---

Various staffing strategies exist in IT departments in Tertiary Institutions and each are not without their problems. There are numerous methods to employ IT staff. It is a challenging task for IT managers to retain their staff and to ensure their skills are continuously improved to keep up with technology advancements. The strategies used to employ these staff can have an enormous impact thereon. The main problem is deciding on the correct mix or fixed type of staffing strategy, which is most suitable for a specific environment in Tertiary Institutions. This work reviews the current IT staffing strategies in Tertiary institutions and analyses the benefits and limitations of employing permanent IT staff, contract workers or outsourced staff. It also establishes if outsourcing IT staff and services and contracting to IT staff is a viable option in Tertiary institutions or not.

---

Alison Moller has been in the IT industry since 1988. She currently is empoyed by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University(NMMU) in Port Elizabeth through which she also obtained her Masters Degree in Business Information Systems. She is the Deputy Director for ICT Service Management for the NMMU.

---