I’ve worked many years in outsourcing and have been brought in to fix a whole lot of different situations. One of the most common problems I’ve noticed over years is the idea of what I like to call the IT version of “separation anxiety” – a situation in which business owners simply cannot give up control over their IT department when moving to an outsourced model. I completely understand the issue. When you own a business, it’s really hard to let go and cede control of major branches of your company to a third party. But at the same time, there are so many benefits that come with working in an outsourced model. Costs are significantly lower, because you’re not paying full salaries and benefits to a team of IT employees. You have improved security with a dedicated outsourced IT team, and you are able to spend a lot more time focusing on other important areas of your company. If you really want to be able to take full advantage of these types of benefits, there needs to be a change in perspective that occurs. You need to be able to get over your “separation anxiety” and allow third-party IT professionals to do what they do best: work for your company to provide innovative, high-quality technological solutions. A Different Thought Process for Outsourcing Here are some ways that you can get over your own form of IT separation anxiety: • Set expectations. Right from the get-go, you should meet with your IT provider and set a clear list of expectations of what you should expect from each other in your business relationship. You can almost think of it as a pre-nup for outsourcing. Talk about who’s responsible for what services, when you should schedule reboots or upgrades, things like that. Get everybody on the same page right from the very beginning so both sides have clearly defined roles. • Develop a sense of trust. Trust that everything is running well once you’ve set those expectations. Once all of your respective roles have been outlined, you can’t go back on the agreement and start taking back some of the responsibilities – that’s not fair to your IT team. • Communicate. Have regular meetings and stay in regular communication about how things are going. Have “state of the union” type conversations to talk about how you’re doing, what are some potential innovative new services you could employ and more. • LET GO. This is the most important step – just let go! Let the outsourcer be the technical expert and be your advisor. Give them the chance to present how you compare with other organizations they look after so you know where you stand to improve. Give them the space to innovate, and allocate the appropriate resources to them so that they can actually help you achieve your goals. Don’t give up! Have open dialect and conversations, and be realistic about each other’s goals. This will help you to get over your “separation anxiety” and have a great working relationship with your IT outsourcer. I will be publishing more articles so keep watching this space.

I’ve worked many years in outsourcing and have been brought in to fix a whole lot of different situations. One of the most common problems I’ve noticed over years is the idea of what I like to call the IT version of “separation anxiety” – a situation in which business owners simply cannot give up control over their IT department when moving to an outsourced model.

Trust
I completely understand the issue. When you own a business, it’s really hard to let go and cede control of major branches of your company to a third party. But at the same time, there are so many benefits that come with working in an outsourced model. Costs are significantly lower, because you’re not paying full salaries and benefits to a team of IT employees. You have improved security with a dedicated outsourced IT team, and you are able to spend a lot more time focusing on other important areas of your company.

Letting Go
If you really want to be able to take full advantage of these types of benefits, there needs to be a change in perspective that occurs. You need to be able to get over your “separation anxiety” and allow third-party IT professionals to do what they do best: work for your company to provide innovative, high-quality technological solutions.

A Different Thought Process for Outsourcing

Here are some ways that you can get over your own form of IT separation anxiety:

Set expectations. Right from the get-go, you should meet with your IT provider and set a clear list of expectations of what you should expect from each other in your business relationship. You can almost think of it as a pre-nup for outsourcing. Talk about who’s responsible for what services, when you should schedule reboots or upgrades, things like that. Get everybody on the same page right from the very beginning so both sides have clearly defined roles.
Develop a sense of trust. Trust that everything is running well once you’ve set those expectations. Once all of your respective roles have been outlined, you can’t go back on the agreement and start taking back some of the responsibilities – that’s not fair to your IT team.
Have regular meetings and stay in regular communication about how things are going. Have “state of the union” type conversations to talk about how you’re doing, what are some potential innovative new services you could employ and more.
LET GO. This is the most important step – just let go! Let the outsourcer be the technical expert and be your advisor. Give them the chance to present how you compare with other organizations they look after so you know where you stand to improve. Give them the space to innovate, and allocate the appropriate resources to them so that they can actually help you achieve your goals.

Don’t give up! Have open dialect and conversations, and be realistic about each other’s goals. This will help you to get over your “separation anxiety” and have a great working relationship with your IT outsourcer.

I will be publishing more articles so keep watching this space.

Overcoming “Separation Anxiety” in Moving to an Outsourced IT Model – Part 4

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