Outsourcing IT: A Governance Guide

Outsourcing IT: A guide to avoiding the many pitfalls.

This book will provide you with clear criteria for the application of governance principles to the outsourcing process, and thereby enable you to implement IT outsourcing so that it supports your overall business goals.

How do you outsource IT for competitive advantage?

Businesses are increasingly choosing to outsource their IT function. The attraction of outsourcing IT is that it enables a company to obtain an efficient and responsive IT system, while at the same time allowing the company to focus on its core strengths.

The current economic climate is also putting companies under increasing pressure to find new ways of cutting costs. However, all too often IT outsourcing projects fail because companies have not applied appropriate  governance processes to the project.

As Rupert Kendrick argues in this ground-breaking book, to regard outsourcing IT as a panacea for all ills would be a fatal underestimation of the complexity of the process. The IT function is nearly always a business-critical operation. This means that outsourcing IT will give a  supplier control over a function that is  vital to your organization’s survival and success.

This book offers you a guide to the many pitfalls of IT outsourcing. It will provide you with clear criteria for the application of governance principles to the outsourcing process, and thereby enable you to implement IT outsourcing so that it supports your overall business goals.

Outsourcing IT – a Governance Guide will help you: :

• Make a better IT outsourcing decision. Before you make the decision to outsource, you need to have a clear understanding of what the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing IT actually are.   Get the expert advice you need to help you understand whether outsourcing IT will really be suited to your business.
• Assess, manage and control IT outsourcing risk. Outsourcing IT exposes your business to significant risks, such as business performance risks, legal and compliance risks, and financial risks. Find out how to identify the risks associated with outsourcing IT, and to deal with them.
• Build win-win relationships with your suppliers. If you are outsourcing your IT, it is vital to carry out proper due diligence before you choose a supplier. You also need to make sure that right from the beginning both you and your supplier have a solid understanding of IT governance issues such as data security.  Use this book to lay the foundations for a successful relationship with your supplier.
• Outsource for competitive advantage. When you outsource your IT, you will need to find a solution that will support your broader business goals.  And without proper governance of the outsourcing process, outsourced IT could easily damage your business.   If you want outsourcing your IT to be a cost-effective solution that will increase your overall competitiveness, this book is essential reading.

As the author comments, “Outsourcing is increasingly seen as a solution, regardless of the fact that, arguably, it presents the board with far more, and far more significant, issues to address. For these reasons, the application of governance principles becomes a vital component of any outsourcing process.”

What others are saying about this book ...

'...This is very much a book for management  both enterprise management and IT management. And, in the light of the outsourcing horror stories we've all heard, some sections (particularly those dealing with due diligence and service level agreements) should be made mandatory reading for anyone considering outsourcing in one form or another.'

Charles Christian, Editor-in-chief, Legal Technology Insider

Outsourcing IT could make or break your business – buy Outsourcing IT – A Governance Guide and ensure that it makes yours!

Rupert Kendrick was for many years a partner in a medium-sized law firm in the Home Counties. He worked for ten years in legal publishing, both as a writer and as an editor. He holds a Master’s degree in Advanced Legal Practice, for which he researched the question of the effect of the Internet on how law firms choose to market themselves.  His earlier book, Managing Cyber-Risks, examines the major risks that law firms need to address when they offer legal advice and information over the Internet. Rupert Kendrick is now a director of the risk management consultancy, Web4Law Ltd, where he offers consulting services, principally on IT issues.

Publisher: IT Governance Publishing

Published date: 26th November 2009