IT outsourcing

[Guest Jaack]

We are non-IT company and now we have decided to outsource small internal IT

department. That should be like following:

- maintenance the currently IT services (AD, Exchange, firewall) - monthly

maintenance

- install all IT network structure from the begining (server and desktop

side).

 

What should I check with oursource partner team? Can I download any

pre-check list and use it during implement new network?

 

 

Thnx.

[Guest Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Re: IT outsourcing

 

Jaack <jaack@_REMOVE_THIS_> wrote:

> We are non-IT company and now we have decided to outsource small

> internal IT department. That should be like following:

> - maintenance the currently IT services (AD, Exchange, firewall) -

> monthly maintenance

> - install all IT network structure from the begining (server and

> desktop side).

>

> What should I check with oursource partner team? Can I download any

> pre-check list and use it during implement new network?

>

>

> Thnx.

 

I don't know of a checklist - and am not sure what you mean by "implement

new network."

 

There's no way for anyone here to be able to see your network config, so

it's hard to make specific recommendations for things you want to ask

potential candidates. Who's been doing the work up til now? Do you have

comprehensive network documentation?

Ideally, you'd start by getting contact names/referrals from other companies

who have outsourced their IT to consultants - and start interviewing.

 

Some areas to cover -

 

Backups

Antivirus

Patching

Security

Remote Access

 

And of course they need to provide references.

[Guest Jaack]

Re: IT outsourcing

 

> Some areas to cover -

>

> Backups

> Antivirus

> Patching

> Security

> Remote Access

>

> And of course they need to provide references.

>

 

Well, I'd like to implement official rules for currently branch office

(outsourcing all IT services) and for any new office in the future. It

doesn't metter for me if they'll check 2 or 200 services on my network, but

I have to be sure that my network goes through standard procedure.

We are big corporation and we're interested for some official documents and

processes. Do you know anything about

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/solutionaccelerators/cits/mo/mof/default.mspx

or http://www.microsoft.com/technet/solutionaccelerators/msf/default.mspx?

I'm not familir with that one... There are a lot off documentations and

maybe we could go on that way...?

[Guest Ryan Hanisco]

Re: IT outsourcing

 

Jaack,

 

A lot of consulting companies, the one I work for included (Magenic), base

the core of their practice on the MSF and MOF, especially as they integrate

with the ITIL standards. This is a good starting point, but there is more to

implementing these ideals than just following the framework.

 

You'll want to make sure that you do a technical interview with the company.

You will want to ask for references for other projects that the company has

done -- they should be able to give you a few customers for which they have

done this kind of work. Many companies will even provide you with

resumes of the engineers that would be working on the project and arrange for

a one on one technical interview. Aside from this you are really looking for

a few other traits:

 

-- Look for a company that has a methodology but that is able to work in

your situation. If they aren't asking a lot of questions, they aren't really

engaged and are looking to provide you only what their cookie cutter allows.

 

-- Ask for an example design document that they have done for another

company. You can usually get a sanitized version of something they have done

in another location. Documentation is critically important and it will

facilitate hand off.

 

-- Talk to your local Microsoft office and ask for recommendations for a

partner that can help you. They'll usually have a managed partner or gold

partner with which they work closely and are willing to route business to.

 

-- Ask questions about the whole outsourcing process and don't expect to

hand the

project off to be magically completed. For this to go well, you'll need to

have some skin in the game to work with the implementors to be sure you are

getting what you want.

 

-- At the same time, they should be providing suggestions to streamline

operations and help you through the transition. You'll want to

ask plenty of questions and explore options. If they are only willing to

follow your explicit direction without discussion, you are missing half of

the value of having someone to partner with.

 

--

Ryan Hanisco

MCSE, MCTS: SQL 2005, Project+

http://www.techsterity.com

Chicago, IL

 

Remember: Marking helpful answers helps everyone find the info they need

quickly.

 

 

"Jaack" wrote:

> > Some areas to cover -

> >

> > Backups

> > Antivirus

> > Patching

> > Security

> > Remote Access

> >

> > And of course they need to provide references.

> >

>

> Well, I'd like to implement official rules for currently branch office

> (outsourcing all IT services) and for any new office in the future. It

> doesn't metter for me if they'll check 2 or 200 services on my network, but

> I have to be sure that my network goes through standard procedure.

> We are big corporation and we're interested for some official documents and

> processes. Do you know anything about

> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/solutionaccelerators/cits/mo/mof/default.mspx

> or http://www.microsoft.com/technet/solutionaccelerators/msf/default.mspx?

> I'm not familir with that one... There are a lot off documentations and

> maybe we could go on that way...?

>

>

>

[Guest Jaack]

Re: IT outsourcing

 

"Ryan Hanisco" <RyanHanisco@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:9F26BB18-DB3D-4415-A484-AD153144B117@microsoft.com...

> Jaack,

>

> A lot of consulting companies, the one I work for included (Magenic), base

> the core of their practice on the MSF and MOF, especially as they

> integrate

> with the ITIL standards. This is a good starting point, but there is more

> to

> implementing these ideals than just following the framework.

 

What is the best way to start out for my company? I can see a lot of

documents on MS web (ITIL, MOF, MSF) but can you suggest somethnig to

start... Or should I check all documents step by step...

> -- Look for a company that has a methodology but that is able to work in

> your situation.

 

That I need! Methodology to check all proccess... We are the best company in

our area (which is not IT), and I need something like "overview", "best

practites", "standard template" or any other official procedure where we can

monitor their job. We need strongly procedure for pre-sales (how to check

for currently servers), implement new servers on network domain and as final

monitoring, reports,....

 

> -- Ask for an example design document that they have done for another

> company. You can usually get a sanitized version of something they have

> done

> in another location. Documentation is critically important and it will

> facilitate hand off.

>

> -- Talk to your local Microsoft office and ask for recommendations for a

> partner that can help you. They'll usually have a managed partner or

> gold

> partner with which they work closely and are willing to route business to.

>

> -- Ask questions about the whole outsourcing process and don't expect to

> hand the

> project off to be magically completed. For this to go well, you'll need

> to

> have some skin in the game to work with the implementors to be sure you

> are

> getting what you want.

>

> -- At the same time, they should be providing suggestions to streamline

> operations and help you through the transition. You'll want to

> ask plenty of questions and explore options. If they are only willing to

> follow your explicit direction without discussion, you are missing half of

> the value of having someone to partner with.

>

 

It's very importan, and I'll use your suggestions, but as I said, I don't

want to trust to any company even they are MS partner. I need their

procedure so that is the way where we could monitor their job. .

[Guest Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Re: IT outsourcing

 

Jaack <jaack@_REMOVE_THIS_> wrote:

> "Ryan Hanisco" <RyanHanisco@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in

> message news:9F26BB18-DB3D-4415-A484-AD153144B117@microsoft.com...

>> Jaack,

>>

>> A lot of consulting companies, the one I work for included

>> (Magenic), base the core of their practice on the MSF and MOF,

>> especially as they integrate

>> with the ITIL standards. This is a good starting point, but there is

>> more to

>> implementing these ideals than just following the framework.

>

> What is the best way to start out for my company? I can see a lot of

> documents on MS web (ITIL, MOF, MSF) but can you suggest somethnig to

> start... Or should I check all documents step by step...

>

>> -- Look for a company that has a methodology but that is able to

>> work in your situation.

>

> That I need! Methodology to check all proccess... We are the best

> company in our area (which is not IT), and I need something like

> "overview", "best practites", "standard template" or any other

> official procedure where we can monitor their job. We need strongly

> procedure for pre-sales (how to check for currently servers),

> implement new servers on network domain and as final monitoring,

> reports,....

>

>> -- Ask for an example design document that they have done for another

>> company. You can usually get a sanitized version of something they

>> have done

>> in another location. Documentation is critically important and it

>> will facilitate hand off.

>>

>> -- Talk to your local Microsoft office and ask for recommendations

>> for a partner that can help you. They'll usually have a managed

>> partner or gold

>> partner with which they work closely and are willing to route

>> business to. -- Ask questions about the whole outsourcing process and

>> don't

>> expect to hand the

>> project off to be magically completed. For this to go well, you'll

>> need to

>> have some skin in the game to work with the implementors to be sure

>> you are

>> getting what you want.

>>

>> -- At the same time, they should be providing suggestions to

>> streamline operations and help you through the transition. You'll

>> want to ask plenty of questions and explore options. If they are only

>> willing to follow your explicit direction without discussion, you

>> are missing half of the value of having someone to partner with.

>>

>

> It's very importan, and I'll use your suggestions, but as I said, I

> don't want to trust to any company even they are MS partner. I need

> their procedure so that is the way where we could monitor their job. .

 

You've already gotten a wealth of suggestions here - but note that this is

a group for technical issues pertaining to Windows server, so I'm not sure

it's going to be the best place for your continued questions on this topic.

[Guest Ryan Hanisco]

Re: IT outsourcing

 

Comments in Text...

 

"Jaack" wrote:

> "Ryan Hanisco" <RyanHanisco@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:9F26BB18-DB3D-4415-A484-AD153144B117@microsoft.com...

> > Jaack,

> >

> > A lot of consulting companies, the one I work for included (Magenic), base

> > the core of their practice on the MSF and MOF, especially as they

> > integrate

> > with the ITIL standards. This is a good starting point, but there is more

> > to

> > implementing these ideals than just following the framework.

>

> What is the best way to start out for my company? I can see a lot of

> documents on MS web (ITIL, MOF, MSF) but can you suggest something to

> start... Or should I check all documents step by step...

 

ITIL and the MOF make a great foundation for the Service and Operations side

of IT. These are a good starting point for looking at your Change

Management, Service Management, system availability, asset management, etc.

 

If you are a development organization that builds custom software or

develops in-house, the MSF can be a good tool to bring those practices into a

common standard that interfaces well with the MOF.

 

None of these frameworks should be considered THE ANSWER to your IT

problems. In some cases the process and committee portions might be heavy

for you or they might not give you enough detail on how to implement a

process. This is where experience and a deployment methodology come into

play. Implementing these is a long-term strategic initiative that will need

corporate buy-in as well as strong internal evangelism as it really boils

down to a cultural shift in your organization. The long-term benefit is an

reduction of defects during implementation (think six sigma) as well as the

ability to track issues to provide transparency into processes and real

metrics.

>

> > -- Look for a company that has a methodology but that is able to work in

> > your situation.

>

> That I need! Methodology to check all proccess... We are the best company in

> our area (which is not IT), and I need something like "overview", "best

> practices", "standard template" or any other official procedure where we can

> monitor their job. We need strongly procedure for pre-sales (how to check

> for currently servers), implement new servers on network domain and as final

> monitoring, reports,....

>

 

It really sounds like you need to build and IT baseline so you can identify

what you have and match that to where you would like to be 18 months from

now. This will help you build a strategic plan as you incorporate one of the

frameworks. When talking with potential companies, make sure you ask hard

questions about how they would interact with your company and what milestones

they would established as you progress toward your goal.

>

> > -- Ask for an example design document that they have done for another

> > company. You can usually get a sanitized version of something they have

> > done

> > in another location. Documentation is critically important and it will

> > facilitate hand off.

> >

> > -- Talk to your local Microsoft office and ask for recommendations for a

> > partner that can help you. They'll usually have a managed partner or

> > gold

> > partner with which they work closely and are willing to route business to.

> >

> > -- Ask questions about the whole outsourcing process and don't expect to

> > hand the

> > project off to be magically completed. For this to go well, you'll need

> > to

> > have some skin in the game to work with the implementors to be sure you

> > are

> > getting what you want.

> >

> > -- At the same time, they should be providing suggestions to streamline

> > operations and help you through the transition. You'll want to

> > ask plenty of questions and explore options. If they are only willing to

> > follow your explicit direction without discussion, you are missing half of

> > the value of having someone to partner with.

> >

>

> It's very important, and I'll use your suggestions, but as I said, I don't

> want to trust to any company even they are MS partner. I need their

> procedure so that is the way where we could monitor their job. .

>

 

I completely agree and it is important that you get a company that is going

to work with you and your company's culture. Just being a MS partner is not

enough to make the decision, but MS can help you narrow the field.

 

When working with a new partner, you will want to be in constant contact as

you need to be part of the process. Once you have a plan for integrating

them into your environment and a good working relationship, more autonomy

will be possible as they learn your business and you trust them.

>

>

 

I hope this helps.

 

Ryan Hanisco