Four top tips for successful outsourcing

1 Don’t rush in without thorough due diligence. Most outsourcing contracts that fail are not because the supplier can’t meet performance expectations, but more often that the operation is inappropriate for outsourcing, or indeed poorly transitioned.

2 The second biggest error is focusing too much on cost.  Yes, of course outsourcing must be justified on financial grounds, but not alone.  It’s a balance of cost, risk and performance.  Only if these three elements are in balance will an outsourced relationship work properly.

3 Buyers get the suppliers they deserve!  If a buyer only wants low cost, he can’t expect it to be the highest quality.  It’s vitally important for companies to profile the organisations they are outsourcing to make sure there is a cultural fit.

4 Finally, recognise that, as with any relationship, the secret to success is the long term support of both parties to that relationship.  Transitioning an operational activity to an outsourcer is just the beginning.  All too often organisations get to the start line — i.e. having project managed the transition — and think that’s it, job done. In reality that’s just the start point and the hard work to deliver the value that an outsourced relationship can deliver has only just begun.

Vanda Dickson, marketing director, Merchants Group, a Dimension Data company; vanda.dickson@za.didata.com