IT Service Providers- To separate or not to separate, this question is often faced by companies that are no longer sure how. Cooperation can work smoothly for many years, but at some point, doubts may arise: is the partnership with the IT service provider still efficient? Can he keep up with the changes in the IT landscape? Before companies think about an actual difference, they should carefully analyze the status quo of the relationship. Vision explains which factors are decisive.
Six Factors For The Analysis Of The IT Service Provider
- Costs: In most cases, looking at prices alone does not make sense. Daily rates for nearshoring, for example, may be cheaper and therefore more budget-friendly, but the performance can also be worse. In all IT tasks, quality is always in the foreground, so the cost-quality ratio is the size that companies have to consider when considering a partner change.
- Know-how: Over the years, a service provider has gathered extensive know-how about the company’s IT. This considerably simplifies communication between the partners because the service provider already knows the context of each new order. Even if inconsistencies give rise to dissatisfaction: Is it worth doing without this knowledge and laboriously training a new partner?
- Trust: With the length of the cooperation, a basis of trust has developed that should not be underestimated: Companies know that the partner does not misuse their knowledge of IT. Should he nevertheless work towards making the company dependent on his performance and exploiting this dependency for himself, it is high time to question the value of working together.
- Complexity: If an application has become too complex or confusing because the partner has repeatedly added to it incrementally without eyeing the basic structure, it is important to reduce the complexity. If it does not work or is too expensive, a new perspective can help – for example, in the form of a new service provider.
- Adaptation: In the course of the cooperation, the client and the contractor have adapted to each other. Are the communication interfaces between the partners designed so that another service provider could even take over? Or has a change become impossible?
- Contact person: There are also personnel changes at IT service providers. However, changing contacts too quickly can become a burden because the company must repeatedly incorporate them into projects. A suitable partner with low employee turnover can be considered as an alternative.
IT Service Provider: Evaluation Scale Supports The Analysis
Companies can systematically analyze these – and perhaps also their own specific – factors with the help of a rating scale and, on this basis, decide how they want to proceed in the future. Before switching, companies should not forget that you can talk about anything. If there is no longer a symbiosis between the partners so that everyone is pursuing their own goals, it is usually too late, and the search for a new service provider should start. “
Cooperation can work smoothly for many years, but at some point, doubts may arise: is the partnership with the IT service provider still efficient? Companies can systematically analyze these – and perhaps also their own specific – factors with the help of a rating scale and, on this basis, decide how they want to proceed in the future.
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