Outsourcing

This little book will give you the highlights and lowlights of outsourcing without too much pain. Dean Meyer says (and I agree) that outsourcing, under certain conditions, will save money, reduce risks, accommodate peak loads, and develop internal staff and processes. But these benefits come about only if internal staff remains in charge of the client relationships, deciding whether to "make or buy," selecting and managing vendors, establishing strategies and technical directions, defining standards and policies, and seeing that the vendor's knowledge is transferred internally over time.

Protect your organization by ensuring that those managing IT delivery work for the same shareholders that you do. Desperate executives, by definition, are not focused on the long term or thinking with a level head. Don't stand by and let them destroy your organization with outsourcing.