What are the best practices for identifying outsourcing partners?

Setting goals directs our course; studying ensures dependability. Assessing talents is both technically and culturally appropriate. Trials prove compatibility while cost-benefit analysis maximizes rewards. Negotiating protects interests; broader factors strengthen decision-making for a strong collaboration. To build a healthy and long-lasting partnership, honest communication and a collaborative spirit are essential.

It's all about achieving the right balance among company needs, vendor expertise, strategy alignment, scalability, and sustainability is crucial for a successful outsourcing partnership. This equilibrium ensures that the outsourcing arrangement not only meets immediate requirements but also contributes to long-term business goals

If you want to add partner with you than show them exactly what you need, requirment & complete knowledge about your client . So that your partner find resources accordingly

Ensure that the outsourcing partner has the capacity to scale up or down according to your business needs. A flexible approach is essential for adapting to changes in project scope or requirements.

Defining goals and scope is key as it will set the basis for the relationship with your partners so clear goals, very well defined scope are critical for a successful partnership, additional please make sure that any deliverable can be measure and with well defined KPIs

Companies spend majority of their revenue on marketing, in showing what they are not and hiding what they are. What you need to do is speak to the clients and specifically those clients who you are being shown in the portfolio. Don't go with the online reputation, they are paid to be built and are built to impress, they are far away from reality.

Absolutely, there's no substitute for human interaction when seeking a business partner. Nevertheless, in today's expansive digital landscape, it's wise to focus on comprehensive feedback from reputable sources, not just newcomers, favoring predominantly positive reviews. Consider their market experience, as reflected in their well-curated portfolio. Also, assess their overall digital presence—website, social media and etc.—to gauge their commitment to appearance and reputation. A company that cares for its digital profile will likely care for your project too.

You really have to speak to other companies that use the company's services. Ask about their experience, how willing the prospective partner is to accommodate specific needs, the level of support, what was promised, and what was delivered, if there was a crisis along the way, and how that was handled!

Research definitely helps. But don't go by what is available in print media or online as you may get deceived easily. Trust more reliable sources. Check employee feedbacks, etc., if possible.

Asking outsourcing partners for references of current and past customers will give a better view of the quality of the services provided to them and set expectations for the services we are including in our scope, research can mislead on the evaluation if not done properly

Assessing culture and skills is key since outsourcing services requires an intimate relationship over the term of the agreement. The outsourcing company needs to think and act as if they are part of the customer's company to provide seamless and trusted services. Challenges, constraints, problems but also success need to be addressed quickly and shared openly to avoid larger issues one party might not have been aware of timely.

Successful project is a result of collaboration between both the customer and the provider. It's important to identify common ground and establish a connection during discussions because a seamless working process and high loyalty stem from professional and personal connections. The potential for this connection often reflects in the company's identity, mission, and vision. Generally, the individuals within a company are an extension of its values.

While evaluating the skills of the provider, it's not only important to find out what they currently have, but if they have the capability to augment the talent pool by creating new talent via their ability to source talent a notch lower/off and have the ability to train/transform them via an innovative approach to meet/exceed the requirements of the job. And, all this without increasing current cost structures or compromising the quality levels as any change to these parameters will adversely affect the objectives of outsourcing in the first place. Cultural fit can stand between success and failure of the initiative. A trial run and feedback from clients from your region/industry can evaluate this.

Esse ponto é fundamental: conte com um parceiro compatível com sua cultura, com seus princípios e com seus valores. Isso vai causar um impacto direto nos resultados dos seus negócios. Porque aí vai ser uma PARCERIA mesmo!

As empresas de desenvolvimento podem ter um papel importante para a sele??o de profissionais de IT outsourcing. No mercado, os projetos já possuem gest?o própria, mas a falta do profissional e a dificuldade de recrutamento podem ser uma empecilho. Com o outsourcing, você reduz os custos de m?o de obra direta, contratando, por terceiriza??o, um profissional altamente capacitado e com conhecimento específico na tecnologia que você utiliza. Dois pontos para se avaliar s?o: a qualidade do servi?o oferecido por esta empresa de TI, e, posteriormente, as tecnologias com as quais estas empresas trabalham.

Sustainability Strategy, culture must be considered when identifying and selecting an outsourcing partner - not just costs and benefits.

I’ve spoken to probably 1000s of C-level executives over my career in IT Outsourcing, the most prominent trap many companies do fall into is chasing the lower(-st) price, whilst overlooking the quality, skills and other factors, which weigh in much more when building a strong and long-lasting partnership. As a result, many professionals say: “We tried it and it left a bad impression”, simply because they were working with the wrong companies out there, who are cheap, but may not able to deliver, perform, communicate… you name it. Let’s be real: using IT outsourcing you save a lot anyway, thus I wouldn’t suggest putting a lot of focus on the cost component, even though it is definitely important.

Outsourcing shall lead to either tremendous cost efficiencies or only slight efficiencies, but significantly improved services. So, costs and benefits need to be evaluated fairly.

Use the RASIC diagram you made earlier to break down the cost drivers for support and assess their performance metrics against those areas where the 3rd party has an 'R' or an 'A'.

A comprehensive business case, covering quantitative and qualitative parameters must be evaluated and approved before selecting a partner. The business case should be reviewed regularly , and modified, if required to ensure that the objectives of the program are met during the life cycle of the initiative. The focus should be on verification ( via leading indicators) rather than on validation ( lagging indicators).

While it is difficult to find the right proof of concept, it is indeed worth it to consider a trial that allows for a test of how the provider handles the due diligence and transition as well as stabilization and further development of services. It is important to identify generic processes and agreements that should be agreed as well for the full outsourcing later.

Um dos itens mais importantes e que muitas vezes n?o é bem estruturado ou pensado é o perfil do cliente. Esta informa??o dará o insumo necessário para o fornecedor encontre o colaborador mais adequado que irá para sua empresa. Devemos escolher aquele com um perfil comportamental que se encaixa com os valores e a cultura do seu negócio. Assim, garantimos um índice expressivamente maior de aceitabilidade na entrega do recurso e de valor agregado. Além disso, o cliente precisa receber um relatório comportamental deste colaborador, o chamado CHA (competências, habilidades e atitudes).

Excellent advice. Few (not so obvious) tips: 1. Make sure the first assignment has some “open questions” or “missing details” on purpose: this way you would be able to get a grasp on how the potential vendor would deal with that in the future 2. Before you commit, ensure that all project stakeholders are on the same page with regard to deliverables & acceptance criteria. 3. Be a little bit “picky” when accepting the work: you’ll quickly understand how well the company can communicate and back up their deliverables, which would play a big part in your future endeavors. 4. If the company is going an extra mile to meet your expectations during the pilot phase - marry them, or shall I say sign them? ??

A 2-week trial is long enough to gauge performance but short enough to not feel like a marriage commitment. Daily standups are a must. It's a quick way to sync up, address any roadblocks, and ensure everyone is on the same page. During the trial, focus on key parameters like: 1. Communication: How effectively does the team communicate? Are they responsive? 2. Quality of Work: Check if the delivered work meets your standards. You don't want any nasty surprises down the road. 3. Problem-Solving: Observe how they handle challenges. It's not about avoiding problems but how they tackle them head-on. I've been burned before by not setting up clear trial expectations. Trust me, it's better to be meticulous upfront than regretful later.

This is a given. The ideal approach is "Crawl, Walk and Run". Before, clients lock them selves in for the long term, it's good to take baby steps. While it's a given that delivery/business outcomes should be checked, in my experience evaluating the cultural fit is more critical and should be given proper weightage.

During the negotiation process, walk through key processes, scope and deliverables in detail. Understand the contract change process and dispute process clearly as well as what is to be contained in the regular contract and performance reviews.

Identify the gaps between your wish and partner understanding and vice versa too. Mitigations plan to be charted out carefully wherever needed.

From experience, it is necessary to consider the premature termination of the project with the associated delays and costs. This aspect of the contract is not always planned but turns out to be very useful, especially in R&D.

Let me add a DO NOT DO: do not define or impose the way of working from your outsourcing partner. You should define the goals and targets, but leave the way how to reach those to the partner to allow him to work in a way he is used to and can add benefit. To put it black and white: if you want to define the way of working yourself, then subcontract but do not outsource!

I would like to add few pointers that makes a big difference like the partners experience in proactively highlighting what works and their experience on challenges faced, next would be key contributing factors which can add value to the outsourcing model, finally the cost effectiveness model which can imbibe a joint contribution model to drive efficiencies by the partner.

Na discuss?o sobre a escolha pelo menor pre?o em processos de licita??o ou RFP, é crucial uma avalia??o qualitativa detalhada. Como consultor de tecnologia, vi empresas enfrentarem desafios ao equiparar propostas. Participei de uma licita??o para automatiza??o de um processo complexo, onde a proposta vencedora, apesar do pre?o baixo, n?o atendia parte importante das necessidades. Isso ressalta a importancia de n?o apenas focar no custo, mas avaliar profundamente a capacidade de entrega de cada fornecedor.

Both parties should negotiate well/hard to come up with a win - win contract. At times, clients tend to forget that a win - lose arrangement doesn't bode well for a long term relationship and is best avoided. Key areas to focus are - term & termination ( esp. termination for convenience), acceptance & warranty, liability, indemnity, confidentiality & IP, Data protection, Tax, Non solicitation, Governing laws and Dispute resolution. Liability & Indemnity should be mutual. Tax can be tricky if multiple countries are involved. It's a good practice to start light via a LoE ( Letter of Engagement) or a work order and then move to a MSA ( Master services agreement) as the volume of work increases and multiple service lines come into play.

. Make your own choices and do not respond to direct requests. . Share the same specifications to compare offers. . Negotiate prices without skimping on the quality of the outsourcing partner. . Be clear on deadlines and expected results. . In short, act as if you were making a personal purchase...