Can outsourcing project support help?

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sjmuk1
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Joined: Wed 30 Mar 2011 7:30 am

Hi,
I’m a PS Manager for a smallish solutions company and we’re considering using a third party company to outsource all P2 project support/admin work to on a 'project by project' basis.
We are hoping to free up internal PM resources and cope better with the erratic arrival of projects.

We do not have the luxury of a PMO!

Does anyone have any experience of doing this and any lessons that were learned?

Did it work and actually increase the PM’s capacity and capability without increasing costs?

Who did you use and how much?

All help will be appreciated, Thanks.
obsidian90
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This might help you when you outsource projects: How to Outsource Anything Using 6 Top Outsourcing Websites

It lists the top outsourcing sites with a short review of each site mentioned so you'll have ideas on how the site works and their systems. These sites can be helpful when you are looking for people to outsource your projects. You can post your job/project in such sites and wait for people to bid for your project. You just have to include all the details and requirements of your posted project/job. Just indicate too that you will be paying on a project-by-project basis so people will bid on by project basis too. When you already have a lot of bidders, you can then choose which ones you will hire considering their rate, ratings and feedback of previous work and number of jobs they have completed. Don't worry, the article also talks on how you can effectively hire the best service provider. Just read.

Hope this helps!
claumcg
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Outsourcing project support can definitely help but the key for me is having an effective communication system with everyone involved in the project. You should schedule daily meetings to see the progress and update everyone on the project status. I recommend you use some internal software where you can assign tasks with deadlines, files, etc and can monitor them through this. I myself am working in Spain with a team and my boss is in the US, we've been using different softwares and meetings to maintain in contact. Hope this helps!
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satisfactionuk
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Location: Westminster - London

Hi,
You did not mention which project management system you are using PMI, APM, AIPM or Prince2, which will have serious compatibility issues between your company and the service provider.

You also you did not mention which project management software package you were using e.g. MS Project 20xx or if you are intending to use a dedicated risk management package and or configuration management package.

Of course if you farm out the PO administrative element of your projects then you may have to rely on the companies facilities which may present problems with familiarity (not only for the project manager but also for everyone else who uses the service to provide or receive information), access, usability and reliability not to mention security if it is website based.

Having solved these problems you may be faced with an additional costing issue, is the provider going to charge you a negotiated fixed price for the project or are their prices going to be time based on access to their server or on how many user accounts you intend to open. Is email and other networking facilities included in the price or are they an additional cost.

If you are looking for a full administrative service will they time restrict that service to between 9am and 5pm through Monday to Friday GMT. Would this restriction be detrimental to your projects timing and cost structure if you have projects are in other countries and time zones.

In the case of reliability what happens if their network is down because of a fault or a virus attack or is hacked in to and sensitive material is either deleted or stolen, who is deemed to be responsible and more significantly legally accountable?

Finally are these risk and associated cost justified when taking into account the cost and benefits of setting up your own Project Office?

Finally, in the marketplace high prices does not necessarily mean high customer satisfaction and the contra to this is also true. You will only find out if you have a good deal after paying the piper and in that case it may be to late.

My objective here is not to play the pessimist but to give you some serious issues to consider and hopefully help you come to an informed decision.
Kind regards

Stephan Toth
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