Insourcing or Outsourcing? Why choose if you can have both?

A journey of transformation

Over the past 25 years, the IT infrastructure industry has evolved through many phases, each trying to solve the challenge of balancing control, cost, and flexibility. From the early days of mainframes to the innovations of cloud computing and beyond, our industry has been on a continuous transformation journey.

 

The Evolution to Hyperscalers and Containerization

In the early days, mainframes dominated the IT landscape. These large, centralized systems provided the backbone for organizations but required extensive in-house expertise and resources to manage. Over time, the industry shifted towards virtualization, a breakthrough that allowed multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server. This increased efficiency and made infrastructure more adaptable and cost-effective.

Virtualization led to the development of multi-tenancy and shared infrastructure solutions, where service providers could host multiple clients on the same underlying infrastructure. This shared model enabled companies to reduce costs and simplify their IT operations, setting the stage for the next leap forward: cloud computing.

Cloud computing introduced scalability and flexibility on an unprecedented scale. Companies no longer had to invest in physical hardware to expand their operations; instead, they could rent the resources they needed on demand. When hyperscalers like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure emerged, they provided powerful platforms that allowed companies to outsource much of their infrastructure, gaining capabilities far beyond what most could achieve in-house.

More recently, containerization, serverless and cloud-native solutions have transformed how applications are deployed and managed. Containers allow applications to be packaged in a portable way, ensuring consistency across different environments. This technology emphasizes speed, scalability, and flexibility, which has further shaped expectations for infrastructure management in a world increasingly dominated by multi-cloud and hybrid cloud setups.

 

The Insourcing vs. Outsourcing Dilemma

Throughout these phases, companies have constantly faced the decision of insourcing versus outsourcing, with each approach offering distinct benefits and challenges. Many companies have over time shifted in both directions, balancing the pros and cons of both strategies.

Insourcing gives companies full control over their IT operations, allowing them to closely align technology with business strategy and to maintain direct oversight of security and performance. However, insourcing requires significant internal expertise, ongoing training, and can quickly become costly. And the hardest part: how do you keep your talent on board?

Outsourcing, on the other hand, offers cost efficiency, access to external expertise, and reduces the burden of managing infrastructure directly. However, it can create dependency on service providers, with less flexibility to adapt quickly to specific or evolving business needs. Security and control can also be concerns, as companies must rely on the service provider’s practices.

 

The Co-Sourcing Model: The Best of Both Worlds

In a co-sourcing arrangement, companies have access to all the tools, platforms, and automation they need to manage their infrastructure independently. They retain control over their operations and can make adjustments quickly, while still benefiting from the expertise and resources of a partner standing by to step in when needed.

Imagine a solution where companies could maintain this level of control and autonomy but with the reassurance that expert support is on standby for times when they need assistance, be it during times of rapid growth, unexpected technical challenges, or when internal talent leaves. Co-sourcing provides that strategic safety net, blending self-management with scalable support.
 

Benjamin Jacobs, Independant Cloud Advisor

Co-sourcing is a model that combines the best aspects of both insourcing and outsourcing.

 

The Dream Platform: Built for Modern Needs

In the past, our vision was always to build the ultimate platform: one that would enable service providers to automate as much as possible. Automation wasn’t just about reducing costs; it was about ensuring consistency, enhancing security, optimizing performance, maintaining real-time documentation, and enforcing governance and compliance across the board. Imagine if such a platform wasn’t limited to external providers but was accessible for companies to use directly within their own operations.

What if you could leverage these powerful tools yourself, gaining all these benefits while maintaining complete control over your infrastructure? This platform would give you everything you need to manage IT efficiently, with built-in cost management, continuous innovation, and expert support on standby, making it a game-changer for companies ready to take charge of their own digital future.

 

A Solution That Finally Exists

For years, this co-sourcing model seemed like an idealized vision, but such a solution now exists. Developed by experts with over 25 years of industry experience, CloudSisters has created a platform that fully realizes this co-sourcing approach. This platform not only enables companies to manage their own infrastructure but ensures critical aspects like security, performance, governance, and uniform code practices are seamlessly integrated. It includes real-time updated documentation, built-in compliance, cost management, and monitoring, all backed by constant innovation. 

And at any moment, companies have the optional safety net of CloudSisters’ expert support, ready to step in if needed. Finally we can bridge that gap between outsourcing and insourcing, offering a solution that combines the best of both worlds in a single, comprehensive experience.