Choosing The Right Outsourcing Partners

This is certainly not the most complicated rocket science ever, nor is this blog aimed at devising an arithmetical formula about how to choose the most suitable outsourcing partner, it is in fact just a humble attempt to create a blue print image of the outsourcing partner that best suits your organization in terms of processes, talent and business goals.

Most organizations never give a second thought to the superficial as well as underlying dynamics of a partnership while getting into the engagement process. For most organizations only the identification of the need of partnership becomes the impetus for their alliance with the companies that work with a different vision and this kind of engagement lands both partners into ultimate resentment.

The points that need to be considered before initiating a partnership are as follows:

• Length of the project/contract
• Nature of the partnership. (whether its long term or short term)
• Synchronization of goals
• Process coordination

It is just natural for the companies to inquire about the technical expertise of their potential partners in a given area and this certainly is a significant aspect of the alliance as both companies need to draw mutual benefit from their respective areas of specialization but the importance of the technical expertise is almost nullified when it comes to building an ongoing team. You surely don’t want duplicates!!!

The most ignored factors about a partnership also include the company culture, variety of talent, HR processes, organization’s vision and the potential of growth. This may not sound very important for the short-term partnerships in which you work together for a short span in a limited area, but for long term partnerships these factors have just as much implication as the basic purpose of partnership.

Secondly, talking to a company’s chief architect about their expertise allows them to flaunt their technical experience. You need to get the job done and people from the higher management prove themselves capable of that, you get excited and sign the deal but wait!!! Would they really be the ones working for you? The answer is NO. You simply cannot expect a chief technical officer to do the coding for you so you need to do a little more research about their resources who would actually be working on your project. A timely research will certainly save the future regrets.

The real strength of a company is its ability to hire and retain the talent and this should be one of your major areas of concern. Technical expertise is definitely the backbone of a partnership and project but there are numerous other factors that contribute to making the project a success or a failure.

Therefore the best practices for picking the right outsourcing partners involve:

• Company’s ability to attract and retain talent.
• A good understanding of their existing processes
• Company’s plans and endeavors to keep their employees abreast with the latest advancements
• Their route to the growth of employees and keeping a healthy company culture
• A vision compliant with your own company’s goals.
• Their willingness to adapt according to the new challenges
• The hunt for the right partners following these guidelines may not be so easy but it will definitely get you the best partnership with a promise of maximum output.