

Running a small company using outsourced IT services - ilamont
http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/03/26/running-company-using-outsourced-it-services

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earle
Running a decentralized workforce in the 90s was not viable for most people
for obvious reasons. Today, tools are better, and more widely available, but
more importantly the overall demographic of the technical workforce has
improved by orders of magnitude. This is the foundation of why outsourcing is
able to be an attractive (and more importantly viable) solution.

In the 1990s finding competent well rounded developers was throwing darts at a
board. With the advent of modern frameworks and standards, and the increase in
global capacity for technology development, outsourcing now makes a lot of
sense, for a lot of people.

(article should have mentioned online collaboration specifically as well).

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ten-seven
I wish my former employer was willing outsource services. While the customer
base grew from two to twenty, the staff size trippled, the IT staff eventually
doubled.

It takes strategy and vision to outsource and manage the IT house. But, you've
got to hold on to somebody to run the outsourced IT shop and hold them to your
standards and keep them on your strategic course. An IT project manager of
sorts.

And while it takes money (expense instead of payroll and training), be
prepared to spend it. IT isn't something you try to afford, it's something you
can't afford not to do right.

If you find yourself working in an IT shop where every smart solution (keeping
to the strategy) is too expensive, look around and consider getting out.
They're on the path to bungle it.

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erickhill
I still find it is a double-edged sword. It totally depends on the company you
hire. Plus, the time-zone differences with, say, working with folks in India
vs. working with folks in Canada is important. It all boils down to
competency, execution, and communication. In some cases, it has worked very
well for me. In others, it has been horribly bad. It's still a gamble today,
as far as I'm concerned.

