03_2012-06-Miratex [ENG]

C O M P A N I E S
A N D
M A R K E T S
IT Outsourcing
Supplier does matter
We asked Alexandr Rachiba, head of Financial Systems
Department of IT Office, Kyivstar GSM, a few questions
According to the IBM 2011 CIO
Study, IT directors in CIS countries
plan to cut their costs primarily by
the means of outsourcing. Do you
experience the same?
In general, yes, certainly. But if we
talk specifically about my company then
it is more appropriate to say “we plan not
to increase costs". Competition in the
GSM market today is very high. In order
to maintain leading position one has to
always be at the forefront of the latest IT
innovations. And the technologies
themselves and IT infrastructure of the
company are getting more and more
complex. Consequently, dozens of
specialists are required for safe and
effective integration of some hot feature
to this sophisticated infrastructure. Long
gone are the days when the computer was
comprised of four components and the
operating system fit on a floppy disk –
such IT infrastructure could be served by
a generalist.
Now every year a list of IT
professions is growing with incredible
speed. And in order to keep pace with this
progress, it is necessary either to increase
staff constantly, or request for external
assistance. Usually, team is missing some
qualified specialists or they are very
expensive to take them to the staff. And
since we do not use these experts on daily
basis it is much more profitable to turn to
the outsourcing when the need arises.
It is possible to receive the financial
benefits from outsourcing in 1-2 years,
but you must be prepared for long-term
relationship with outsourcing company
which provides quality service.
What to pay attention for during
transfer of certain functions from IT
staff to outsourcer?
TELECOM 3/2012
From experience I can say that
outsourcing usually do the most routine
work or some kind of standardized
processes. Accordingly, during the
transition to IT outsourcing it is necessary
to determine which systems or processes
can be 100% trusted to outsourcing
company, what benefits and drawbacks
you get with this approach.
Alexandr Rachiba, head of Financial Systems
Department of IT Office, Kyivstar GSM:
“outsourcing usually do the most
routine work or some kind of standardized
processes”
Also pay attention to the risks
associated with the transfer of specific
functions to outsource and guarantees that
outsourcing company offers you. Making
such resolutions you need to understand
who and how will monitor the
implementation of outsourcing tasks, as
well as decide on the level of such control
from minimum to full, depending on the
task.
How fast can you go to the
outsourcing model?
If you're referring to the choice of
partner, then there should be a serious
market research of suppliers who provide
IT outsourcing services.
The idea is that the vendor is not
chosen for one month, but at least the
next several years. So, first you specify
the appropriate services, prices and terms
of service and then try them. Next you
carefully estimate the competence of the
provider and their behavior in different
situations, including critical. While
confidence grows, you can instruct
outsourcer to increasingly complex and
responsible tasks.
For example, here is an evolution
story of our partnership with Miratech.
Surely, it’s a world-class company with
all the necessary qualifications and
certificates, but still we started small. We
had initial experience with Miratech on
development and operation of the part of
our OSS and were satisfied by the quality
of services. Therefore, we selected them
as a major provider of outsourcing
services. As Miratech’s experience and
knowledge in our IT systems deepens, it
makes it possible to create centers of
IT-competencies in areas such as testing
and business analytics. Furthermore, we
trust Miratech to serve not only internal
applications, but also business-critical
systems.
Would you recommend your
colleagues to follow your example?
Do you mean, “Can we recommend
Miratech to someone else?” Yes, I can
attest this company as a leader of
outsourcing services in Ukraine.
If you're still thinking about the issue
of cost reduction in IT or are looking for
competent professionals for some period
of time – you don’t have alternative to
outsourcing nowadays. Transition to this
business model isn’t that fast, so I can
only advise not to delay the decision and
try this solution.
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