Outsourcing in IT Functions - Essay Example

Outsourcing has been the term used when businesses decide to send their IT needs to a consulting firm that is outside their company. In the article by Grover, Myun-Joong, and Teng (1996) the authors build a case for outsourcing and show why it is important for Information Technology. Many people know that outsourcing has been a way to save money in the long run.

 The authors point out that there are five trends that are showing that outsourcing is happening for IT on a more regular basis. These trends include 1. Large companies are outsourcing 2. A larger range of services are being outsourced and they are often more in-depth services. 3. There is more functional outsourcing 4.

Service providers are accepting more risk and more responsibility to manage projects. 5. The relationships with service providers are changing. (p. 3) The article also stated that outsourcing success will depend on the degree that the company outsources two functions: systems operations and telecommunications. Also, success will depend on whether the vendor is trustworthy, cooperative, and communicates well with the company that has hired them. My opinion of outsourcing is that it is an important thing to do in a company, especially when there is something that would be expensive to do in-house.

In the IT field, it seems that many people have a challenge with understanding how to make telecommunications and systems operations work. There are many consulting firms that can help in these situations and help the business move forward. This makes sense that a consultant who specialized in a certain subject would find it easier to do the job. This would allow the company to do other things they need to do that they do well. This would also mean that the organization would have to change and this may make them more ready for change than if they were having to do everything in-house.

By outsourcing, a business would also have more time to concentrate on customer service and providing top-quality service. This is also another way for a business to cut its operational costs because part of its operations is done outside the company. Some companies send their work to other countries which could be very good for the company and the country because they would get the work cheaper than if they had it done in the United States. However, it would be a good idea to make sure that the country is being paid a competitive wage to do the job.