When Don Borgschulte, managing director of information technology and services, New Century Energies, arrived on the job in November 1996, his mission was clear. He had been hired to ‘fix’ his company’s badly faltering outsourcing relationship with IBM Global Services.
When a marriage falls apart, the problems frequently aren’t big ones. They are, rather, little things that build up until they threaten the relationship. The same is true in an outsourcing relationship, according to Dean Davison, senior research analyst with Meta Group.
Anticipating change and the likely need for future renegotiation can enable the parties to plan for it, and that preparation can provide a more cooperative environment for making changes.
Outsourcing’s maturation as an industry has created a substantial body of experience in ‘renegotiating’ and ‘restructuring’ outsourcing contracts. Today, these transactions — sometimes referred to as re-do — are more the rule than the exception.
American firms continue their rapid expansion of service and product outsourcing. Companies signed major new contracts for information outsourcing alone in 1994 worth $11 billion; in 1995, $20 billion; and in 1996, $33 billion, and all signs point to vigorous growth ahead.
Renegotiation has become a fact of life in long-term outsourcing contracts, and customers entering five to ten-year arrangements should be prepared for that.That’s the bottom line, according to Syd Hutchinson, senior consultant, COMPASS America, Inc. It’s unusual for a contract not to be renegotiated, he said. There’s no way you can see everything that far out, so you should go into these agreements prepared to renegotiate.
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