Four Important Things to Know Before Outsourcing Oil & Gas IT Support

Posted by tomcooper on May 25th, 2016

An IT project is an undertaking with a specific timeline during which specific objectives and goals should be met. In addition to regularly maintaining your technology equipment and network, projects occur, most of which are problems discovered during these regular maintenance routines. In the field of oil and gas, the story is not any different. Since you may not have the capacity or dedicated technology staff to handle your everyday IT needs, there is a likelihood that you will hire a consultant to help you out and this is where oil & gas IT support comes in handy. But what strategy can you use to ensure success when outsourcing an IT support? Take a look at the four things you need to know before you outsource IT support:

First and foremost, you need to have a goal and vision for the project in mind and seek out professionals to implement it. While having a project specifically detailed before you request proposals from an IT consultant may make you feel comfortable and organized, in the end, you could lose out on the expertise of professionals who may be in a position to offer alternative options and solutions to accomplish your goals.

In the oil and gas sector, one of the myths is that any mid-sized oil company that looks to outsource IT projects needs to have their project outlined in detail before a company considers outsourcing. It pays to think about outsourcing oil & gas IT support professionals upfront when forming the strategy. By doing this, the strategy will dictate the processes you and the outsourcing company will use in forming and implementing a solution. In this respect, starting with an outline of goals to accomplish is the best course of action to take.

Secondly, before outsourcing your oil and gas IT support, managing the expectations of everybody who the project will affect in one way or another is crucial. Change takes time and is never easy and a new project will no doubt bring quite a lot of it. Even with the most organized and seamless project in place, your employees will need to change how they currently undertake their jobs. You will need to hold meetings, schedule training sessions and send email bulletins. This may seem like an uphill task especially if you are already engaged in a project, but one that will provide comfort thus allowing your employees to embrace the change more quickly.

Another important thing you need to do before hiring oil & gas consultants is to select an organized, experienced and certified IT support consultant. Price is always an important factor to consider when outsourcing oil and gas IT project, especially if you are a small business. However, it is also important to know the experience and qualifications of the company you are interested in to implement the project. With the right certifications, you are sure that the company has undergone proper training to offer the best IT support solutions.

Lastly, keep in mind that when hiring an oil & gas IT support service provider, creating contact with them and having thoughtful expectations about how much the project will cost is important. You need to work with the prospective IT support service provider to determine the objectives and scope of the project in hand. In addition, it is also imperative that you have a plan that will deal with these items as this will reduce frustrations that may come up as a result of being caught off guard with additional costs.