Outsourcing Your Business Technology Department

Most small-to-medium-sized businesses have at one time or another implemented a technology-based solution to resolve a business need. That solution might be a computerized accounting system to simplify invoice tracking and financial reports. Or the solution could be a local area network (LAN) supporting word-processing, spreadsheet applications, shared printing, and multi-user access to company data.

Other businesses are looking to expand their existing business technology infrastructure. These businesses might already have a LAN, but need to add electronic mail to facilitate and enhance internal and external communication. Still other businesses could be content with the technology they have in place, and need only to maintain their existing infrastructure so it can meet future business needs.

Why Outsource?
While there are many ways to implement technology solutions within a business, the most successful installations are performed by trained computer technology professionals. However, businesses often will rely solely on their most knowledgeable computer user—then, once the new technology is working (kind of), they use an untrained employee to administer it. The only time a call is placed to a technology professional is when a problem occurs. And by then, it could be too late.

Most businesses implement technology this way because they believe it will save money. Worse, businesses don’t fully realize the impact their computer system has on their daily business operations. As a result, they spend more time and money fixing technical problems, revamping improperly installed solutions, or maintaining a poorly installed system. This ultimately leads to dissatisfaction with technology that may not work as advertised. For many small-to-medium-sized businesses, the solution is outsourcing: the practice of letting another company or person perform key internal business functions.

Outsourcing your technology department allows you to do what you do best— operate the business—and leave technology solutions in the hands of the experts. Some basic business functions you probably outsource already include plumbing, printing, lawn and grounds maintenance, electricity, and express mail.

There are many facets of business technology that can be outsourced. You can outsource your entire Business Technology Department (BTD) by hiring a Value Added Provider (VAP) or technology consulting firm to maintain your business technology infrastructure, support end users, and implement new solutions to meet the needs of your growing business. Or you can outsource specific technology functions, such as computer training, as needed.

Selecting an Outsourcing Partner
For small-to-medium-sized business owners, outsourcing your entire BTD is a nice option because your expertise is in running your business, not understanding technology. Your responsibility, then, is to select an appropriate outsourcing partner.

The VAP you select should have a staff of trained and experienced technology professionals. It should have specific manufacturer authorizations and/or training certificates, as should engineers who may work in your business. For example, if the VAP is going to implement a LAN based on Microsoft® Windows NT® Server, you would verify they are Microsoft Windows NT Server–certified. In some cases, a VAP or engineer may not be certified in a specific product, but they have may have a great deal of experience and be highly capable of working on your projects. In this case, you would look for specific client references for past projects completed.

The best part of outsourcing to a VAP is not having to worry about hiring the right technology professionals into your business. The VAP will know who to use and how to use them to help your business be successful. The VAP should also move technology staff in and out of your BTD as needed, based on the skills needed to perform specific project tasks.

The benefit of outsourcing is immediately seen in the cost of hiring a full-time technology expert. If you hired an engineer to install and maintain your LAN, and the engineer enjoys installing LANs, it is possible that once the LAN is up and running, your engineer may become bored performing LAN maintenance and administration. Once bored, the engineer looks for and finds a position at a different company where LANs are installed regularly. You lose your investment in this employee. A VAP-provided engineer could be moved to the next LAN installation project when yours is complete, and the VAP can then supply you with a LAN administrator to maintain the LAN. This relieves you from selecting and training specialists, paying their salaries, then watching them leave for a better, more technology-rich environment.

What a VAP Will Do
When you select a VAP team for outsourcing your entire BTD, you want to ensure that the VAP you select has the right mix of talent to staff your department. A VAP should be able to staff your business with a Chief Information Officer (CIO), senior network engineers, managing engineers, network engineers, service engineers, technical administrators, and programmers. A VAP should initially provide you with the services of a consultant who understands business needs and problems and knows what technology solutions are available to resolve them. This person should be assigned to your business as a part-time Chief Information Officer (PCIO).

The PCIO should help set up your business technology advisory council (BTAC), which includes key managers and decision-makers. The PCIO participates on the BTAC and sets up and attends regular meetings. Initially, a series of meetings may help the PCIO get up to speed on the details of your business, get to know the BTAC members, and reach possible technology solutions.

The PCIO may use a VAP-provided senior or junior system engineer to help audit any existing technology used in your business. The PCIO, with assistance from a VAP-provided technical administrator, will gather all relevant information from BTAC meetings and combine this information with findings from the audit. The PCIO can now prepare and present budgets and schedules for specific technology projects. Once these projects and budgets are reviewed by the BTAC, they are prioritized and scheduled by the VAP for implementation.

Now that the BTAC has approved specific technology projects, the VAP provides an assortment of staff members to implement the business technology solutions. The PCIO hands projects off to a VAP-provided Senior or Managing Engineer. The managing engineer is responsible for insuring that all technology solutions are implemented successfully and maintained correctly. The managing engineer generally reports status and ensures that projects are properly documented and completed on time and on budget.

During the implementation of projects, the managing engineer will utilize and direct various VAP-provided staff specialists to complete specific projects. An NT server specialist will set up your LAN server, while a workstation-certified engineer will connect the PC workstations to the LAN server. An electronic mail specialist will implement the e-mail solution. At times, the VAP will use an apprentice or junior engineer to assist in executing project tasks.

Once your major projects are complete, maintenance and administration becomes most important. To this end, the VAP will schedule a service engineer familiar with your technology infrastructure to come to your business site on a regular basis. The engineer should perform proactive system maintenance functions under the guidance of the managing engineer and resolve end-user service requests. Examples include verifying your LAN server is performing optimally, updating virus software, insuring your data is being backed up, and resolving an end-user printing problem.

Depending on the size and scope of the technology solutions deployed, a service engineer might be at your business location from one to five days per week. If this engineer encounters a technical situation he or she cannot handle, the VAP may draw on the other resources to resolve the situation. The VAP can provide a higher-level engineer or technical support specialist to help resolve technology problems.

Another important function of the managing engineer is to chair weekly meetings of the BTD. These weekly meetings should be attended by representatives of all other business units who act as liaisons between the business unit and the BTD. This is a time to present new business needs, discuss current project schedules or outstanding service issues, and schedule system down-time for updates or repairs. Major issues, such as the need for new technology solutions, are usually tabled for the BTAC meeting. The PCIO and the BTAC get involved again in planning and budgeting for this new solution. Once approved, the solution is handed off to the managing engineer and his VAP-provided staff to implement, as laid out in the preceding paragraphs.

Outsourcing: The End Result
As a result of outsourcing your entire BTD function to the right VAP, your business can realize the benefits of having a fully staffed technology department without the major headaches of hiring, firing, budgeting projects, understanding technology and meeting payroll requirements. You only pay for the BTD staff when they are used and budgeted by the VAP to work on your projects. The VAP does the hiring and firing. And the VAP expands and shrinks your department as needed for projects.

For example, you only pay for the PCIO when they attend meetings and work on your account. Since most small-to-medium-sized businesses don’t need a full-time CIO, the benefit of outsourcing this function is money saved. The managing engineer also only works on projects budgeted with their services—otherwise they are off the payroll. So, invest your time in selecting the right technology-outsourcing partner, and then let them do what they do best—while you get back to business.

Leonard DiCostanzo is the president and founder of Turnkey Computer Systems, Inc. Lenny received a Bachelor of Science degree from Brown University in 1982. First employed by Western Electric in 1982 as a Systems Engineer, he also worked for AT&T from its acquisition of Western Electric until 1986. In 1986, Mr. DiCostanzo formed Turnkey Computer Systems, Inc. He has been employed as a business technology consultant ever since. His experience in the computer field ranges from supporting end users and systems of the networked mainframe environments of AT&T to designing and implementing custom designed and programmed database applications on local and wide area networked personal and mini computers. He has encountered very diverse business needs with fairly specific requirements and no off-the-shelf solutions.