Why remote outsourcing of IT infrastructure management services is important

By Sathya Prakash IT Infrastructure is a key business enabler and the heart of the enterprise as all enterprises rely on business aligned IT to support their business operations. Changes in market, customer preferences, technologies, etc., necessitate IT infrastructure transformation and support to meet the changing business requirements. This improves agility, scalability, operating efficiency, competitiveness, growth, and helps to sustain business. The key challenge is to run the IT Infrastructure in a highly available and efficient way. Budgetary constraints necessitate organizations to look at reducing costs and stepping up efficiently by focusing more on core business areas. Remote outsourcing of IT Infrastructure Management Services is the cost effective way out to achieve this and confers manifold benefits that effectively go beyond cost savings. [caption id=“attachment_2182589” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sathya Prakash from HTC Global Services[/caption] Remote Infrastructure Management (RIM) refers to remotely monitoring and managing the entire mission-critical IT infrastructure - workstations (desktops, laptops, notebooks, etc.), servers, network devices, storage devices, IT security devices, etc.This includes supporting, administering, maintaining, troubleshooting, performance enhancement, optimizing, securing, etc. RIM services include 24X7X365 remote support and monitoring of:

• Server Administration
• Datacentre Operations
• Storage Management
• Database Management
• End-User support
• Desktop Services
• Network Operations
• IT Security Services
• Backup and Disaster Recovery
• Technical Service Desk

The key business drivers that favour outsourcing RIM services are:

• Cost reduction through labour arbitrage and utilization - access to vendor’s resources and virtualization technologies
• Highly skilled technical resources available on demand
• Vendor’s domain expertise
• Access to vendor’s state-of-the-art tools and technologies
• Vendor’s proven process and continuous improvement capabilities
• Proactive response
• Security
• Process-based approach for efficient handling of issues
• Quality certifications ensuring adherence to standards and security controls
• Best practices and domain expertise
• Risk Mitigation for assured business continuity
• Flexibility and scalability to absorb spikes and dips - manpower / technology requirements
• Pre-emptive problem resolution through proactive monitoring and event correlation
• Flexibility of service
• Domain expertise
• Cost savings due to access to vendor’s resources and virtualization technologies

India – a key player in RIM outsourcing RIM outsourcing makes shrewd business sense due to high competition, need for innovation and speed, and pursuit to reduce operational expenses. India has been a leader and the primary offshore destination in providing RIM services due to its mature processes, highly skilled technical expertise, and the necessary infrastructure necessary to manage and sustain RIM service operations with consistent performance. RIM services have been one of the fastest growing segments of Indian IT. The most compelling reasons to outsource to India are cost benefits and beyond - about 25% reduction in IT infrastructure budget, better service, quality and transformational value, enhanced operational efficiency, better business outcomes, etc. (The author is senior delivery manager at HTC Global Services.)