European companies have become more experienced at handling
large IT outsourcing deals but need to pay more attention to the IT
staff who do not transfer to the supplier, according to a report
from Forrester Research.
It found that the trend for large outsourcing deals is accelerating
in Europe and that such upheaval is changing the type of staff and
skills in IT departments.
Forrester divides an IT department into six sections: client
management, project management, development and integration,
infrastructure and service delivery, technology, and IT management
and administration.
The rise of large outsourcing deals has meant that some IT roles
disappear or decline, according to the report's authors Richard
Peynot, Andrew Parker and Sonoko Takahashi.
Roles that transfer to suppliers include application development
and integration and infrastructure and service delivery.
But some roles remain in the user's IT department and will become
more important after the outsourcing agreement, according to
Forrester. These include technology strategy and architecture, IT
procurement and staff to manage the outsourcing supplier.
"Few firms already have these functions [supplier and contract
manager]," said the report. "They become critical for managing and
controlling providers that run a firm's IT infrastructure. These
roles are particularly important in phases such as reversibility,
contract renewal and extension and migration plans, for example,
migrating desktops to Windows XP and servers from Windows NT to
Windows Server 2003."
Forrester said companies that have outsourced or are about to
should compile a "skills map" and set up education and career
development plans for remaining staff.
It estimated that between 30% and 80% of employees may require an
education plan. Certain disciplines such as regulation and contract
management will require a formal academic curriculum, and in other
areas - such as service level agreements and supplier management -
internal education sessions by consultants will often be effective.