The word "partnership" is often used by both buyers and suppliers when referring to their outsourcing relationship. No doubt that in a bona fide outsourcing relationship - one where customers and employees can't distinguish that a third party is delivering the services - the buy-side of the relationship is extremely dependent on their service provider to deliver services as agreed.
So where does the buyer/supplier relationship start and end, and what is a partnership in this outsourcing relationship?
The expression "good fences make good neighbours" applies to outsourcing relationships. If you look for key controls in well structured and well managed outsourcing relationships, you'll find elements like: 1) clear pricing tables and formulae 2) billing with sufficient explanation and mapping back to volume, service level and pricing tables that they can be deciphered 3) scheduled reporting - the right things, the right quantity and the right timing 4) Service Level Agreements that measure meaningful aspects of the services that aren't so complicated that you need a rocket scientist to calculate and understand the results 5) Descriptive deliverables that include who is going to what, and by when.
These are the foundation for a healthy commercial relationship, but this isn't a partnership. Partners share equally in risks and rewards. Sophisticated outsourcing arrangements can evolve partnerships. Some great ways to evolve into partnerships are to find ways for both parties to benefit from jointly developing a new product, service or business venture.
Another to evolve a partnership model is to act as a "beta test" site to help the provider evolve their business , while the buyer benefits from early market entry. One example of this that I have first hand knowledge of is the HRO relationship between Convergys and Fifth Third Bank. HRO was a new venture for both parties, and Fifth Third shared the benefits (and some of the pain) of working with Convergys to leverage their core competency in customer care to create an employee care business. Convergys built a large and growing business line and Fifth Third got favourable terms and lots of management attention from Convergys.
Another example is the recent announcement by Department of Homeland Security (US) that Lockheed Martin won a $1.2 billion, 8 year deal from TSA to manage its integrated hiring operations and personnel program. Lockheed Martin will develop an HR application to support recruiting, assessing, hiring, paying and promotion of all TSA employees, in addition to operating it HR systems. This deal is one of the largest public sector HRO deals ever announced, and is a new business line for Lockheed. More on this can be found at http://www.globalservicesmedia.com/Content/general200808254936.asp These joint new business ventures operate more like a partnership than a typical outsourcing arrangement since both companies are learning together as they go forward.
Outsourcing deals are growing larger and more complex as this business model continues to quickly evolve. In many cases, the provider is in turn outsourcing some part of their responsibilities. Citing the TSA/Lockheed example, Lockheed will in turn outsource the Learning Management System to Plateau in order to meet TSA's requirements for training support. http://www.plateau.com/ne/pr2003/113.htm
So.......did I mention TRUST? They'll need it to help them get past the bumps in the road.
Please send me your comments on this blog, on trust or lack thereof, and how that affected your outsourcing relationships.
Linda Tuck Chapman, ONTALA Performance Solutions Ltd.
lindatuckchapman@rogers.com (416) 452-4635