10 Commandments for a successful IT outsourcing partnership

13th March, 2010 - Posted by Rob - 1 Comment

Listed below are the 10 commandments that maketh a successful outsourcing partnership. You may engrave it in stone or pin it up on your desk. But following them may help make outsourcing a mutually-beneficial experience for both the customer and the vendor.

  • Thou shall choose wisely

Do your homework before you choose your outsourcing partner. Shortlist three or four companies before you key-in on a partner. Talk to industry sources and existing clients. Check for the company’s ability to honor commitments, meet deadlines and deliver quality work. Find out more about the technological capabilities and financial health. Analyze management policies. Choose a company that is compatible with your organization in terms of work culture and ethics. Choose a company that has the resources to cater to your needs and expectations.

  • Thou shall clearly define your expectations

Most outsourcing relationships fail because of unrealistic expectations from either side. Clearly state your expectations from your outsourcing vendor, upfront. And see if he can deliver what you are looking for. Be very specific in detailing your requirements in terms of volume, scale of operations, number of dedicated professionals required, expected outcome, delivery time, etc. Often, outsourcing partners decide to part ways at a later stage owing to financial issues. This can be avoided if the customer provides an accurate list of his requirements and the provider breaks down the cost estimate to involve specific activities.

  • Develop a solid set of policies and procedures, keep them holy

Work out all technicalities before you sign on the dotted line. Clearly state expectations and obligations of both parties in the contract. Formulate a good set of policies and procedures that can ensure efficiency of operations. Also, add in factors that enhance accountability and detail productivity tracking procedures. This way, both parties have specific guidelines to work with and there is less room for confusion or redundancy. Also, ensure the both parties follow these procedures religiously. At Indian Software Outsourcing, we formulate policies and procedures to ensure a smooth work flow and deliver value.

  • Thou shall provide adequate training

Conduct workshops, training sessions, seminars and group discussions when necessary. Your vendor may have the skill-sets to handle your project. He may have hands-on knowledge of PHP programming, JavaScript and Oracle, but only you, the customer, can guide him on your project requirements. Training helps employees understand your expectations better. Also, once the project is complete, the vendor must train the client on how the end-product works.

  • Thou shall communicate effectively

Communication is the key to a great outsourcing partnership. The customer and the service provider are not just miles apart geographically, but there are language issues, cultural divergence, and time zone differences to deal with. In such a situation, it works best to work out clear communication channels in order to ensure smooth, transparent flow of information. Two-way communication on all aspects of operations will go a long way in improving productivity

  • Thou shall measure and review performance, regularly

Both customers and vendors must interact from time-to-time to check if the project is heading in the right direction as per schedule. It is important to monitor employee performance, track deadlines, measure productivity and communicate results. This way, you ensure that the project work continues, uninterrupted. We, at Indian Software Outsourcing, have numerous systems in place that track and monitor performance, in order ensure a high level of productivity.

  • Thou shall motivate and reward

Incentives help motivate and boost employee performance. You can provide incentives to improve operations and productivity. Rewarding people for good work gets them to perform better. Both the customer and the vendor can reap the benefits.

  • Thou shall be transparent

Both parties must work to ensure full transparency in order to enjoy the benefits of IT outsourcing. Since a lot of systems, processes, policies and procedures are involved and since a large amount of people are involved, outsourcing works best in an environment of transparency. Conduct grievance redressal sessions, ask for employee feedback. One-on-one interactions between vendor and customer can help smoothen potential friction and pave way for a relationship of trust.

  • Thou shall resist temptation to walk away

No matter, how transparent you are, how many procedures you may have in place, still some friction may arise between the vendor and the customer, at any stage of the relationship. Missed deadlines, simple human errors, inefficient handling of key operations, high-handed behavior may force customers and vendors to throw in the towel and walk away from it all. At these times, it is better to resist the temptation to end the relationship and work towards rectifying the problem areas and clearing the air. After all, both parties gain tremendously from the outsourcing relationship.

  • Honor your partnership

Work towards making this partnership mutually beneficial. Build an environment of mutual trust and respect. Honor commitments. Honesty, integrity and transparency help make IT outsourcing partnerships highly rewarding.

Indian Software Outsourcing endeavors to honor partnerships and make outsourcing a truly fruitful experience for its customers.

1 Comment

V V Chandra Shekhar

March 22nd, 2010 at 8:38 pm    


Good checklist and very useful – all the points are critical – one of them on motivation and reward is very interesting – while some of the organizations my not consider it to be a critical driver for a sucessful outsourcing project, the Reward and recognition (R&R) has actually live examples of critical metrics including quality of deliverables improving to a great extent depending upon the kind of R&R defined and agreed to

Leave a reply

Name *

Mail *

Website