Flexible IT Resourcing

Running a global IT infrastructure is a massive job. You need to balance legacy systems with the demands of a growing business whilst also keeping one eye on the impact of digital disruption. You know from experience, delivering projects on time, keeping the lights on and keeping a fully functioning IT department is a tough gig.

You’ll also have the added drama of finding relevant skills for the broad range of business applications in use today. As you integrate new technology into your business you need to find relevant knowledge and skill inside your existing team. You’re most likely to put your highest skill set onto new project implementations, but this can cause “business as usual” to suffer as day-to-day activities fall by the wayside, in order to, manage the project.

Now add to this the pressure of reducing your costs. How are you to meet all these challenges in today’s tough economy?

Here’s How You Traditionally Deal with Competing Demands:

It’s traditional for a company to build in some “fat” on their IT team. Even if it means some people are on-the-bench, it allows for built in resource for additional projects or to flex during peaks. It’s not the most efficient or cost-effective way of running an IT department, and in today’s environment of automation, digitisation and diminishing budgets, it’s also no longer sustainable.

As an alternative, you could hire resource to fulfil short term projects. But this is costly. There’s the expensive recruitment process as well as the increasing market rate for good IT resources. Add to this the loss in morale, lack of continuity with relationships and knowledge lost each time you let someone go in line with decreasing work.

You could turn to contractors who would certainly provide you with the resource you require, but this can also be costly (especially for short term projects) and comes with potential IR35 liabilities. You might also need to have several contractors on speed dial to ensure your projects and peak times are adequately resourced. Managing the relationships can become difficult and time consuming. Ultimately, when they walk offsite, they take their knowledge with them.

One thing is for sure, traditional methods of working are no longer helping you overcome all your challenges.

Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

When Tradition Fails, What’s the Answer?

The answer lies in flexible IT resourcing. (Hint: the more flexible your options the more likely you are to meet the demands of your role).

Simply, the answer is to engage an IT partner with greater flexibility than any other.

You need a company with people who have relevant skills, a global footprint to match your geographical requirements and flexible engagement models. Also, note the word “partner”. By going into partnership with a single provider you not only mitigate the ‘multiple relationship minestrone’ but also the ‘knowledge loss car-crash’ you’re accelerating into with short term contracts.

Benefits of working in partnership with a flexible IT resources include: