1. Direct strategic planning for outsourced IT services

1.1 Identify IT services to be outsourced

1.2 Establish criteria for outsourcing model

1.3 Analyse impact on current organisational environment

1.4 Select an appropriate business model for outsourcing against identified criteria

1.5 Research appropriate IT service providers (vendor evaluation) against identified criteria

1.6 Develop the strategic plan for outsourced IT services

2. Lead risk management of outsourced IT services

2.1 Specify relevant security requirements

2.2 Lead development of change-management strategy

2.3 Negotiate performance and security strategy with IT service provider

2.4 Ensure risk assessment process undertaken for outsourced services complies with organisational policy

2.5 Ensure risk mitigation addresses identified risks

3. Monitor performance levels of outsourced IT service performance agreement

3.1 Develop external IT provider SLAs

3.2 Ensure external IT service provider agreed performance levels are maintained

3.3 Monitor the setting, tracking and management of SLAs as an important part of outsourcing relationship management (ORM)

3.4 Ensure continuous improvement of outsourced IT services

Overview of assessment

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit

Evidence of the ability to:

develop strategic directions for outsourcing of IT resources in alignment with organisational goals

conduct risk analysis on outsourced IT services and implement procedures that identify where risk occurs and what measures need to be taken to handle the risk

produce contingency plans in cooperation with external parties

establish warning systems and an ongoing process that includes regular or programmed reviews of the risk profile of outsourced IT services

negotiate and monitor SLAs with external clients.

Context of and specific resources for assessment

Assessment must ensure access to:

relevant strategic level enterprise documentation, including planning, financial and IT infrastructure documentation

relevant legislative policies.

Where applicable, physical resources should include equipment modified for people with special needs.

Method of assessment

A range of assessment methods should be used to assess practical skills and knowledge. The following examples are appropriate for this unit:

direct observation of the candidate carrying out project work

verbal or written questioning to assess required knowledge and skills

review of reports and implementation plans

review of a portfolio of the project work undertaken.

Note: The preferred assessment method is through a workplace project or through a simulated medium to large enterprise workplace.

Guidance information for assessment

Holistic assessment with other units relevant to the industry sector, workplace and job role is recommended, where appropriate.

Assessment processes and techniques must be culturally appropriate, and suitable to the communication skill level, language, literacy and numeracy capacity of the candidate and the work being performed.

Indigenous people and other people from a non-English speaking background may need additional support.

In cases where practical assessment is used it should be combined with targeted questioning to assess required knowledge.

IT services to be outsourced may include:

backup or recovery

data cleansing

data storage

disaster recovery

hardware, software or network support

help desk

network infrastructure

programming.

Outsourcing model refers to:

business model for the procurement of external services approved by the organisation

financial penalties and the right to terminate if SLAs are consistently missed

transfer of responsibility from an organisation to a supplier.

Organisational environment may include:

business or management structure

conglomerate of business entities

external environment in which a business is operating, including contractors and externally provided services

specific business entity

way in which organisational members perceive and characterise their environment in an attitudinal and value-based manner.

Business model may include:

broad range of formal and informal descriptions to represent core aspects of a business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organisational structures, trading practices, and operational processes and policies

business, system, application, network or people in the organisation

framework or strategy to enable business targets to be met.

IT service providers (vendor evaluation) may include:

individuals or organisations contracted to provide services to the organisation to achieve financial or operational targets

internal departments, external organisations, individual people and employees.

Strategic plan may include:

components from separate disciplines, such as IT or human resources

mission, vision and values

objectives and targets

organisational environment

part of organisational strategic plan or a stand-alone document

process of the organisation’s definition of its strategy or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people.

Security requirements may include:

plans to address theft, viruses, standards (including archival, backup, network), privacy, audits, alerts and usually relate directly to security objectives of organisation

relevant government legislation, organisational security policies, customs, expertise and knowledge

system in terms of databases, applications, servers, operating system, gateways, application service provider (ASP) and internet service provider (ISP)

threats relating to eavesdropping, manipulation, impersonation, penetration, denial of service and by-pass, hackers and viruses

threats to security that are, or are held to be, present in the environment, encryption, passwords, hardware, authentication and policies.

Change-management strategy may refer to:

benchmarks that could include technical, cost savings, performance and quality benchmarks

business, system, application, network or people in the organisation

change procedures that are verbal, documented, process-based, socially-based or incremental, and may be the result of an impact on quality, cost or OHS

department within the organisation or a third party

formal procedures that must be adhered to

stakeholders, including end user, internal or external client, government body, corporate body and community groups.

Security strategy may include:

person within a department, a department within the organisation or a third party

privacy, authentication, authorisation and integrity, and usually relates directly to the security objectives of the organisation.

Organisational policy may refer to:

documentation internal to the organisation that guides actions that are particular to the organisation issuing the policy, and guides processes that are most likely to achieve a desired outcome

process of making important organisational decisions, including the identification of different alternatives, such as programs or spending priorities, and choosing among them on the basis of the impact they will have

political, management, financial and administrative mechanisms arranged to reach explicit goals.

Risk mitigation may include:

identification of one or more potential solutions to reduce or remove each risk if it arises

implementation of policies or actions that identify risks in an existing or planned process.

SLAs may refer to:

common understanding about services, priorities, responsibilities, guarantees and warranties

negotiated agreement between two parties where one is the customer and the other is the service provider; this can be a legally binding formal or informal 'contract'

part of a service contract where the level of service is formally defined

specific SLAs that are negotiated up front as part of the outsourcing contract, and are used as one of the primary tools of outsourcing governance.

Performance levels may refer to:

contracted delivery time or performance of the service

levels of availability, serviceability, performance, operation, or other attributes of the service, such as billing.

Outsourcing relationship managementmay refer to:

elements of organisational structure, management strategy and information technology infrastructure

management of one or more external service providers as part of an outsourcing strategy

the three aspects of ORM that companies typically pursue as part of their outsourcing strategy:

IT infrastructure

management strategy

organisational structure.

Continuous improvement may relate to:

efforts that seek incremental improvement over time or breakthrough improvement at once

ongoing effort to improve products, services or processes

processes that are constantly evaluated and improved in the light of their efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility.