Chuck Vermillion is CEO and founder of OneNeck IT Services, a leading provider of hosted application management and managed services since 1997. For more information about Oracle Management, visit http://www.oneneck.com/Solutions.aspx today.

1. Oracle Management Services
How to Avoid Outsourcing Pitfalls

2. Oracle Management
• Outsourcing Oracle management services will
continue to become a viable strategic choice
among more and more companies.
• The pressure is on for businesses to leverage
their ERP applications to improve processes
and ultimately have a positive impact on the
bottom line.

3. Oracle Management
• The most important factor in successful Oracle
management services is selecting the right
outsourcing vendor from the beginning.
• The wrong partner can be costly and changing
vendors can be a difficult transition.
• The most important qualification for an IT
outsourcing provider is to have proven
experience in the required application
environment.

4. Oracle Management
• For Oracle management services, companies
need a service provider with verifiable
expertise in Oracle applications and
widespread experience managing Oracle
environments.
• Finding certified Oracle partners is an initial
step in identifying qualified candidates.

5. Oracle Management
• If companies focus on qualifying criteria with
the most impact, they have a better chance of
securing the best relationship with an Oracle
management services provider.
• Rather than evaluate a plethora of
qualifications, businesses should focus on
answering at least the following eight
questions:

6. Oracle Management
• What are the outsourcing firm’s service
offerings and how do they measure in terms
of quality and reliability?
• What is the Oracle management provider’s
level of application management skills and
does the vendor have access to new
technologies?

7. Oracle Management
• Can you verify the expertise, technical skills
and resumes of the outsourcing company’s
staff?
• Does the Oracle management services
company have a good reputation, track
record, references and other third party,
objective endorsements?

8. Oracle Management
• Does the outsourcing firm have global delivery
capabilities and facilities strategically located?
• Does the vendor’s pricing provide the
necessary cost savings and value?

9. Oracle Management
• Is the Oracle management services provider
financially stable and have adequate funding
to ensure they’ll be around for the long haul?
• Is the outsourcing company’s corporate
culture a good fit with the customer’s
executives, technical staff and end-users?

10. Oracle Management
• The next criteria for companies evaluating
outsourcing providers is assessing the vendor’s
performance measurements.
• Often performance criteria are spelled out in the
agreements with specific metrics.
• To ensure the best partnership, the outsourcing
agreement must include a detailed description of
services and the measurement criteria to be used
for performance evaluation.

11. Oracle Management
• Having issues with the scope of services after
an agreement is in place can put a strain on
the relationship.
• Both parties must develop and agree on a
comprehensive set of services, deliverables,
pricing, schedules and performance levels.
• What penalties occur if certain performance
levels are not maintained?

12. Oracle Management
• Finally, an important part of an outsourcing
arrangement is managing the vendor.
• Although the outsourcing company will be
assuming the work is clearly defined in legal
Statements of Work (SOW’s), they will still need
to have open channels of communication with
the customer.
• Active involvement by both parties will ensure
project goals are met and the relationship can
move forward productively.

13. Oracle Management
• Outsourcing Oracle management services will
continue to grow as more companies realize
the value of not having an entire in-house
operation.
• As time goes on, outsourcing is expected to
offer more cost efficient, and value justified,
application management solutions.

14. About the Author
• Chuck Vermillion is CEO and founder of
OneNeck IT Services, a leading provider of
hosted application management and managed
services since 1997. For more information
about Oracle Management, visit
http://www.oneneck.com/Solutions.aspx
today.