Introducing sustainable IT sourcing strategies

In the financial sector, current developments expose IT support to tensions resulting from the ability to deliver, complexity as well as risks and costs. To ease these tensions, one solution is to manage internal production depth in a targeted way, but without neglecting the core competences of the enterprise. A possible alternative is sourcing with a view to entrusting external partners with IT services.

The mobilisation of internal value creation reserves is a key success factor for achieving cost advantages and a competitive edge and thereby strengthening the performance of the enterprise. This aim can be reached by optimising production depth. The required management of production depth pursues clear objectives, such as optimising costs, reducing time-to-market, focusing on core competences or eliminating capacity bottlenecks.
There is, however, no one-size-fits-all solution for alternative sourcing in the framework of the production depth’s optimisation. Rather, it has to be oriented individually and situationally to the enterprise taking special account of the specific business models, the processes or the fields of application in the enterprise. In this context, the effective management of production depth has to consider all IT activity fields. To this effect, the following questions have to be addressed:

• Which objectives are reached by the alternative sourcing of IT services?
• Which models for co-operation and sourcing make sense and are feasible from the enterprise’s perspective?
• Which benefits and risks arise out of a changed sourcing model?
• What is the optimal solution for controlling services and external partners?
• How can be made sure that alternative models for co-operation and sourcing can be successfully operated in the long term?

A sourcing strategy designed on the basis of these issues does not only serve the purpose of ensuring the optimum procurement of IT services in the short term, but rather makes it possible to establish a sustainable and efficient management and control of the IT function in the enterprise in the long term.

Through zeb/sourcing, zeb/ offers an approach for setting up and implementing a sustainable sourcing management in the enterprise. The approach takes account of the different functional, organisational and technical requirements that are necessary for the optimal design of sourcing for IT services. For that purpose, zeb/sourcing is structured into specific, co-ordinated modules:

• Analysis and assessment of core competences and areas resulting in a competitive edge as well as identification of the optimum sourcing level with a view to make-or-buy assessments
• Alignment of software, co-operation and sourcing models in the form of a sustainable sourcing strategy
• Preparation and stabilisation of the institutions through targeted pre-transition and post-transition programmes as well as successful performance of the switch by means of IT transition management
• Development of the service level agreements required for ensuring the transparency and measurability of the services concerned
• Establishment of tangible provider management and IT governance in line with sourcing in the sense of retained organisation
• Adjustment and re-orientation of risk management to existing and future sourcing relationships
• Realisation of efficiency advantages by means of comprehensive business process sourcing taking account of the possibility of full-service sourcing
• Support in the selection of sourcing partners with regard to the aspects related to processes, applications and infrastructure
• Assistance in the acquisition and sale of sourcing units
• Support in the re-integration of external services

The consideration of the various modules of zeb/it.sourcing makes a sustainable management of sourcing possible throughout the entire sourcing lifecycle.

zeb/sourcing covers all issues related to the optimisation of internal production depth. It focuses on the utilisation of different co-operation and sourcing models and on ensuring smooth co-operation with external partners. zeb/sourcing is standardised along well-proven reference models that guarantee the fast implementation of sourcing strategies. In parallel, however, zeb/sourcing offers the necessary scope for adaptation to institution-specific requirements and priorities.