[Am-info] 'About time employers woke up!

[Fred A. Miller]

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Northern Trust Relying Less On IT Contractors 

Northern Trust Corp. already has one New Year's resolution: 
continue to decrease its IT consultant head count. The Chicago 
bank, which processes about $200 billion in security 
transactions each day, has already trimmed its roster of IT 
contractors. Of the 300 consultants it had earlier this year, 
the bank hired 70 as full-time employees. And it may replace 
another 50 of its current 230 consultant positions with full-
time employees, says chief technology officer and executive VP 
Tim Theriault. 

When it comes to expanding in-house talent, Northern Trust 
isn't alone. Bank One Corp., the nation's sixth-largest bank, 
said last week it plans to decrease its reliance on contract 
workers by hiring about 600 IT workers during the next three 
months. 

One driver behind Northern Trust's in-house shift is the 
desire to have more control over expertise needed for specific 
projects and applications. When companies bring in consultants 
to build new systems for a fixed period of time, the 
consultants usually acquire detailed knowledge that compels 
customers to keep them well beyond project completion. Plus, 
employees have a stronger incentive than consultants to 
complete projects quickly. For Northern Trust employees, 
faster project completion enhances IT group performance, as 
well as individual performance reviews. But Theriault points 
out that for consultants, every additional hour spent on a 
project usually means additional revenue. That doesn't jibe 
with the IT department's need for speed. 

Theriault has no intention of eliminating consultants 
entirely, though. Northern Trust will always rely on outside 
help for any unique skill sets it lacks in-house--such as 
developing the electrical requirements for setting up a new 
data center next year. - Sandra Swanson

Go deeper. Read
Bank One Boosts In-House IT
http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eFGj0Bce7K0V20mQw0AZ

Think Outside The Lockbox
http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eFGj0Bce7K0V20mQx0Aa

- -- 
Fred A. Miller
Systems Administrator
Cornell Univ. Press Services
fm@cupserv.org

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