Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Seven Action Areas to Strengthen an Outsourcing Relationship

An outsourcing provider’s quality of services and the achievement of the agreed-upon mutually beneficial objectives are essential to success. But there are additional actions that service providers and buyers can take to boost the return on investment and increase the life expectancy of their relationships, that is, strengthen outsourcing relationships. To identify these relationship-strengthening actions, …

What do Buyers of Outsourcing Services Need to Understand about Diversity Management?

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Organizations are recognizing that diversity management in outsourcing makes a measurable difference in the potential return on investment (ROI). The diversity issue extends beyond a differing culture where offshore resources are involved. And it goes beyond ensuring that an organization employs a workforce of multiple races and ethnicities. In outsourcing, managing diversity focuses on getting …

Advice for Outsourcing Buyers in Setting Expectations Around Future Service

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

“What was horrible about our outsourcing relationship in the beginning is that our expectations were unclear. That’s a horrible formula for success.” The person stating this assessment described a troubled – but remediated and turned-around – relationship that Outsourcing Center studied in its annual Outsourcing Excellence and Sourcing Awards program. It led to this post …

Four Tips for Effective Management of the Outsourcing Transition

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

The possible perils that can impact the success of an outsourcing relationship‘s transition phase are well known. These days, most buyers are as aware as service providers of the need for a robust governance framework that facilitates the parties’ identification of challenges and working collaboratively to address them quickly. Most have also read tales of …

New Outsourcing Service: Independent Governance of the Relationship

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

At Outsourcing Center, a frequent comment we hear from buyers of outsourcing services is: “If I had it to do all over again, I would put in place a more effective structure for managing the service provider and the relationship.” The problem is significant enough that it spawns many advice-oriented articles with titles such as: …

When is an SLA Not Necessary in an Outsourcing Relationship?

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

A service level agreement (SLA) plays two important roles in an outsourcing arrangement. It sets the stage for the service provider’s accountability, and it is the major factor in determining the price of the service. The buyer of outsourced services can achieve a comfort level that it’s getting what it pays for if it regularly …

Combating the “Hidden” Costs of Managing Outsourcing

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Industry media, especially over the past two years, often points out that a significantly high number of outsourcing arrangements do not deliver the promised cost savings due to “hidden” costs associated with managing the relationship. This is especially true, the reports state, in outsourcing relationships with an offshore delivery component, where administrative costs increase due …

Crucial Moments in Outsourcing Relationships

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

After buyers and service providers begin working together, they find aspects about each other and the relationship they hadn’t anticipated and planned for or issues about which they had mistaken assumptions. Outsourcing Center surveyed 64 buyers on what caused those issues and how to successfully address them.

How Outsourcing Buyers Get Comfortable with Giving up Process Control

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

Giving up control over the outsourced process is a basic principle in how outsourcing works, but many buyers find it difficult to do this at the outset of a relationship. An Outsourcing Center study looked at the factors that cause initial discomfort and what makes a buyer feel comfortable enough to turn over control to the provider.

Days that Outsourcing Buyers Want to Forget – Study Reveals Important Factors in Service Provider Selection Criteria

Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer

You know the feelings that surround a day you’d like to forget. Stress. Anxiety. Embarrassment. Regret. Revisiting a decision. Now place all of that in the context of an outsourcing relationship on a day when something goes wrong – really wrong. And you’re doubting your service provider selection criteria. A revenue-generating, ERP, or payroll system …

Research & Insight

Author archives

What do Buyers of Outsourcing Services Need to Understand about Diversity Management?

Advice for Outsourcing Buyers in Setting Expectations Around Future Service

Four Tips for Effective Management of the Outsourcing Transition

New Outsourcing Service: Independent Governance of the Relationship

Crucial Moments in Outsourcing Relationships

Days that Outsourcing Buyers Want to Forget – Study Reveals Important Factors in Service Provider Selection Criteria

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