Avax Consulting, Inc.

At the root of a new strategy in resourcing, failed outsourcing relationships is a misplaced focus by organizations right from the very start. These organizations over specify the service needs in the initial phase of the process and everything goes wrong from day one. Many times we presume that these struggles is a result of under specifying their needs and that this service deficiencies result from leaving too many details unclear. In some cases they are correct and they have underpecified the outcomes they expect while over specifiying  the requirments. A lot of outsourcing relationships have been built on a tradition of suspicion and the fear of loss of control the myth that if we outsource we lose our business. To alleviate these fears of loss of control and on trustworthiness, the contracting party typically insists that the tasks to be performed internally believing that this would protect the interests. As an IT service provider we are often faced with situations where client specifies how the work has to be done which in turn reduces our ability to bring all of his practices to the table and if our client lets us determine the best way to do the work for them that's when we can be a true asset to the client.

The  the procuring company usually assumes that the company that it is outsourcing its recruitment skills to, has no idea of the IT processes the company is engaged in. This bold assumption at the very beginning results often in the in the procuring company overstating its resourcing requirements and as a consequence shortly after delivery by the recruitment agency and know the outsourcing partner we find that the procuring company is suddenly looking at ways and means of how to reduce the team size.

This inevitably places a strain in the relationship between the human resource company and the client. Typically the human resource company would have its back against the wall and would do its best to try and ensure that it is able to recover its costs and take a of the human resource that it has deployed and take adequate steps to look after the human resoruce that it has deployed.

So what is a way out of this dilemma? Informing your sourcing action plans, you need to focus on defining the outcomes needed from services, more specifically the more you focus on defining outcomes in business terms such as cost, savings, time to market, increase revenues and so on the greater your chances for success in outsourcing.

It is also a smart and practical idea to pay careful attention when your outsourcing service provider gives you and tells you their story and experiences when importing human resource skills into the country it is a noble thing to actually take notes and to listen to the expectations and the do's and don'ts they offer you when you engage with them for your IT resources for example. It is also important not to make it your business to try and establish information and no details that is privy between the resourcing company and the resource or resources that they deploy into your organization. You have to always factor and keep in mind that an IT resourcing outfit is engaged with you to provide your service is second to none, which would also be a best practice and a specialized skill of them. In the circumstances if you are satisfied that you have chosen the right outsourcing partner and that you have covered their references and the credibility, there is no reason for you as the recipient to beg the question and try and deviate from your focus and purpose of wanting offshore resources.

Is it important to rather understate your resource requirements and to go through the initial process would your resourcing partner having discussed the pros and cons , of doing IT outsourcing and/or IT resourcing, you're better off taking two thirds of the resources you have projected in the initial phase and then stepping up over a period of time with you outsourcing partner.

By doing a phase wise approach you are not being overly ambitious but rather practical in choosing to be cautious and in reminding yourself of your business goal. That goal surely should incorporate the sensitivity of interacting with other human beings and the fact that those IT resources awaiting to travel thousands of miles to and there due and to deliver for you.

In conclusion it is prudent that you always remind yourself that you're not engaging with an outsource partner simply because you want to engage and study the methodology so that you can eventually try and do this fairly difficult exercise by itself. This will not only defeat the purpose but it'll cost your organization dearly and would result in unnecessary pain .

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