Outsourcing grows upto collaboration |
The Key theme of industry researcher Gartner's conference in london earlier this year was
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"strategic Multisourcing" or the ability to work with multiple vendors for undertaking all the contextual |
| work that is better left to third party providers, while a company focuses on what is truly core to its |
| own operations. |
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| For many of the Fortune 1000 and FTSE 100 companies, this is not a new theme, for some of them |
| have developed and sustained outsourcing relationships with half-a-dozen or more partners, most of |
| them from india, for over a decade now. One question that has dominated discussions in the past and |
| becomes even more relevant for smaller firms in india seeking to outsource for the first time is the |
| choice between multiple partners and building a wide and deep relationhip with a single trusted source. |
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| The logic for multisourcing is compelling the ability to work with best of breed providers in each specific |
| segment, the commercial advantage of "keeping the vendor honest" by always having multiple mature |
| options, and having the flexibility to move work from internal departments to vendors and even across |
| providers whenever the need arises. |
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| Recent trends in technology too have made it beneficial to invest a lot in the initial selection process |
| and draw up mutually agreed service-level agreements and productivity improvement plans and then |
| focus on building a truly collaborative single source outsourcing relationship. |
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| This approach leverages the power of the internet to perform work where it makes most sense, |
| keeping in mind the proximity desired by any client at the analysis and testing stages and the cost and |
| robust quality processes available at large offshore centres in actual system development. |
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| The debate will continue but the message is clear - outsourcing is becoming more and more key to the |
| business fortunes of any firm and the more strategic and collaborative it can be, the better! |
