Prescient Solutions has been providing IT outsourcing services in Chicago and Schaumburg for 20 years, and we want our clients to succeed in their relationship with us. If you’re considering outsourcing your IT services, try to avoid these mistakes that can prevent you from having a positive outsourcing experience.

1. Focusing solely on technology. There are two ways clients focus on technology, and both of them will get in the way of getting the best possible results. The first way is focusing on the IT you currently have in your data center. The second is focusing on new technology that you’re hoping to introduce into your data center. While it’s certainly true that technical expertise is important—we’re proud of all of our certified experts—you’ll probably get better results if you focus on the problems you need solved instead. That allows your IT consultants the room they need to implement the best possible solution for your challenges.
2. Focusing solely on cost. Low-cost services may be a good value, or they may not be. If you hire an outsourcing firm solely based on cost, you may end up having additional costs later due to change fees or having to bring in additional resources. Instead, try to assess value rather than price.
3. Failing to involve your team. You can’t bring in IT consultants, walk away, and expect to have good results. You need your management team to still keep an eye on projects to make sure they’re meeting your business needs. You need a governance and oversight process and periodic reviews of progress are needed to check that things are progressing and to raise any concerns.
4. Failing to plan for the transition. At the start of the contract, you need to transition work to the consultants. This requires making sure they have a good understanding of your environment, applications, and existing processes. There may be prep work involved to set the consultants up with access or to build new systems. Plan ahead so you don’t waste time and aren’t paying the consultants when they can’t be productive. As the contract draws to an end, you’ll want to transfer knowledge in the opposite direction, from the consultants back to your internal staff. Be sure to allocate enough time for this or your team will be unprepared for their responsibility.
5. Viewing the contract as a short-term relationship. When you view the outsourcing work as a short-term solution, the vendor will also view this as a short-term relationship. You’ll get the deliverables that were agreed to, but you won’t get more than that. If you view the relationship with the consulting firm as an ongoing relationship, the vendor will return the feeling. They’ll have the time to partner with you to learn your business in depth and take a strategic approach to solving problems rather than implementing the most obvious short-term fix.

Contact Prescient Solutions to learn more about our IT outsourcing services and how you can work successfully with your IT consulting firm.