Be an ISP: internal services provider

摘要

A big buzzword these days for network and communications teams is "internal services providerrThe idea is for the communications group to position itself as a provider of a range of services to the organization's users, typically with a chargeback mechanism in place. Why? One reason is to lay to rest the notion that outsourcers can provide higher-quality services at a lower cost.Typically, they can't - they can do one or the other, but not both. (As the old consulting adage goes: You can have faster, better or cheaper - pick two.) If you want outsourcers to provide services that are both better and less expensive - well, good luck with that. However, a communications team can't make that argument if neither the quality nor the cost of the services they provide is measured and quantified. So one reason to restructure the communications team as an internal services provider is to put in place the metrics to demonstrate that services provided internally are either less expensive or better than those provided from outsourcers.