An enterprise technology transformation initiative is without a doubt one of the most critical capital expenditures a company can make. It is full of risk—any number of things can go wrong, preventing you from achieving key milestones and delaying your ability to realize ROI on your investment. And although it may not be the first thing that comes to mind, one of those risks is staffing. Hire the right people, and they will bring experience, industry best practices, and specialized skillsets that will keep your initiative strategically on target and on schedule.
Hiring people who do not have the right skills and experience or are not a good fit, and while you may eventually achieve your program goals, you are far more likely to encounter confusion and delays.
Hiring Challenges Abound
IT leaders looking to staff an enterprise technology transformation initiative face any number of challenges, and chief among them is accessing experienced talent while managing budget pressures driven by the current economic climate. It would be an incredible lift for even the best in-house HR recruiting team to get up to speed on the highly specialized skillsets needed to staff these types of initiatives, likewise with many staffing agencies. When it comes to filling such specialized roles, most agencies do not have the necessary insight into the strategic program drivers, knowledge of the technology at hand, or the relationships with experienced talent.
Add to it that you need to hire for more than just experience. You also need people who are the right cultural fit, so they see the project through. Hiring once for a role is complex, costly, and time consuming. Stability is important—if you have to rehire for the same role, you lose continuity and risk delays. But if you hire for both skills and fit, you’ll be in a better position to convert resources to full time at the end of the project, if you need to retain some talent.
What to Look for in an Enterprise Performance Partner
Although most enterprises partner with a systems integrator that brings in valuable, high-level strategic resources to lead the transformation, many opt for a hybrid staffing model to round out their team throughout the course of these initiatives. A hybrid staffing model entails working with a long-term, strategic services partner to find the right people, at the right time, for the right investment. It’s a cost-effective model for enterprises that will need to bring in large numbers of people with highly specialized skillsets over the course of months to years.
However, not all IT services companies are the same. To make sure you are partnering with a true enterprise partner, you should look for the following three differentiators:
A services partner that has both historical knowledge of the marketplace and an understanding of current market pressures will be better able to appreciate the problems that are driving the implementation of the solution. This means they will have a better grasp of your strategic goals and can develop a stronger comprehensive staffing plan.
If your services partner brings deep product knowledge to the table, you will immediately be able to collaborate and will not waste valuable time over-explaining the skillsets you need. Conversely, if they do not have a solid understanding of technology you are implementing, they likely will not be able to identify talent who does—and that puts your initiative at risk.
A potential services partner that tells you they can hire for any role in any industry may sound good at first, but it can signal that they do not have a firm grasp on the highly specialized technical skills you need. Look for partners that is specifically focused on enterprise technology transformation initiatives and have a deep bench of experienced, specialized resources.
How Baer Can Help
At Baer, we help our clients, which include both global enterprises and leading systems integrators, realize the full potential of their enterprise technology investments to drive stronger business performance. As an Enterprise Services Partner, we understand how to deliver the right resources, at the right time, and at the right price. Our expert teams have deep domain expertise across multiple, leading enterprise technologies and bring industry best practices to the table. They can work at the speed and scale you need to effectively see your transformation initiative through to completion. Sourcing the best talent through a Enterprise Services Partner like Baer is efficient, cost-effective, and will help you achieve fast time to value.
To learn more about how Baer can make a positive impact on your enterprise transformation initiative, please reach out directly to me at btrout@baergroup.com or my colleague, John Wilson, Vice President of Strategic Accounts, at jwilson@baergroup.com.
We look forward to speaking with you and learning about your specific challenges.