Lesson 6: DIY or?

THE question runs deep and till date. Whether an IT team should do stuff in-house or source it from a consultant, outsourcing provider, a cloud guy or a plug-in-off-the-shelf product? Self-prescribed IT and its treatment has always had its own genres of supporters and critics.

Sometimes, I too have failed. On other events, I have saved myself some bucks and headaches by doing things myself. I discussed this issue once with Manu Govind, Manager -Information Systems at Synthite. In his experience, when they go for a new project, and one where they might lack some expertise, it is better to avail of a consulting hand rather than jumping in frivolously. There is no point in getting stuck mid-way, specially when scoping is an issue, he recommended. Subject matter experts are not a bad idea then.

Vijay Sethi, CIO, Hero Motor Corp is a strong believer that one can not do anything all by oneself. So some outsourcing helps. The problem however, as he pointedly said was that most CIOs outsource even accountability. It should only be about giving out legs and limbs and not at all about the real responsibility. That's where the issue of DIY curdles up the wrong way. He would have had Dinesh Jain, Country manager, Teradata India nodding here. Jain also told me how ownership and decision-making abroad stays with IT departments while in India it can be often seen to be going to a SI or a consultant. We need more depth and ownership rather than leaving it someone else, as he nailed it well.

CIOs need to make sure that he hires at least couple of senior ERP consultants before deciding on implementation partner. These consultants would help in assessing the capabilities of the partner, offerings and overall project plan."Mistake at this stage is proved fatal from the implementation point of view", this is what Shrikant Kulkarni, Senior VP & CIO, KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd believes as well. 

Now son, whether you plan to soil your own hands as you mow about our IT lawns or you hire a machine or a man who does it better, you will still have to decide if the grass on the neighbour's side looks greener. Is sowing new stuff worth the expense? Hype can be tempting and so can be complacence. Time to talk about something confusing.