* Respondents identify the areas where they're dissatisfied with their outsourcers
Those who outsource IT services are looking for more from their offshore service providers, according to new research from advisory firm Alsbridge. Alsbridge makes a benchmarking tool called the Market Reality Assessment, to identify the weak aspects of outsourcing relationships.
In a survey of 300 corporate buyers, more than 80% are currently involved in outsourcing. Respondents indicated moderate satisfaction with their outsourcing choices, with “somewhat satisfied” being the most-often cited response. They said they face challenges with their providers and are unable to realize all anticipated benefits from the engagement.
“Providers focus on delivering to a contract in many cases,” Alsbridge CEO Ben Trowbridge says. “Corporate buyers of outsourcing services need to build innovation, flexibility and relationship management into their working interaction with providers.”
Many respondents say they’re currently involved in renegotiating IT outsourcing contracts, mainly due to dissatisfaction with providers. In terms of what is working, however, respondents are largely achieving their cost reduction goals. The areas where they’re less pleased are harder to measure aspects such as innovation, speed and flexibility. And specific concerns include quality issues, missed deadlines and cost overruns.
Alsbridge recommends the best practices of monitoring and measuring satisfaction levels with an outsourcer against qualities of the contract and relationship. That advisory business, which specializes in advice on outsourcing, shared services, and offshoring, recommends using measurement tools to establish the outsourcing relationship, measure progress, and support negotiations for renewals or contract changes.
