Brad L. Peterson, Partner, Mayer Brown LLP
If you are an outsourcing customer, outsourcing contracts are like a three-legged stool. Their value depends on what you agree to buy, what you agree to pay and the terms. Although the agreement and the other contract terms are often extensive, outsourcing customers often underestimate, or even overlook, the value in contract terms. Why Focus …
Linda Tuck Chapman, President, ONTALA Performance Solutions Ltd.
Behind each award-winning global outsourcing relationship is a fascinating story of extraordinary people, excellence in service delivery, lots of sweat equity, some painful bumps in the road, a mutual willingness to constructively solve problems, and trust earned. Contracts were awarded as a result of a competitive bid, so they started with a blank recipe card. …
Deborah Kops, Managing Principal, Sourcing Change
Most of us have been down on our knees praying that the relationship does not blow up over an error. Perhaps the cutover was delayed because the provider did not conduct sufficient user acceptance tests, or an employee committed fraud within a client account because controls were inadequate, or the client did not provide the …
Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer
Outsourcing rookies, of course, face many challenges in achieving their desired return on investment because their deals often lack one or more elements that are foundational to success. And all outsourcing relationships encounter challenges that arise in unanticipated situations. But what about experienced buyers and relationships that are more mature? What issues arise in their …
Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer
Buyers of outsourced services want their service providers to invest in technologies that bring continual improvement to the outsourced processes. Providers want to invest only where it is also beneficial to their margins in the long run. Therein lies a conflict. Are there reliable predictors of a buyer’s intent for a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship …
Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer
There’s no shortage of methodologies and advisories on best practices and risk mitigation strategies for the transition phase of outsourcing relationships. Even so, many buyers encounter situations they didn’t foresee when structuring their arrangement, which cause costs to rise and delay time to value. Outsourcing Center studied these types of situations by surveying companies nominated …
Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer
Ask 10 buyers of outsourcing services for their keys to success in communicating with their service providers, and you’ll hear 10 different answers because, of course, the effectiveness of outsourcing communication depends on the individuals involved. Some will also say it depends on whether they’re communicating about day-to-day operations, conflicts or opportunities. Others will comment …
Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer
At the point where outsourcing service providers or their customers have financial conflicts that will result in a monetary loss to either party, they’re walking a fine line. If they manage to resolve the issue with a mutually beneficial solution, their relationship will be even stronger than before the conflict. If not, the party that …
Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer
Change sometimes brings unintended consequences. When outsourcing relationships several years ago took on the characteristic of delivering services from one or more offshore locations, an unintended consequence was “talent wars” and attrition. Not managing attrition among a provider’s ranks leads to unsatisfactory service delivery and higher costs. How can the parties manage this dilemma? Should …
Outsourcing Center, Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer
New delivery models, new pricing models, service providers’ new marketing strategies, moving up the value chain to intellectual arbitrage, new technologies, real-time customer interaction, globalization, and new standards and regulations – these factors set the stage for risks for buyers of outsourcing services in the next two to five years. (Read Forces of Change Shaping …
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