Also, not passing judgement on Benjamin's company. There are some very good
consulting firms. I have worked with a few. Also, worked with a bunch that
were not so good. In my experience, I think the good ones with trained
staff are in the minority.
<soapbox>
About a year ago I started with a new company that had been outsourcing most
of their computer needs for several years. They had one, untrained, person
monitoring the consultants that trooped through the server room. When I
started looking over the servers and the systems, I found problem after
problem. I had been here about 3 weeks when my partner went on disability
for the next 7 months. After talking with my boss, I fired all of the
constant use consultants and we brought everything in house. I found that
even the PDC and the BDC wouldn't replicate the SAM database, the systems
were so misconfigured that almost nothing worked like it should. The share
structure was a bunch of nested shares and the permissions were so scattered
that just about anybody could corrupt almost anybody elses files. In short
a disaster. None of the wiring in the server room was labeled, and that
included the phone wiring. Two thirds of the servers and all of the phone
systems and networking hubs/switches were not on UPSs. Any 30 second power
outage wreaked havok on the systems.
In short, a year later and most of the systems fixed, (and my partner back
and now better trained), no consultants fees, and a much more stable
network, I have a job security that you wouldn't believe.
</soapbox>
Moral: You need at least one person on staff that is the knowledge equal of
any consultants brought in, and for that person(s) to direct, inspect, and
approve any consultant work done for your company. The internal people are
ultimately responsible for the network and good vendor choice and monitoring
is a part of the job. After all, everything you do right the first time you
don't have to do twice or clean up the disaster and do over.
Len Hammond
Network Administrator
Pontiac Coil, Inc.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: Mathew Shember [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2001 7:37 AM
To: NT System Admin Issues
Subject: Re: Outsourcing IT Operations
Not passing judgement on Benjamin's company, but one thing to watch is what
I call the slight of hand trick. Some outsourcing companies will "wow" you
with their technical talent but after you sign the contracts; you end up
with people with little training.
Becareful with your contracts!
You don't always get trained people and I have heard many people complain
about "sure they are there but they either don't care about the company or
they mess things up worst then they were...."
Just my .02
----- Original Message -----
From: "Benjamin Zachary" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "NT System Admin Issues" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2001 3:45 PM
Subject: RE: Outsourcing IT Operations
> We do several outsourcing jobs on the East coast, and all of our clients
> prefer it. I think overall it costs a bit more, but they do get the
> reliability of having trained people always show up. There is no sick
> days, no cant make it, no I have to goto jury duty etc etc. We simply
> replace that person with another cross trained individual. Many
> companies are reviewing outsourcing as a way to get high end technical
> talent or specialized talent in different categories as needed for a set
> fee.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Douglas Schnell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2001 1:13 PM
> To: NT System Admin Issues
> Subject: SOT: Outsourcing IT Operations
>
>
> Hi all--
>
> Located three hours north of Los Angeles and four hours south of San
> Francisco, coupled with low government salaries, means we have a devil
> of a time trying to find IT staff to fill high-level tech positions. As
> such, we're taking a serious look at outsourcing our whole IT operation.
>
> I'm looking for anything and everything you might have on outsourcing
> IT--advantages, disadvantages, praises, complaints, costs, whatever.
>
> Thanks much.
>
> Douglas Schnell MCSE
> Staff Analyst
> Information Services Division
> City of Santa Maria, California
>
> 110 E. Cook Street, Room 7
> Santa Maria, CA 93454
> (805) 925-0951 x469
> FAX: (805) 925-2243
> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://www.ci.santa-maria.ca.us
>
>
> http://www.sunbelt-software.com/ntsysadmin_list_charter.htm
>
>
> http://www.sunbelt-software.com/ntsysadmin_list_charter.htm
>
>
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/ntsysadmin_list_charter.htm
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/ntsysadmin_list_charter.htm
