| Ever wonder how to build an information technology outsourcing relationship that will allow your company to concentrate on what you do best? CTI will sponsor “IT Outsourcing Panel Discussion,” which will answer those questions.
Organized by Assistant Professor Olayele Adelakun, an expert in IT outsourcing, the conference will gather some of the industry’s leading authorities in this emerging field.
The conference will address many aspects of IT outsourcing, including how to begin, challenges that face both corporations and government organizations, and offshore outsourcing (managing contracts with IT centers outside the United States).
“It used to be that only small companies outsourced their IT function. It’s no longer only small companies but also large corporations,” says Adelakun, who began teaching at CTI last fall.
“IT systems need to change with business, so how do you build and maintain a relationship that will be effective? Many organizations do not know how to go about it,” Adelakun says.
“People in corporations are realizing that they cannot win the battle on every front—marketing, product design, production, price and quality—so they concentrate on their strengths. If they don’t use outsourcing, then they lose their focus on what they are supposed to do.”
Adelakun attributes this shift to two factors: the increased skills required to maintain ever more complex technology and the need to change outdated systems of the 1980s.
Some corporations are choosing to outsource their IT centers instead of overhauling their old systems, he says.
“Due to the rapid evolution in the IT industry, organizations cannot keep up with the speed of change and still have enough time to spend on their core competence.” Adelakun also cited the expense involved in continually training IT staff as another driver behind the outsourcing trend.
Conference speakers will include Wendell Jones, chief executive officer of GrayHare Partners and an internationally-renowned expert in the field; Peter Bendor-Samuel, chief executive officer of Outsourcing Center and one of the world’s leading consultants in outsourcing; Mark Dieterle, vice president of the technology management group at CSC; and Michael Fisher, vice president for strategic business development at EDS.
Both Dieterle and Fisher have handled IT outsourcing contracts worth nearly $1 billion, says Adelakun.
He says he hopes the conference will further collaboration between CTI and the business world. “The whole idea is to exchange knowledge. That’s where DePaul CTI comes in as a center where we can exchange knowledge.”
For more information, go to the conference Web site at http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/yele/program1.html or call Adelakun at (312) 362-8231 or Amanda D’Agata at (312) 540-7229.
To learn more about IT outsourcing, Adelakun recommends “Turning Lead into Gold: the Demystification of Outsourcing” by Peter Bendor-Samuel (Executive Excellence).
|
