Outsourcing and enterprise architecture.

For many reasons many enterprises use outsourcing to create part of their IT systems. Well, apparently outsourcing has it own benefits but without right monitoring and guides outsourcing can harm your IT strategy.

Contractors have their own set of interests. They usually have time and budget constraints that they must follow as well as business targets such as maintaining agreement or others:- ). Anyway in the end of the day, contractors outcomes are usually govern by their constraints and business targets and not by enterprises business needs.

Enterprise architecture might help you to make sure that contractors out comes will follow your demands and needs. If you have enterprise architecture (include Information, system and infrastructure architecture) you can add them as technical guide to your contract with the Contractor. That architecture helps the contractor to follow your guide and result in system that meets your needs. Remember, you know the overall picture and the business target. Contractors focus on part of the picture and subject constraints that we already mention.