We love this topic and could talk about it all day. As councils across New Zealand accelerate their digital transformation, one question is becoming increasingly important: should capability be built in-house, or outsourced to specialists?

From digitising archives and mapping workflows to adopting automation and eInvoicing, councils face complex decisions about where to invest their time, resources, and people. With ongoing government budget pressures and the frustrations many teams are facing, it’s a challenging environment for everyone.

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. But by weighing up the benefits and challenges of each approach, councils can make more confident choices about where to allocate resources.

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The Case for Building In-House Capability

For some councils, building in-house capacity feels like the natural choice.

• Control and Ownership: Councils maintain full control over processes and systems.
• Knowledge Retention: Skills and expertise stay within the organisation.
• Long-Term Resilience: With the right training, staff can adapt processes as needs evolves.

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However, the reality is that building capability requires ongoing investment in recruitment, training, and technology. Smaller councils, in particular, may struggle to scale in-house teams to manage large or complex digitisation and automation projects.

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The Case for Outsourcing

Specialist providers can deliver significant advantages:

• Expertise On-Demand: Access to specialists who live and breathe digitisation and automation.
• ‍Faster Project Delivery: Avoid delays caused by limited internal resourcing.‍
• ‍Scalable Support: Handle large volumes or complex archives without stretching staff capacity.

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That said, councils may worry about over-reliance on external vendors, or feel disconnected from projects if they aren’t actively involved in the design and implementation.

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The Hybrid Approach

Increasingly, councils are adopting a hybrid model —outsourcing large or highly technical projects (such as digitising microform archives or deploying AI-driven automation), while building in-house skills for ongoing, day-to-day processes.

This approach balances the best of both worlds:

• Councils benefit from speed, expertise, and scalability on large projects
• Staff build capability and confidence to manage workflows moving forward.

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For example, a council might outsource the digitisation of its physical archives to Desktop Imaging, but train its records team to manage automated classification tools in-house.

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Key Considerations for Councils

When deciding between in-house and outsourcing, councils should ask:

• Do we have the staff capacity and skills in-house?
• Is this a one-off project or an ongoing capability we want to build?
• What’s the risk of delay if we try to do this ourselves?
• How important is speed versus control?

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Conclusion

The in-house vs outsourcing debate isn’t about choosing one path forever — it’s about choosing the right approach for each project. Councils that combine internal capability with external expertise are often the most successful in driving sustainable, cost-effective transformation.

We’ve supported councils on both sides of the spectrum, from fully outsourced digitisation projects to collaborative approaches that upskill staff. Whatever your path, we’re here to help you build a smarter, more resilient council.

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