Local council IT departments' tendency to outsource problematic tech functions means their outsourcing projects are rarely successful, according to a new report.
The report, from consultants Deloitte, reveals that local councils need to change their overall approach to IT rather than hoping outsourcers can step in and solve all their tech problems.
"Building an effective corporate IT capability is not the job of the outsourcer. The outsourcer is being contracted to provide skills and expertise but the local authority still needs to provide vital input from its service areas into defining, training and testing systems," the report said.
Wise authorities will... use outsourcing as a way of providing aspects of their service in a more cost-effective way, and will not simply outsource a problematic service because it has issues they do not understand," it added.
Rather than outsourcing all IT to a single supplier, Deloitte advises councils to look at outsourcing "highly commoditised" functions such as desktops, networks and datacentres while still keeping overall strategy within the council's control.
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