In Rotterdam, a recent contract was signed involving an external provider hosting IT infrastructure. While price was undoubtedly one of the main drivers behind the decision, gaining access to highly experienced technicians in the private sector also helped sway opinion.  All work is now undertaken externally; none of the IT provider’s own people are deployed in the port itself.

“We issued a European tender, which guaranteed we would have access to the best prices in the market,” says port authority IT manager Nico Westpalm van Hoorn. “We decided to look to an outside provider, since we felt that Port of Rotterdam operations were vulnerable. External companies offered not just improved continuity, but also better prices thanks to economies of scale.

“Since we have just recently closed the contract, it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of the contract just yet. However, we are already looking at outsourcing the application management of nautical applications to external service providers for the same reasons that prompted us to seek outside help in the first place.”

Cyprus Port Authority, which operates the ports of Limassol, Larnaca and Vassiliko, as well as oil terminals at Larnaca, Dhekelia and Moni, now has all software development undertaken by external consultants, which deploy their own specialists within the authority’s own building. Although the software involved is not peculiar to the maritime industry, the programming requires knowledge of both Power Builder and Informix, neither of which is widely used on the island. As a result, the port authority was unable to secure competing bids from providers, but notes that for more popular programs, outsourcing can often secure highly competitive bidding.

“Essentially, we sought help from outside contractors because of the limited IT knowledge base within the Authority itself, prompting us to look for more experienced programmers in the private sector,” explains an Authority spokesperson.