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Optimizing your IT skills is critical. Of course you need to keep up with technology advances. Obviously you need to be aware of trends and affecting your company. This is all a no brainer. It won't however, insure you won't be outsourced.

What is the main reason companies choose to "outsource" their IT employees? For that matter, what is the driving reason for outsourcing any sector of the corporate workforce? Costs. Money. The bottom-line.

As an IT professional it is critical that you understand how your department impacts the bottom-line of your company. If you don't have budget authority now, ask for it. At least ask to be involved in the process so you understand how it affects the overall profitability of your company.

Next, actively look and promote ways to save money. Sounds elementary but many IT managers are dealing with so many fixed costs (salaries, maintenance agreements, leases) it becomes difficult to see savings opportunities. If you are the one who can demonstrate a savings you increase your value.

Additionally, when savings are realized, it's critical to make certain they are demonstrated to your company's profitability. Many IT execs don't like accounting and spreadsheets or finance. That's short sighted. It's critical to show the CFO how your 7% savings in software licensing impacts the shareholder value or profit over the next reporting period. If you can't speak his language, he or she won't understand the impact.

Here are a few ideas that you may be able to research at your company.

1 Old equipment - ROI to replace. A company I know replaced very old copiers and printers and saved 12% in the electric bill! That's a huge fixed cost that goes up every year. Know what your facilities budget is. IT equipment adds great expenses in this area and if you can show a way to save $$ here, you demonstrate a knowledge an outsource company will never understand.

2. Find out where waste exists. Outsource companies work for less per hour, but they also do more with less. If you can find a process or procedure that is taking valuable employee time that can be streamlined or simplified, then do it.

3. Check out maintenance agreements. A company I worked for had downsized and reduced headcount by 80 people. Six months later, it was discovered that network support agreements were still being paid for equipment no longer on the network!

4. Do some outsourcing on your own. If a company can handle the support of your outlying offices at a lower cost, don't be afraid

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