As executives well know, the ebbs and flows of growing a business can lead to evolving IT infrastructure requirements. When outsourcing IT infrastructure to a data center colocation, managed hosting and managed services provider, identifying which IT services to outsource and which functions should remain in house is critical.
Smart Business spoke with Don Goodwin, chief revenue officer at Latisys, on how executives can effectively determine which level of IT outsourcing (ITO) would most benefit their organization.
What risks or costs do organizations face when handling IT infrastructure in house?
As companies grow, their IT infrastructure evolves, requiring additional capacity and process efficiencies. The systems and IT infrastructure required to support a company’s operations can quickly exceed available physical space, resources and capabilities provided by the in-house data room or data center. The company might then pursue a path of building additional data center space on site, or place their IT equipment in less secure, less reliable environments within their building — which risks security, reliability and uptime.
In addition to incurring structural and facility-based capital expenses as IT equipment needs increase, companies also must add appropriate staff to monitor and maintain all systems and ensure continuous uptime. They are often specialized for the systems they are hired to manage — and don’t contribute to the core business of the company.
Are there different types of ITO a company can leverage?
There are four ITO profiles enterprises typically align with. The first ITO profile is ‘off-site,’ which refers to a company ready to move its IT infrastructure to a secure, redundant powered ‘off-site’ data center facility. The second profile is ‘off-load,’ whereby a company seeks to ‘off-load’ some or all non-core IT systems and software applications. The third is ‘optimize,’ for companies with requirements for additional infrastructure management along with preserving capital. These companies benefit from access to proven support teams, bundled hardware and software, and a service level agreement for a monthly operating expense instead of incurring the capital outlay and headcount expense. Finally, with the ‘outsource’ ITO profile, a company would seek support for its above-platform applications and turnkey support services, in turn shifting segments of their IT systems, process and/or functions to service providers specializing in managing IT functions on a captive or shared tenant basis.
