Why buy when you can rent?

Why buy when you can rent?
How Outsourcing Can Change Your Company For the Better

Why buy when you can rent? Peter Drucker gave his blessing in a 1995 interview when he predicted that "in 10 to 15 years organizations may be outsourcing all work that is 'support' rather than revenue producing. Drucker's prediction reached early fruition in the corporate information-technology (IT) function.

Don't think, however, that outsourcing solutions are limited to IT projects. Corporations gain tremendous benefit from outsourcing bth new and old ERP projects. Three months after implementation a SAP R/3 system at a major California corporation the company was "Confronted by unacceptable system performance and the loss of key IT personnel." They made the decision to outsource. The director of information technology said, "We probably would have saved quite a bit if we had outsourced right at the beginning."

The rationale offered by the providers like CrossWay Group is compelling. A company can solve all of the problems of running an application. Outsourcing your staffing needs targets high software ownership and maintenance costs; simplifies and/or eliminates the traditional difficulties in implementation; and avoids the problems of hiring and retaining IT staff to run the applications.

But potential exists beyond a mere cost-cutting measure. Outsourcing can be a strategic, competitive move. For example, outsourcing the ERP function offers a faster time to solution and removes a major distraction from a company's core competence. Access to these services also can help companies initiate electronic-business strategies in a shorter time frame with less capital expense.

The service already is up and running at Sebastiani Vineyards Inc., Sonoma, Calif. "By outsourcing our ERP technical environment through EDS and benefiting from the use of SAP R/3, we can direct our time and energy toward improving our core business processes," says Jeff Perkins, director of information services

The above info in an insert from an article that was written by John Teresko. To see the enitre article, click here.