Tips on Managing the Program

Consider these tips when you are managing an outsourced program:

• Managing across boundaries is still managing. To do it well requires definition of results expected, careful selection of resources needed, clearly expressed expectations, and appropriate controls.

• Fragmented customer experiences are not good for business. Create a "partnering relationship" with vendors who service your customers to establish a more unified customer experience.

• When using vendors to service customers, the art of managing performance is a blend of defined service levels and behaviors, plus the right metrics for monitoring the full impact on the customer base.

• Learn to distinguish between problem vendors and problems with vendors. The latter may be solved by open dialog and constructive negotiation.

Consider these tips when you are working with a partner on an outsourced program:

• Partners evaluate you and base their work on the experience they have in dealing with you. It is critical to take a 180 degree view of the partnership and set your dealings accordingly.

• If you want your vendor relationships to be partnerships, rather than simply suppliers, it is important to have a transition strategy – to take you from where you are now, to the kind of relationship you want to have.

• The value of partnering with vendors can be great, in the right situation. However, it takes a commitment to the ongoing success of that vendor, plus an element of shared risk and shared benefit from success. This needs trust, which must be built right from the start of the selection process.