Getting off to a good start will pave the way for success in outsourcing.

Research firm Gartner recently offered advice for a winning initial phase strategy. Here is a summary of their tips:

1. Establish your framework and define your goals. This involves setting priorities and outlining the principles and rules that will guide each sourcing decision and action. “Define specific business, service and technical goals for sourcing initiatives and relevant measures of success,” Gartner advises.
2. Evaluate the company’s current service delivery.  Conduct a thorough assessment of the provider’s capabilities, considering the cost as well as the service levels of the organization’s existing contracts. Will this partner’s enterprise architecture enable it to deliver at the level required to achieve your objectives?
3. Assess the company’s multi-sourcing management competencies. Find out the level of the provider’s knowledge and expertise for managing service delivery on business, application and infrastructure processes.
4. Evaluate possible constraints and opportunities. Consider business forces, overall economic cycles, disruptive technologies, regulatory compliance requirements and internal organizational issues. Build risk profiles and a risk management framework.
5. Analyze gaps. Measure your defined needs and objectives against the current situation and consider alternative approaches and ways to fill any gaps. Weigh and compare the drivers, goals and risks of each given scenario.
6. Consider the external market. Evaluate the current vendor landscape as well as your competitors’ strategies.  Assess the availability, maturity and stability of service offerings, and use this analysis to help you decide what services you will use and when. Then, says Gartner, “Refine the alternative sourcing scenario to drive business value and stay ahead of competitors.”
7. Use scenario planning. Compare the value and potential risk of various sourcing models. Does the sourcing solution fit your business objectives, gap analysis and company culture, for example? How will it impact retained competencies?  Use this information to find the best fit for your company’s objectives.
8. Analyze your risks. Identify possible risks using a detailed risk-reward analysis for specific scenarios. Use tools and guidelines to assess and manage vendor risk, adapting your risk evaluation standards to different types of vendors and services.
9. Create a business case. Analyze the total cost of sourcing (TCS) for the scenarios you’re looking at. Consider the costs of the transition and how workloads and service requirements will likely evolve.
10. Develop an action plan. Define the agreements and the anticipated time frames, as well as a communication and change management plan, and develop an action plan to implement the strategy.