e techies. If utilisation or rate decreases, there is cash burn. Eventually heads need to roll, literally out of the door, so that the company can survive.

If that isn't motivation for folk to deliver projects on time, to budget I don't know what is.

Furthermore, this is fairly good motivation to establish a good working relationship with your clients so that [a] there is repeat business and [b] you've got references and t

Working in an internal IT department has its benefits. If a company has one at all, it is an indication of its revenue, after all IT staff aren't cheap. One could take this a step further and make the assumption that the package is likely to be competitive, relative to the market, and include such things as car allowance, interest free loans and medical cover for you and the family. Sounds pretty good doesn't it(?). What I think is missing though is the client to service provider relationship.

The IT department is part of the furniture of the organisation, it has a monopoly on IT services within the company. Let's explore this a little. Having an internal monopoly is bad for all parties. Think of the employee, almost without realising it he/she has limited their exposure to technology and the application of it. Of course they have, they are only going to be implementing within this single company which, presumably, only works within a particular market sector, offering particular products. Now I'm not saying that this means people will have experience so narrow that it's worthless, but it will be narrow. What about the business itself then. They can only go to one source for advice and implementation. No option to use the RFI, RFP approach, conduct supplier interviews or perform commercial negotiations. There are no negotiations here, you have a fixed internal rate and that's the end of it.

When you work for the supplier (particularly a small one), chargeable utilisation is paramount and measured constantly. Apply this with rates and you know exactly what's going on in the bank account. Senior staff don't all have their own PA's, fixed overheads are minimised down to flowers in reception and coffee beans for the techies. If utilisation or rate decreases, there is cash burn. Eventually heads need to roll, literally out of the door, so that the company can survive.

If that isn't motivation for folk to deliver projects on time, to budget I don't know what is.

Furthermore, this is fairly good motivation to establish a good working relationship with your clients so that [a] there is repeat business and [b] you've got references and th

ssing though is the client to service provider relationship.

The IT department is part of the furniture of the organisation, it has a monopoly on IT services within the company. Let's explore this a little. Having an internal monopoly is bad for all parties. Think of the employee, almost without realising it he/she has limited their exposure to technology and the application of it. Of course they have, they are only going to be implementing within this single company which, presumably, only works within a particular market sector, offering particular products. Now I'm not saying that this means people will have experience so narrow that it's worthless, but it will be narrow. What about the business itself then. They can only go to one source for advice and implementation. No option to use the RFI, RFP approach, conduct supplier interviews or perform commercial negotiations. There are no negotiations here, you have a fixed internal rate and that's the end of it.

When you work for the supplier (particularly a small one), chargeable utilisation is paramount and measured constantly. Apply this with rates and you know exactly what's going on in the bank account. Senior staff don't all have their own PA's, fixed overheads are minimised down to flowers in reception and coffee beans for the techies. If utilisation or rate decreases, there is cash burn. Eventually heads need to roll, literally out of the door, so that the company can survive.

If that isn't motivation for folk to deliver projects on time, to budget I don't know what is.

Furthermore, this is fairly good motivation to establish a good working relationship with your clients so that [a] there is repeat business and [b] you've got references and t

implementing within this single company which, presumably, only works within a particular market sector, offering particular products. Now I'm not saying that this means people will have experience so narrow that it's worthless, but it will be narrow. What about the business itself then. They can only go to one source for advice and implementation. No option to use the RFI, RFP approach, conduct supplier interviews or perform commercial negotiations. There are no negotiations here, you have a fixed internal rate and that's the end of it.

When you work for the supplier (particularly a small one), chargeable utilisation is paramount and measured constantly. Apply this with rates and you know exactly what's going on in the bank account. Senior staff don't all have their own PA's, fixed overheads are minimised down to flowers in reception and coffee beans for the techies. If utilisation or rate decreases, there is cash burn. Eventually heads need to roll, literally out of the door, so that the company can survive.

If that isn't motivation for folk to deliver projects on time, to budget I don't know what is.

Furthermore, this is fairly good motivation to establish a good working relationship with your clients so that [a] there is repeat business and [b] you've got references and t

al negotiations. There are no negotiations here, you have a fixed internal rate and that's the end of it.

When you work for the supplier (particularly a small one), chargeable utilisation is paramount and measured constantly. Apply this with rates and you know exactly what's going on in the bank account. Senior staff don't all have their own PA's, fixed overheads are minimised down to flowers in reception and coffee beans for the techies. If utilisation or rate decreases, there is cash burn. Eventually heads need to roll, literally out of the door, so that the company can survive.

If that isn't motivation for folk to deliver projects on time, to budget I don't know what is.

Furthermore, this is fairly good motivation to establish a good working relationship with your clients so that [a] there is repeat business and [b] you've got references and t

e techies. If utilisation or rate decreases, there is cash burn. Eventually heads need to roll, literally out of the door, so that the company can survive.

If that isn't motivation for folk to deliver projects on time, to budget I don't know what is.

Furthermore, this is fairly good motivation to establish a good working relationship with your clients so that [a] there is repeat business and [b] you've got references and the potential for case studies. So where does all of this sit when you're an internal IT department? It doesn't. So what, I hear you say - none of this affects me in my cosy cubicle in my centralised office for my Big Brand company. Well, be careful...you might be wrong.

Think of this, your company can afford you and you're not cheap. You want a car, a bonus, a travel allowance, medical benefits, 30 days holiday, 2 weeks a year training, you want to get paid even when you're not working because you're "sick" - you are expensive.

Stating the obvious now, this means that your employer ahs money, money to spend on IT. The question is, do you now what this means...? OK, I'll let you in on a secret. It means that other people would like that money. They would like to earn the money that currently gets paid to you. The rest is simple. You see what happens is that someone forms a company to provide IT services. These services include your exact job, the exact job description. But there's are some differences, ones that are pretty hard for you to compete with;

1. They'll be cheaper

Your skills are generic IT skills, they are not location specific. So, let's go somewhere in the world where labour is cheaper and source your skills.

2. They will only charge for work that they do You cost money every day, regardless of whether you actually do anything productive or not.

3. They will offer guarantees. No delivery, no pay - simple as that You don't offer any. If is doesn't work, you'll carry on clocking up time until it does.

4. They will offer fixed price projects. You specify, they deliver, you pay. You won't do this, many can't do this. It's too much pressure for many.

So there's just fou