I was handed this interesting link reporting on a Gartner statement that cautions IT organizations from committing to long-term outsourcing deals, given the state of the economy and the potential for offshore costs to decrease in the near term.
I wouldn’t sign a long-term deal with anyone right now, either. Mainly, everyone’s at risk, so I’d be cautious committing to a long-term contract with any company that may or may not be around in 18 months. According to Gartner, “Clouds [e.g., cloud computing] don’t need long term contracts to make profits. They’ve already invested in service delivery for other clients. Also the costs go down over time, in the utility model, year over year.”
True. However, clouds require significant investment in knowledge that not every IT organization has just yet. SaaS solutions are easy to implement, but you have to be careful to make sure the solution fits what you need. Look at the service you’re considering and weight it against its other options: local software, in-house solutions, and competing SaaS offerings. Weigh the costs versus benefits, and see which one meets your needs better. Standard decision-making stuff, for sure, but it’s surprising how many people I’ve run into who are either 100% “must have this one solution,” especially for big-name SaaS products these days, or exactly opposite 100% “no-way no-how” on any solution that’s outside the firewall.
Reality doesn’t stop or start at the edge of your corporate network. IT procurement of any duration should fit your corporate needs for the best price. A smart IT manager realizes these facts and makes decisions on realistic evaluations of need and availability, contrasted with the resources available internally, both budget and personnel.
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