Gartner's 10 Point Action Plan for Outsourcing Success

These are the 10 guidelines/advisories issued by Gartner at the end of Gartner Outsourcing & IT Services Summit.

1. Benchmark your environment before entering into an outsourcing arrangement to correctly gauge improvement in the efficiency or productivity levels
2. Cost efficiency should not remain the only focus point. Include service enhancement.
3. Traditional business models may be safe however they limit your opportunity for cost improvement etc. Explore and exploit alternative delivery models
4. No long term deals. Apply term limits to review the contracts
5. Take advantage of flexible pricing. (From fixed price models to incentive-based ones)
6. Establish a governance and demand management discipline to avoid ill-defined direction.
7. Develop a formal vendor management program because your best interest is not necessarily the vendor’s priority.
8. Operational performance isn’t the only thing to monitor and report. Include Business Performance.
9. Start cherry picking offshore services now
10. Assess vendor risk regularly.

For more details, download the "take away from the summit" pdf. Here is the link
europe.gartner.com/outsourcing