The straw that broke insourcing's back

So, when does it make sense to build a new data center or simply outsource the support to a third party? Sometimes, the decision can come down to a single job function.

While attending the 7^th Annual Iowa IT Symposium in Des Moines last week, one of the presenters, CIO Shawn Paskevic, talked about some of the factors that led her organization, NEBCO Inc., to recently begin handing off its data center operations to Sungard. High on the list of reasons to outsource was that it would enable the Lincoln, Neb.-based provider of materials and services to the construction industry to avoid a capital outlay of some $300,000 to build a new data center.

But there were other factors that played into NEBCO’s logic. While Paskevic and other executives at NEBCO were weighing the move, one of the company’s Lawson systems administrators resigned. Since NEBCO only has a 12-person IT staff, each of whom handle multiple responsibilities, the resignation “was a blessing in disguise since it helped us to cost-justify” the outsourcing deal with Sungard, says Paskevic.

That’s partly because the costs and difficulties associated with finding and retraining a new person with both Lawson and Unix systems administration skills aren’t insignificant, says Paskevic.

Sure, there were a host of other reasons why NEBCO entered into the deal with Sungard, including the managed services, electronic vaulting and advanced disaster recovery services it would be receiving. Still, Paskevic’s experiences are a reminder of how much influence a single person can have on the dynamic of an entire IT organization.