Outsourcing Archives - Arrk Group https://www.arrkgroup.com/tag/outsourcing/ Software That Works Thu, 21 Nov 2024 06:10:52 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 The Hot Seat | On Outsourcing (2:36) https://www.arrkgroup.com/video/the-hot-seat-outsourcing/ Sun, 15 Sep 2019 08:49:43 +0000 https://www.arrkgroup.com/?p=16641 The post The Hot Seat | On Outsourcing (2:36) appeared first on Arrk Group.

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In our new video series, Gary Gautier, Director of Customer Success, talks all things outsourcing in The Hot Seat. Sharing war stories, as well as successes, our recent CIO Roundtable was a great forum to discover how to be smart when entering an outsourcing partnership. With both speakers and peer to peer discussions adding to the roundtable, Gary answers some questions in the video below on the top outputs of the event.

Watch the video now…

If you don’t want to miss out on our next Tech Table, held on 13th November it will be discussing ‘Quality @ Speed’ and how citizen developers are being brought out of the shadows. Sign up to register your interest now to secure your seat.

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#AdamAnswers | Outsourcing 4 (2:14) https://www.arrkgroup.com/video/adam-answers-outsourcing-ep-4/ Fri, 09 Aug 2019 10:30:50 +0000 https://www.arrkgroup.com/?p=17251 The post #AdamAnswers | Outsourcing 4 (2:14) appeared first on Arrk Group.

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In our fourth and final AdamAnswers episode on outsourcing, Adam will be explaining how to measure success in an outsourcing partnership, and why SMART planning is essential to any outsourcing partnership. Make sure you follow the Arrk SMART principles…

S – Specific
M – Manage
A – Arrkitect
R – Realistic
T – Test

Watch the video now!

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#AdamAnswers | Outsourcing 3 (1:49) https://www.arrkgroup.com/video/adam-answers-outsourcing-ep-3/ Thu, 01 Aug 2019 10:26:28 +0000 https://www.arrkgroup.com/?p=17248 The post #AdamAnswers | Outsourcing 3 (1:49) appeared first on Arrk Group.

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On episode 3 of AdamAnswers, Richard steps in and shares his thoughts around the internal business culture of outsourcing, as well as how to address it.

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#AdamAnswers | Outsourcing 2 (1:28) https://www.arrkgroup.com/video/adam-answers-outsourcing-ep-2/ Fri, 26 Jul 2019 10:23:40 +0000 https://www.arrkgroup.com/?p=17245 The post #AdamAnswers | Outsourcing 2 (1:28) appeared first on Arrk Group.

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If you’re embarking on a digital transformation journey, make sure you pick an IT partner, not a supplier. Our latest AdamAnswers explains why a win-win ethos on both sides wins overall.

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#AdamAnswers | Outsourcing 1 (1:00) https://www.arrkgroup.com/video/adam-answers-outsourcing-ep-1/ Fri, 19 Jul 2019 12:43:11 +0000 https://www.arrkgroup.com/?p=17243 The post #AdamAnswers | Outsourcing 1 (1:00) appeared first on Arrk Group.

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Adam answers your questions in our new series AdamAnswers. First up he looks into why outsourcing is more than just about cost cutting – a topic that we concentrated on recently in our last roundtable.

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Smart Outsourcing CIO Roundtable – Key Takeaways https://www.arrkgroup.com/thought-leadership/outsourcing-cio-roundtable-key-takeaways/ Wed, 10 Jul 2019 10:49:59 +0000 https://www.arrkgroup.com/?p=16174 The post Smart Outsourcing CIO Roundtable – Key Takeaways appeared first on Arrk Group.

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Smart Outsourcing CIO Roundtable - Key Takeaways

By Team Arrk

3 mins read

On Wednesday 19th June, we delivered a CIO Roundtable from our Manchester City Centre offices focusing on how ‘SMEs Can Challenge Big Business Through Effective Outsourcing’, which was attended by senior IT leaders and business executives from a wide range of organisations.

During the interactive roundtable, attendees shared both their successes and war wounds of how they’ve embraced outsourcing as a way of adapting their approach to non-traditional delivery models in order to achieve a competitive advantage.

Adam Darr from Arrk, kicked off the proceedings by setting the scene as to how outsourcing should be seen no longer simply a cost-cutting tool, but instead is delivering true business value through measurable benefits such as enhanced service quality, reducing time to market and driving broader transformational change.

 

 

Achieving Success Through SMART Outsourcing – Gary Gautier, Director of Customer Success, Arrk

Gary shared his experience as both an ex-CTO as well as from leading customer projects at Arrk for the past 8 years. He highlighted through practical examples what he sees his secret sauce to outsourcing success is, with a key ingredient being to treat your ‘x’ as a partner and not a supplier. Also, how establishing trust and transparency on both sides will lead to a much more productive and fruitful relationship with value added for both parties, that’ll therefore help you deliver against company objectives, rather than making your business challenge ‘someone else’s problem’.

Gary’s secret sauce to SMART outsourcing includes:

 

Leveraging Outsourcing – David Threlfall, Group IT Director, Victrex

David then discussed how he has leveraged outsourcing to make his internal IT team at Victrex more effective and has helped them achieve an aligned business and establish a technology 3 horizon strategy. He explained how outsourcing has allowed him to re-align resources to make them more effective, rather than simply replacing people. And also discussed how it has enabled him to change the IT conversation from technology to core business objectives, including driving revenue, increasing profit and reducing risk.

A key theme of David’s insight was around the importance of effective change management when introducing outsourcing for the first time, for example he transitioned individuals from being traditional developers into architecture roles, and the importance of visibility and governance of the delivery process so that success can be both measured and shared.

David’s outsourcing highlights included:

  • Digital is a must have and not a nice to have. To be respected you have to be in the game.
  • Outsourcing can free up brain space to focus on making things better, rather than simply run.
  • Don’t just focus on outsourcing external programmes – internal digital ecosystems can benefit as well.
  • There will be hidden wins you don’t expect e.g. more predictable and improved support levels.
  • Never lose sight that it’s all about people. Change can be worrying, so you have to prepare to manage it.

 

If you want to discover more about how outsourcing can benefit you, why not download our Outsourcing Brochure? Or if you’re interested in our next event, please click below…

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Smart Outsourcing – Your Flexible Friend https://www.arrkgroup.com/thought-leadership/smart-outsourcing-your-flexible-friend/ Wed, 05 Jun 2019 08:57:13 +0000 https://www.arrkgroup.com/?p=15289 The post Smart Outsourcing – Your Flexible Friend appeared first on Arrk Group.

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Smart Outsourcing – Your Flexible Friend

By Team Arrk

4 mins read

We’ve already looked at Why SMEs outsource and What SMEs can outsource in order to level the playing field against larger organisations. So this article will look at the final piece of the jigsaw and will focus on the How to undertake smart outsourcing – by choosing the most appropriate development model to drive your operational and business benefits.

The good news is that you can now pick and choose not only what you may want to outsource – but also how you do it. Each organisation is unique, and your outsourcing strategy must be formulated based on a clear understanding of your specific situational factors. Getting the basics right from the start by addressing the key considerations against your decision drivers, is key to ensuring long-term benefit and success.

 

Project Outsourcing

Traditionally, a project-based approach is considered the most appropriate option for companies with irregular, one-off, and pilot projects of low to medium complexity with well-defined requirements and deliverables. However, it is also how some organisations initially dip their toe in the water with outsourcing. With minimal exposure and risk, it gives you the opportunity to judge both the quality of the delivery partner as well as testing the concept.

Companies often choose this approach as an extension to their existing development capability, for instance, when there are capacity issues (the in-house team are unable to allocate the appropriate resource to deliver within the often short deadline) or there’s a requirement that’s outside the domain knowledge of the core team. With project outsourcing, all work is fully project managed by the outsourcing partner who are responsible for the quality of delivery of the required outputs.

 

Programme Outsourcing

Typically required to support business and digital change programmes, this model is ideal for companies who are looking for support on longer-term engagements. It’s also great for companies who need to extend their development capabilities with highly-qualified and skilled teams of developers and other IT professionals such as designers, UI/UX specialists, business analysts, project managers, testers, and more.

Many project-based models morph into this type of long-lasting relationship once their outsourcing partner has successfully delivered on smaller projects. The outsource partner would normally look to establish a consistent team reserved for each client, so that they develop a deep understanding of the company’s business objectives and can provide strategic support, rather than simply act as a tactical delivery arm. When multiple suppliers are involved in a programme, they can also provide 3rd party management to remove the headache of having to co-ordinate all the individual elements.

 

Virtual Outsource Delivery Centre (VODC)

As more and more businesses are looking to gain the advantages associated with outsourcing their delivery, one of the key considerations is around the control of the processes outsourced to the new provider. However, with a Virtual Outsource Delivery Centre (VODC) you get the best of both worlds. You can ramp up your capacity and skillset while still retaining control over the delivery. It’s a true extension of your existing team where you directly manage the individuals and their outputs, but without the management overheads such as HR, recruitment, payroll and office space.

However, the VODC model is a framework that can provide the appropriate level of support, depending on how much management bandwidth or experience you have at managing dispersed teams. An additional key benefit of the VODC model is the flexibility around resourcing. There is an option to provide resource to enhance your existing capability or you can look to outsource your entire delivery requirements (or literally anywhere in between). Should your requirements change, or you need additional support for specific projects, then the team can be flexed up and down accordingly.

 

 

Nowadays, companies sometimes opt to use a hybrid model to balance technologies and arising needs. Combinations of models are helpful to gain a specific value from each of the selected models. It is important to understand the type of project and its entire scope to fully assess how each model can be of benefit and which one is the best fit.

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CIO Roundtable Invite | Effective Outsourcing (1:19) https://www.arrkgroup.com/video/cio-roundtable-invite-effective-outsourcing/ Tue, 21 May 2019 15:06:20 +0000 https://www.arrkgroup.com/?p=17412 The post CIO Roundtable Invite | Effective Outsourcing (1:19) appeared first on Arrk Group.

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Join us for our next CIO Roundtable – ‘SMEs Challenge Big Business Through Outsourcing’! Held at Arrk HQ here in Manchester on 19th June, we’ll be sharing with you real life examples of how companies have adapted their approach in order to achieve a competitive advantage, and how this non-traditional delivery model could work for you. Hosted by Gary Gautier and with speaker David Threlfall, we’d love to see you there.

This event has now happened – but don’t worry, you can read the key takeouts of the day on our blog!

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The Changing Face of Outsourcing https://www.arrkgroup.com/thought-leadership/the-changing-face-of-outsourcing/ Mon, 13 May 2019 11:12:27 +0000 https://www.arrkgroup.com/?p=15039 The post The Changing Face of Outsourcing appeared first on Arrk Group.

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The Changing Face of Outsourcing

By Team Arrk

3 mins read

In a previous article we looked at how ‘SMEs Challenge Big Business Through Outsourcing’ and how it is levelling the playing field somewhat for SMEs, who simply can’t afford to match the in-house support services that larger companies maintain. By helping them act ‘big’, giving them access to the same economies of scale, efficiency, and expertise that large companies enjoy, leading practice SME organisations are using outsourcing to drive transformational change and improve business results.

 

Increased Flexibility Gives You More Options

A major shift in the outsourcing arena has also seen organisations benefiting from the increased flexibility in the options of ‘what’ and ‘how’ you can outsource, which is the focus of this article. Traditionally, outsourcing has been considered to replace an entire department like HR, or a particular function e.g. payroll. However, it’s now possible to enable your organisation to access and leverage the appropriate expertise to support your overall business strategy and goals across the entire digital lifecycle, either as an ad hoc or longer-term strategy.

 

Strategic Digital Consultancy

Most companies have very clear organisational aims and objectives, but these do not always include digital technologies as a strategic enabler.

Strategic digital consultancy engagements establish a common understanding amongst your executive team as to the vision and objectives and future roadmap for your digital programme, as well as assessing your organisational readiness to effectively leverage transformational change.

 

Architecture and Design

Each year, organisations around the world face astronomical project failure rates, often wasting millions of pounds per failed project. Projects most commonly fail because there is a lack of attention and efforts being applied to key project performance factors and there is a poor suitability and scalability of the current IT landscape from both an environment and software architecture perspective. Having an independent party review your current landscape, provides you with an unbiased ‘outside in’ view and can help you sharpen the focus on IT development projects, shaping the design of specific digital outcomes.

 

Development and Migration

Getting software into the hands of users as fast as possible and leveraging new technologies such as the cloud is a key business priority. By shrinking time to market and embracing change, you can respond rapidly to market changes and sustain a competitive advantage. However, this can put pressure on capacity and highlight capability issues within internal resource, which may increase delivery times. Outsourcing projects or full programmes of work gives you instant access to a global resource pool and enhanced technical skillsets. Plus, if you want to mitigate risk, there are outsourcing models available that allow you to manage and direct the resource, without incurring the fixed costs of overheads etc.

 

Support and Maintenance

Technology and the business environment are two of the fastest changing aspects of our world. Through outsourcing your support and maintenance, it ensures that you continue to get the most out of your investment, that it matches your business requirements of the time, and your employees know to optimise the systems that they use. Outsourcing can also help your business to shift its focus from peripheral activities toward work that serves the customer. Routine tasks such as updating legacy systems and maintaining your cloud environment can be transferred to free up valuable time for internal resource, so they can focus on innovation.

 

The good news is that you can now pick and choose what you may want to outsource and for how long. Each organisation is unique. And your outsourcing strategy must be formulated based on a clear understanding of your specific situational factors. Getting the basics right from the start by addressing the key considerations against your decision drivers, is key to ensuring long-term benefit and success. Need some guidance on which delivery model best suits your business? Download our Outsourcing Brochure now.

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Maintenance or modernisation? Build a legacy with your legacy systems https://www.arrkgroup.com/thought-leadership/maintenance-or-modernisation-build-a-legacy-with-your-legacy-systems/ Thu, 02 May 2019 09:46:41 +0000 https://www.arrkgroup.com/?p=14615 The post Maintenance or modernisation? Build a legacy with your legacy systems appeared first on Arrk Group.

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Maintenance or modernisation? Build a legacy with your legacy systems

By Team Arrk

5 mins read

Are your legacy systems a millstone around your neck and/or swallowing up valuable internal resource? When left behind in a business’ digital transformation, clunky legacy systems can affect a company’s speed to market as well as the ability to be reactive. If that rings a bell, the good news is that legacy systems don’t have to be a burden. Instead of working against you, they can work with you and become the foundation on which your business moves forward on its digital journey.

In a recent survey, 72% of C-suite executives stated that their legacy systems hamper their ability to migrate to new technologies and make their IT functions less responsive to market change. In any industry, having a competitive advantage and being quick to adapt to change in the market is integral for success – a legacy system that holds you back and decreases your competitive edge is therefore competing against your business goals.

There’s no solution that’ll fit every company, but there are two overarching routes you could go down; either modernising your legacy systems and making it fit for the future, or if it is fit for purpose, passing the responsibility of the support and maintenance to an external provider to free up valuable development resource in-house to focus on new innovations.

 

Modernisation

Sometimes, it’s simpler to take the easy route and implement additional applications instead of fixing what you’ve already got. But if your focus is on reducing your technical debt as well as aligning architectural and technical change to the needs of your business, modernisation could be the answer. Maximise the system you have already and make it work for you, while at the same streamlining and centralising your systems.

Cost is a big factor when it comes to updating and modernising, but an upfront cost that means a long-term solution rather than multiple smaller ‘band-aid’ costs spread over time – there’s no competition. If it means your bespoke software now has greater functionality and has realigned all your business processes, there’s no doubt that updating and modernising your legacy systems creates greater efficiency.

Of course, the size of the project will greatly impact your decision to allocate budget. From re-platforming your legacy with minimal code changes, to a complete re-build where the specifications stay the same, but you re-write the application component form scratch, it’s not a light decision to go down this route. But with increased speed to market, higher adaptability to market change, increased scope for innovation as well as increasing the capacity to manage new demands – it might just be worth it to turn your legacy systems into legend.

Additional ways to approach your modernisation can include re-hosting your system on the cloud or or even a full replacement – to discover all seven ways Arrk can assist your modernisation, discover our RemArrk™ application modernisation framework.

 

Maintenance and Support

When you do have a system that’s fit for purpose, but your team are bogged down in bug fixes, or you’re over reliant on one individual to manage it, outsourcing the support and maintenance of your legacy systems becomes the logical route.

Freeing up resource of your internal digital teams is one of the main reason’s companies look to outsource. Keeping staff motivated and happy should be a priority, but if a team of developers are required to constantly fix legacy system issues rather than developing new ideas – motivation can start to halter. By handing over the maintenance to an external provider, your digital teams can now focus on new innovations and look to the future.

Equally, if an individual who created the system wants to move onto new projects but can’t as they’re the only one with the know-how, they’ll often be stuck in that position until documentation of the system can be done. A massive benefit to handing over the maintenance is that it’ll have to be documented to allow the external team to manage and develop the system. So even if the outsourcing is a temporary fix for only a few months, the lasting legacy of the documentation will mean that multiple people will have access to the system’s processes and not just a sole responsibility.

This approach also means you now have more time to evaluate which direction you want your business to go in. While bug fixing and concentrating on support, roadmapping your company’s digital future might have taken a backseat when everyone knows this should be at the forefront of any growing business. Handing over the responsibility to an external party can therefore help to relieve some essential strategic planning time while your systems are being looked after.

Lastly – outsourcing can be the most immediate solution as straightaway you’ll have the appropriate skill-set at your fingertips. Not only that, but with a dedicated team, the ongoing development of the system will become part of day to day life. So as your team matures from being involved in innovative new projects rather than legacy management, your legacy system will also mature alongside.

 

Modernisation and maintenance offer two different solutions to grow, develop and refine your legacy systems. They can also work hand in hand to both mature your teams and mature your digital road map. Whether you choose one option, or both, making your legacy lightweight and nimble instead of a burden, is a sure-fire way to propel your business further to the front of the digital space race. Discover our COMPLIMENTARY legacy system review now.

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