IT centralization is back in fashion

In addition, it allows IT staff and management to quickly assess problems and find solutions. With all the data and most of the staff in one place, "we can quickly interact with a variety of people and data in a minute's notice," Twohig says.

Costs are definitely lower with a centralized model, he notes. Through virtualization efforts in the past five years, the need for additional servers has been completely eliminated, he says. Disaster recovery costs less, as does regulatory compliance. These savings more than offset the increase in bandwidth and infrastructure spending.

Twohig acknowledges that he revisits the centralized approach from time to time, especially as the company grows. "There are valid arguments for where centralization can hurt you," he notes. For example, a centralized operation can't take advantage of lower-cost geographic areas or low-cost labor markets.

But he counters that there are plenty of savings to be had in reducing travel, securing and maintaining just one data center, simplifying procurement, having fewer shipping locations and reducing redundant staff positions, processes and systems.

Like White, Twohig does get pushback from the field, which, he says, is never 100% comfortable with the centralized model. "There are people who still say, 'What's the ivory tower going to do next' " he adds. To offset the isolation and frustration that business users may experience, Twohig encourages staffers to use the phone or instant messaging rather than e-mail. He has also enabled instant Web meetings, integrated with Microsoft Outlook. To stay on top of business requirements, project managers are linked with business people throughout the organization to get feedback on their technology needs.