CIOs and CFOs know that today, when it comes to IT, more is no longer better. IT departments in every industry face static or shrinking budgets, coupled with the requirement to do more with less. To reduce operating expenses and network spending, organisations should look to maximise their current investments. One way to do this is to reduce the number of IT vendors used, and implement the full service capabilities from one main provider, to achieve greater scale and efficiency across the organisation’s IT.
Stuart Mills, regional director, Australia and New Zealand, CenturyLink said, “Businesses often believe they need to work with individual specialist vendors to deliver each IT capability. This is an expensive misconception. Working with a limited number of vendors, or one full service vendor, can be far more cost effective, and helps to foster stronger partnerships, as the vendors work more closely with the organisation, to deliver the most appropriate solutions for its needs.”
There are four major emerging technologies that are being used to help consolidate and manage IT infrastructure more efficiently; infrastructure and application development, Multi-Cloud Management, cloud hosting, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Outsourcing these key capabilities to a trusted partner can help reduce the burden on IT while cutting capital expenses and helping to meet changing business needs and user demands for anytime, anywhere access to IT resources.
Stuart Mills advised, “Organisations should look to outsource these capabilities to one vendor that has expert experience across the range of IT technologies and services. Choosing one with global experience and local reach is important. The vendor must understand the nuances of the Australian and New Zealand market to help the business make connections with customers, and abide by all regulatory and legal requirements.
“To determine the best vendor for a business’s needs, organisations should review the vendor’s capabilities in deployment of enterprise IT and services, preventative maintenance, network and account support, and professional services like consulting.”
A 2015 CIO Role and Influence research survey highlighted that large enterprises are already reducing the number of vendors they consider to be strategic partners. In the past four years, many of these organisations have gone from six strategic partners to three, on average. (1)
Stuart Mills said, “Businesses are more aware of the additional offerings that a vendor should bring to a partnership. Strategic partner status is only earned when a vendor shows clear understanding of the business’s goals and objectives, and when they provide excellent customer service, and deliver great post-sales support.
“Working with a vendor that has full service capabilities to handle an organisation’s IT requirements will help the business, and the IT team in particular, adapt to increasing user demands, shrinking budgets, and the need for modern, agile technologies.”
Reference:
(1) http://www.cio.com/article/2948184/cio-role/cios-are-cutting-back-on-the-number-of-strategic-vendors-they-use.html
