So, you want to save money on IT. You can cut down on the work—that's a no-brainer, but it really doesn't help the company grow. You can also try outsourcing IT functions—history shows that if you do that wrong, you face outsourcing yourself. One really good way to save money on IT is to have a more productive IT department.
An estimated 60% of all IT projects get cancelled before they are finished. That is a tremendous waste of time, effort, and resources. If you can reduce that number to 40%, that would be the same as getting 50% more out of your IT dollars. Another way to save is to get more out of the people in IT. The difference between a bottom performer and a top performer in IT can be a factor of 10. A similar thing happens with the development process.
The IT process of is a combination of a "manufacturing process" and a "maintenance process". You wouldn't dream of just throwing a new product onto a manufacturing floor without a lot of engineering. Yet, new problems and methods are often thrown to the IT department without any management consideration of the development process. Installing a process and controls over IT projects can make a significant difference in the results of the department.
Telling IT people to "go implement a better process" probably won't work. IT people are, often, not aware of many of the things that would make their lives (and yours) easier. If you built up your department from college kids, they have no experience in how to design a development process. This is the point where bringing experienced consultants really pays off. If you can bring in a person who can help you design the proper process and manage-ment controls, you can make a significant difference in how much effect you get out of your limited budget.
It is possible to send the whole mess out to India, or even China, but without having examined how projects are being done, all you are doing is wasting your money over there instead of wasting it here.
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