Winning With IT Project and Program Management

Complexities in IT project management are one of the main reasons for companies to consider outsourcing. IT Project management services involves lot of time and money. Most of the companies are not able to manage it with their in-house it team. The in-house IT team are either not adequately staffed or do not have the necessary expertise. Companies either outsource IT Project Management Services or train their in-house resources to acquire the skills.

While outsourcing Project management, it is important to check if the IT supplier offers a flexible approach. Project managers should be available for consultation on a full-time and part time basis. The managers should have the necessary accreditations in project management. Industry recogonised certificates like PRINCE2, PMP, PMBOK and MSP are important credentials.

It is also ideal to engage an IT supplier for IT Program Management. There are several advantages of engaging an IT supplier for Program Management. One is that they can help to build best practices over a period of time. Secondly they may offer some discounts for long-term engagements. Thirdly, they can equip the in-house IT team to manage operations, independently.

The co-sourcing mode of engagement is an ideal choice to engage with an IT supplier, offering services. In this mode of engagement, the IT supplier provides excess resources during peaks of demand and rolls them during the troughs of demand. This is a win-win situation given the volatilities and cost-cutting pressures in the IT industry.

It is also important to work with an IT supplier who offers consulting services. Some IT suppliers perform several layers of consulting and then design a bespoke solution to meet their client’s needs. This is a better option, as opposed to having to choose a service from the standard offerings of the IT supplier. It is also important to check if the IT supplier can offer support through bi and multi-lingual resources. Many times IT project Management and Program Management involves working with people in different countries through ‘remote control’. Bilingual and multi-lingual resources help to eliminate language barriers. Not knowing the local language is a key hurdle for many IT projects.

Other advantages of engaging an IT supplier for IT Management and or IT program management are their knowledge of different IT environments. The IT supplier has resources through the globe and they are comfortable operating in different IT environments. By their vast experience of working for different clients and IT operating environments, these resources can help the in-house IT team in handling challenges that arise during a migration or refresh of technology. The in-house IT team will not only be able to handle operational issues on that particular platform or migration, but also handle similar challenges in the future.

In case you are considering outsourcing IT project Management or IT Program Management, it is high time to engage with an IT supplier on the basis of co-sourcing model. Working with them will help organisations adopt the best practices in project and program management.