A recent article by an IT outsourcing expert and entrepreneur claims that finding the partner that suite a customer’s needs amongst the overwhelming number of providers worldwide is one of the biggest paradoxes in the outsourcing industry http://linkd.in/1dZLTGv
We at pliXos a certain to have solutions to nearly all those challenges described already since our inception in 2009.
The Customer
The outsourcing needs of a customer needs to be fulfilled as the end goal of the customer is to get good quality service and the desired product or service on time with minimal time and effort from his end.
Some of the needs of the customer that he has to be sure of are the availability of skilled people, right price, up to date technology, proper location, high innovation skills, proper certifications, high protection of Intellectual Property (IP), a fit in business model, adequate language skills, flexibility and enough scalability, proper infrastructure, possibility to opt-out or enter a multi-sourcing etc. In addition, the chemistry between him and the provider should be a fit.
This list can be endless. The parameters themselves and in particular their importance are known best by the customer himself.
As put forward by another sourcing veteran (J. Brian Heywood) in his book ‘The Outsourcing Dilemma - The Search for Competitiveness’:
Credibility – how much experience does the provider have, i.e. how many existing clients? Reliability – does the provider satisfy its clients’ needs?
Flexibility – does the provider work to only one set work pattern, or is it flexible enough to match our needs in the short term and adjust further if our business grows substantially, or declines?
Skill base – does the provider have the IT and other skills that we may not need now but probably will later?
Potential savings – will this provider be able to offer greater or lesser savings than others? Service – how will this provider’s service compare with what we currently enjoy or what others might provide?
Management skills – if our business grows or contracts, does the provider have the management time, skills and desire to support our needs?
Personnel policy – what is the provider’s personnel policy and how will this affect our people?
Transition skills – how effective have they been in bringing about past transitions: have they met the required timescales and what has been the effect on previously transferred staff?
Contract questions – will the provider want to use its greater experience and tie us down under a tight contract, or will it allow us a ‘get out clause’ or partnership arrangement?
In-house expertise and control – will the provider make sure that we do not lose the expertise and control necessary to maintain and develop the business?
Search and selection
After being sure of what he wants the customer needs to find his outsourcing partner.
In today’s world the managers will ask peers at his internal organization or at known counterparts in other companies. He will build upon his network for advice and might also use of external, professional consultants (sourcing advisers) or contact organisations dealing with such a topic. For sure, he will also try Google to look for some potential provider candidates, etc.
With respect for all kind of service providers and advisers in the arena, he knows it from the beginning that he will always be limited and never find the perfect match with today methods.
The customer thus is in a dilemma as he cannot make a satisfactory choice among the service providers since the list will always be limited, he has now automated and structured methods already in place to narrow his search and as he cannot evaluate one from another because of less information about the service provider.
Provider dilemma
As a provider your main motive is to get more projects at the right price for the capacity that you have. To also have good communication with the customer so that both are sure of what is happening, if there is something that has to be changed it can be changed in the initial stage and not at the far end. This would mean redoing the process again thus leading to waste of time and money. The providers main dilemma is to find the right market for his services for the right price, a trust worthy and cooperative customer. It is very difficult for a service provider to find a consumer who can utilise his services to its optimum limit for the right price.
What if?
The customer would be able to make a complete global search and selection, finding the provider, adviser and consultant based on the actual needs, based on facts, no marketing gimmicks, no 'cold calls'.
The Provider could display its real capability based on actual facts, field of expertise and continue the path and visions the company was established on. It is a common known fact that two or more specialised shops on "the same street" all gain from a common location and attracts more customers than a single shop would ever be able to. Every customer has different needs, including the service your organisation can provide.
The Adviser would get data available to make qualified advice.
The local outsourcing consultant could display his/her capability and ensure an ongoing stream of interim jobs.
The answer
Now that we have spoken about the dilemma, plixos.com has a solution. Despite the fact that software development or application maintenance is a creative process requiring manual interaction, major parts of the overall process can be industrialised.
The pliXos products offer all companies the benefits of globally distributed software projects through standardisation, automation and a low cost of entry.
All of us at pliXos have extensive project experience in the area of IT outsourcing services, particularly in the areas of offshore and onshore software development. Our collective know-how is available to you in our tools and services.
You avoid costly mistakes!
Our products can be used immediately. Require no installation or configuration (Software-as-a-Service, SaaS). In addition we offer a unique value proposition which combines our SaaS tools with personal expert advice under our trademark “Sourcing Advisory as a Service” SAaaS®. Results can be achieved quickly and optimally for the full project lifecycle from the analysis of IT Outsourcing projects through to seeing the implementation completed. Additionally it is no longer required to set-up a project infrastructure to manage the communication and collaboration between customer and service providers.
Time saving of at least 3 months!
All of the tools are focused to address the most important functions and parameters, while the work flow remains clear and understandable. Through this approach we can guarantee a straightforward use of these products, with minimum training effort. You can introduce best practices without requiring organisational change. If you want to further accelerate implementation in your company, we can provide you with the tools through our managed services.
Significant productivity gains!
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