Comments on: Do It Yourself Or Outsource It? http://www.pcmech.com/article/do-it-yourself-or-outsource-it/ Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:43:08 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: mbossman2 http://www.pcmech.com/article/do-it-yourself-or-outsource-it/comment-page-1/#comment-4475 mbossman2 Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:52:33 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/article/do-it-yourself-or-outsource-it/#comment-4475 there are definite advantages (as well as disadvantages) to outsourcing. the big advantage is that it frees up your time to do something more enjoyable/profitable/on target with your core competencies as well as widen your scope of available skills - while good techies DO have a wide range of tools at their disposal, there comes a point where narrowing your focus and deepening your expertise becomes a highly desirable action and outsourcing affords you that opportunity. the disadvantage is in picking the wrong firm or failing to cover, specifically, all the issues. A contract is a contract and if it's not covered in there, it will not be done. Spending time evaluating the host of vendors, their skills and their references pays far more dividends than going with the lowest bidder. What also pays dividends is seeking out folks who have either successfully or unsuccessfully outsourced and probe to determine what worked and what didn't. there are definite advantages (as well as disadvantages) to outsourcing. the big advantage is that it frees up your time to do something more enjoyable/profitable/on target with your core competencies as well as widen your scope of available skills – while good techies DO have a wide range of tools at their disposal, there comes a point where narrowing your focus and deepening your expertise becomes a highly desirable action and outsourcing affords you that opportunity.

the disadvantage is in picking the wrong firm or failing to cover, specifically, all the issues. A contract is a contract and if it’s not covered in there, it will not be done. Spending time evaluating the host of vendors, their skills and their references pays far more dividends than going with the lowest bidder. What also pays dividends is seeking out folks who have either successfully or unsuccessfully outsourced and probe to determine what worked and what didn’t.

]]> By: Justin Hitchborn (hitchface) http://www.pcmech.com/article/do-it-yourself-or-outsource-it/comment-page-1/#comment-4130 Justin Hitchborn (hitchface) Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:00:43 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/article/do-it-yourself-or-outsource-it/#comment-4130 On one hand though, you could just "set it and forget it", but that all depends on the scope of the vendor. Having little experience in this, I'd say DIY when you can. That way you KNOW that you have what you need, and your process after the initial steps gets much smoother. On one hand though, you could just “set it and forget it”, but that all depends on the scope of the vendor.

Having little experience in this, I’d say DIY when you can. That way you KNOW that you have what you need, and your process after the initial steps gets much smoother.

]]> By: charles http://www.pcmech.com/article/do-it-yourself-or-outsource-it/comment-page-1/#comment-4108 charles Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:26:10 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/article/do-it-yourself-or-outsource-it/#comment-4108 I work at a Comm College and we went with a third party vendor and it is a nightmare. It took so long and we spent so much money using an externally developed product that in the long run, we could have developed the product ourselves for less money. Now to do any custom work we have to send people to classes to learn how to work on the third party product. I see no real advantage in all of this. I dont think we gained any measurable return on our investment. Now we are slaves to a third party vendor. I work at a Comm College and we went with a third party vendor and it is a nightmare. It took so long and we spent so much money using an externally developed product that in the long run, we could have developed the product ourselves for less money. Now to do any custom work we have to send people to classes to learn how to work on the third party product. I see no real advantage in all of this. I dont think we gained any measurable return on our investment. Now we are slaves to a third party vendor.

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