In the current economic climate companies are looking at both outsourcing and shared services to reduce cost and increase flexibility. These companies do share concerns, especially at the operational level, that there will be a loss in control over process and quality of deliverables. This article captures the dilemma very effectively. Unlike ten years ago most companies now recognise that established sourcing models such as eSCMcan now be followed to smoothen the route to an outsource or shared services. These models provide clear guidance on how these projects should be run and how risks can be managed. Building a strong partnership relationship is the key to success in outsourcing. These relationships must be based on a clear understanding of who is doing what and when – this is best captured in a Service Level Agreement or SLA. Where an SLA is clear and unambiguous it becomes a valuable document which can be referenced time and time again to clarify roles and responsibilities in outsourcing engagements.
In additiona to creating a good Service Level Agreement it is important that the actual performance against the SLA is captured every month or more regularly. this has traditionally been a manual effort which can be error prone. In some cases the manual nature of the activity has meant that it has not been carried out at all. Thankfully there are a number of SLA Management tools and SLA Monitoring tools which can now be used to make this process much simpler. If you are going into an outsourcing arrangement use an SLA Monitoring tool from the start which meets your needs – this way you can ensure that your relationship is built on performance facts which are known and accepted by both the Service Provider and the Client. Your relationship will become more strategic and most importantly more transparent.
