Mainframe Outsourcing Misconception #8: We Have Never Outsourced Any Important Function of IT, So We Really Have No Idea About What We Can Expect

The unfamiliar always has a frightening dimension.  But the truth is that virtually every business has outsourced important aspects of its IT operations since the dawn of contemporary computing.

Consider that Wide Area Networks and voice communications networks, and the Internet itself, are all components of modern IT.  Neither the maintenance nor the operation of these services is completely under the direct control of the typical business user.  We outsource those responsibilities to the Internet Service Provider and the voice and data network service provider.  On most hardware deployed in our internal IT departments today, we leverage maintenance and support contracts from vendors and their surrogates:  that is also a form of outsourcing.  And, of course, software is licensed, not purchased, from vendors.  That is also outsourcing.

Truth is, most companies use a lot of outsourced services to support their IT operations today.  The outsourcing of mainframe infrastructure is a continuation of the same model.  You can apply many of the same principles of consideration and reliability to outsourcing your environment as you do to the other services you have been outsourcing all along.

Posted by Adrian