The IT Worker Shortage: Practical Considerations for Tech Buyers
I recently had a fellow practitioner, Tim Nuckles, ask me to review an article he had written. As the title above suggests, his topic is very current and provides some very insightful suggestions. In keeping with my stated goal for this Blog, I highly recommend it to me readers.
His premise begins by stating that the IT worker shortage, as most IT Directors and HR departments can attest, is real. Nuckles lists and analyzes some very real and helpful alternatives to help the “Tech Buyer” navigate through this present condition.
It follows that a tight IT worker market affects not only the organization seeking such workers, but also the outside vendors who employ these workers in great numbers and count on them for their “engagement capacity and growth opportunities”.
Nuckles suggests the following when deciding to use outside vendors for IT projects:
1. RFI/RFP process: Streamline the response time. Tailor your RFI to the specific requirements of the project. In order to obtain more responses in a faster time, layer your RFI’s by making them subject to amendment and supplement. Request only the most detailed information from the most qualified vendors. Put all standard procurement terms in an attachment or direct the vendor to a website.
2. Pricing: Now may not be the time to squeeze a vendor on their rates. The alternative is to leverage the vendor’s refusal to discount to extract better fee holdbacks, software buyback options, creative testing and acceptance models, and penalties for milestone delays.
3. Bundling: The prospect of future revenue for future products and/or services may incentivize the vendor on current pricing or lock in the future rate.
4. Get the Vendor’s A-Team: Identify those resources through referrals, demos, and test cases. The on-site presence of such individuals assures the project will move forward at a faster pace. Be cautious about demanding a fixed fee arrangement. Such arrangements cede more control to the vendor and as cost margins grow the A-Team will get pulled and put on more profitable projects.
5. Offshore Outsourcing: This may have its pricing benefits but comes at a cost in other areas.
6. Off The Shelf vs. Customization: Consider changing your requirements to match the OTS functionality as much as possible.
Nuckles discusses all of the above keys issues in greater detail in his article.
Tim Nuckles is a Wisconsin technology attorney whose practice is dedicated to technology transactions and the workout of troubled technology projects. You may visit the firm’s web site at www.nuckleslaw.com.
