17/06: Marriage Counselling - for the Outsourced
Category: General
Posted by: Malcolm Duffield
IT Outsourcing - is it a partnership, or just another purchasing decision?
I would argue that, if it is to be effective, it needs to be very much viewed as a partnership, a partnership much more akin to a marriage than a Joint Venture. After all, like marriage, through outsourcing you’re placing your reputation and trust in to the hands of a partner - and they theirs in yours. Not only are there mutual reputations at stake when outsourcing - to be effective in a changing business environment it requires constant attention, must grow, and it needs to maintain respect in order to satisfy both parties. Like a marriage, it can be very productive and transforming. But, also like a marriage, if it comes to an un-natural end it can be expensive - for both parties.
It is my experience, and extensive experience at that, that pretty much all Outsource arrangements go through periods of difficulty, often extended periods of difficulty wherein neither the client nor the supplier is happy, where the services are perceived as failing in some way, and where the client is perceived as being unreasonable too. The typical response to this (after much damage has been done to the relationship) is the inevitable "Service Improvement Plan" and demands for improved "Governance".
In the light of the above - it is obvious that there is a need for "Marriage Guidance for Outsourcing" - and to that end we are working with a number of experienced individuals to develop a 'lifecycle' of services, the first of which combines the quantitative and qualitative analysis of a "Discovery" - to identify what is known, and detect what is not known, to be hurting.
I would argue that, if it is to be effective, it needs to be very much viewed as a partnership, a partnership much more akin to a marriage than a Joint Venture. After all, like marriage, through outsourcing you’re placing your reputation and trust in to the hands of a partner - and they theirs in yours. Not only are there mutual reputations at stake when outsourcing - to be effective in a changing business environment it requires constant attention, must grow, and it needs to maintain respect in order to satisfy both parties. Like a marriage, it can be very productive and transforming. But, also like a marriage, if it comes to an un-natural end it can be expensive - for both parties.
It is my experience, and extensive experience at that, that pretty much all Outsource arrangements go through periods of difficulty, often extended periods of difficulty wherein neither the client nor the supplier is happy, where the services are perceived as failing in some way, and where the client is perceived as being unreasonable too. The typical response to this (after much damage has been done to the relationship) is the inevitable "Service Improvement Plan" and demands for improved "Governance".
In the light of the above - it is obvious that there is a need for "Marriage Guidance for Outsourcing" - and to that end we are working with a number of experienced individuals to develop a 'lifecycle' of services, the first of which combines the quantitative and qualitative analysis of a "Discovery" - to identify what is known, and detect what is not known, to be hurting.