Frank J. Casale Founder and CEO The Outsourcing Institute

The Outsourcing Institute's commitment to innovation and investment, along with its mission of providing our members and the marketplace with up to the minute research and information on the outsourcing industry has made it the most respected and relied upon resource for outsourcing buyers, service providers and market influencers. We hope you find the Outsourcing Minute a useful source to help you foster relationships with OI's buyer members.

Strategic Partnering

The Vendor Minute is a series of quick and valuable tips for members of The Outsourcing Institute (OI). This edition of the Outsourcing Vendor Minute focuses on a crucial and often overlooked component of the outsourcing process, strategic partnering.

Significant changes are taking place in today's marketplace. In order to continue to grow revenue and profits, corporations realize they must re-examine how they do business. This brings back a key concept, do what you are good at doing and leave the rest to others. Companies must make sure that they are focusing on their core competencies nd allocating their internal resources wisely.

The fact is, most companies are struggling with resources. As a result, they are turning towards building relationships with other companies that can provide competencies their own organizations do not have. You may need capital, specialized expertise, technology, products, facilities, talent, customers or distribution channels. No matter what you need, there is someone who has it. That someone is a potential partner. Partnerships can be extremely beneficial. There are just a few steps that companies need to examine when working towards selecting these partners.

What makes a partnership successful is the partners' willingness to look at innovative solutions to achieve their respective business objectives and the business objectives of their clients. The ability to work together, first in an outsourcing engagement and then eventually undertaking new business together, creates strategic advantage for both. Continued success results from providers' ability to form long-term partnering relationships with other providers and with their clients.

Some benefits of successful partnerships include:
• Shared business goals
• Access to more resources and talent
• New process-focused solutions
• Ability to compete more effectively
• More business opportunities

Once a strategic partnership has been identified, some questions should be asked. For example, is this company the best in its market? Have they had partnerships with other companies in the past? Were those partnerships successful? What are the goals or end-results wanted from this partnership? Asking these types of questions will begin to help you weed out those companies that might not be a fit. If a company you have identified for a partnership has repeated failed attempts at partnerships with other companies, chances are, yours will not work either. Avoid the headaches early on.

The reality is, more and more outsourcing service providers are partnering to increase their bandwidth. Partnerships are here to stay and are an absolute necessity in today's business climate.