In "Managing Outsourcing Relationships" on Web site Line56, Suresh Srinivasan, president of IT managed service provider BroadSpire Inc., provides some advice on how to manage the relationship with the service provider.
Mr. Srinivasan spends much of his opinion piece pointing out that a big part of the battle will involve the relationship between internal IT staff members and those coming in from outside:
Employee backlash is often manifested in passive-aggressive ways — not sharing immediate deadlines or the full scope of the assignment with the outsourcer, for example, thereby triggering talk that the outsourcer isn't delivering on the promise.
He tells management they'd better be prepared to communicate and work through the issues of internal staff, though he offers little insight on what this should look like.
Also, much of the advice appears to be intended to be read by people on the service provider side ("It is vital that the outsourcer never seize control from the customer (or appear to do so) because that is when complications arise…") rather than the client side.
But the article does provide some useful parting advice:
In the end, outsourcing is a human business. Emotions do come into play, since jobs are ultimately at stake. Keeping that big picture in mind, have a clear-cut goal for what the relationship is going to be. Identify and maintain a single, designated point of contact who is tasked with managing the outsourcer; don't have six contact people, and don't let management responsibilities stray from the IT realm to other departments. Have weekly review meetings with the outsourcer to make sure that goals are being hit; don't assume that the outsourcer is doing its job.
Ask for feedback from the outsourcer; use this seasoned third party as a live, informal auditing arm. Ask for ideas about recommended internal improvements…
It's a quick read.
