Internal conflicts limit outsourcing

Traditional technical managers feel particularly threatened as outsourcing causes the role of IT managers to gravitate towards project management, but industry leaders are urging them to rise to the new challenge.

"When it comes to outsourcing, many IT managers hit a mental block," said Geoff Pflaumer, president of the Colocation and Hosting Association. They feel threatened by outsourcing as the management skills required are different, he said. "The role is more that of the project manager, not the old-fashioned perception of the IT manager, who isn't necessarily a commerce-minded person. It's like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas," he argued.

Charles Robinson, director of hosted security firm Commissum, added, "In our experience, IT managers don't fully understand the outsourcing model."

Nicholas Jeffrey, UK managing director at managed hosting specialist Worldport, argued that IT managers should concentrate on the advantages of outsourcing. "Outsourcing saves companies IT spending on hardware and software, provides security and business continuity, and frees the IT manager to focus on other tasks," he said.

Analyst group Yankee estimates that the hosting market in the UK will grow from £320m this year to £1bn in 2004.

Scott Smith, Yankee's director of Internet strategies for Europe, said IT managers should try to exploit the new challenge. "IT managers should relish the new and different responsibilities. Outsourcing provides the IT manager with a chance to get their input into projects and use applications that they might not otherwise have access to," he said.

Last month, technology think-tank the IT Services Management Forum warned that the future of the corporate IT department was under threat unless it adapted to modern business practices. "The IT department needs to embrace a new service-led culture within business," said the forum's chief executive, Aidan Lawes.