IT leaders should involve business stakeholders in outsourcing decisions as much as possible, an expert has claimed.

Synco Jonkeren, senior consultant at IT advisory firm EquaTerra, says that outsourcing projects work better when chief information officers and other bosses within a firm work together and adopt a joint ‘can-do’ attitude.

Writing for ComputerWeekly, he asserts that “the drive towards standardisation of processes … is a major enabler of sustainability in IT outsourcing projects”.

Ensuring a good governance structure and IT outsourcing management system is put in place from the outset saves money and resources, he adds.

Last month, DMC Software warned that choosing the wrong IT support can be disastrous.

The firm said companies should “avoid surprises” by getting everything in writing so that in the event of a problem, the IT support provider can be held accountable for its services.

In its top ten tips for choosing an IT outsourcing firm, DMC included selecting an experienced company and signing a fixed monthly fee contract.