Architect /Engineer serving the outsource suppliers best interest, rather than that of the Enterprise.
Risks:
If these roles are dropped from IT Service management (ITSM), expect significant disruption to services in all phases of the ITSM lifecycle.
Having the outsource supplier fill these roles can lead to project schedule and Incident/Problem Management delays due to complex outsource supplier "rules of engagement".
Design and strategy decisions may be influenced by the contract term and constrained by existing outsource supplier offerings, reducing the agility of the network services portfolio.
Mitigation:
Ideally, the Architect and Senior Engineer role should be retained in-source. Otherwise, ensure these roles are explicitly written into the outsource package, with the resources reporting directly to the Enterprise.
Next-> #3 Know Your Resource Types.
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