Sourcing Value Proposition
With experienced consultants, Crossroad Consulting can actively contribute in a pragmatic fashion to the information technology issues of today and tomorrow.
One of the areas in which Crossroad provides professional advice is sourcing.
Sourcing is more than the procurement of products and/or services, or simply moving some activity to an external party. Sourcing is a critical business solution. The development and execution of sourcing strategies, sourcing actions and the selection and management of suppliers to support and achieve the business objectives, demands a holistic approach.
Our customers ask us for advice and project/program support in all phases of the sourcing lifecycle: strategy, gap analyses as-is vs. future needs, RFP and contract development, solutioning workshops, negotiations with suppliers and sourcing management. Crossroad provides support for application, infrastructure and network sourcing. Our extensive knowledge of the industry ensures that sourcing advice and support can be provided in all vertical segments (financial, industrial and public sector).
The profound knowledge of the Belgian and Benelux market is also an important differentiator and an asset for Belgian and Benelux based companies as well as for international companies with a vast presence in this area (concerning number of locations, business focus, strategic activities).
The importance of a good sourcing management can hardly be overestimated. Several independent studies state that:
- the sourcing management skills and competencies that are necessary in organizations are often not fully developed. Topics include implementation of ICT demand management and governance, categorization of suppliers for optimal management, the connection of business KPIs and ICT parameters, strategic relationship management, and so on;
- sourcing teams with better business and behavioral competencies, next to the necessary technical competencies will be able to build and maintain more successful client-supplier relationships;
- organizations with successful outsourcing deals invest about 3% to 6% of their IT budget in the creation and the continuation of the right internal team;
- complex client-supplier deals and multisourcing projects can be successful, if the internal team has the right combination of roles, complemented by external consultants if and when necessary;
Different ‘triggers’ can (or should) lead to the revision/ adjustment of a sourcing strategy. Assuming there is a sourcing strategy, derived from the business and ICT strategy and sufficiently developed for the different ICT areas (business processes, applications, infrastructure and telecom/network).
Some examples of these ‘triggers’ are: a change in business strategy, internationalization, a lack of certain knowledge, experience and competencies, low quality and/or a lack of proactivity, unexpected opportunities or risks, new and better services available on the market etc…
Not revising/ adjusting the sourcing strategy leads to reduced efficiency and even effectiveness.
A good outsourcing contract has to be constructed in such a way that it allows for change – your organization and the market are surely also changing. It is a myth to think that a contract, once it is signed, remains unchanged till it is finished. Outsourcing contracts and relationship management must be constructed so that they can cope with and even anticipate changes. Based on this philosophy, Crossroad supports its clients with a concrete contract set-up, templates and examples of the documents needed for cooperation with employees.
Most organizations don’t provide the necessary and/or right people and resources to manage the client-provider relationship once an outsourcing contract is signed. But signing an outsourcing contract does not mean that the contract itself will manage the services in scope. Adequate sourcing management during the entire duration of the contract allows the optimization of the service between client and supplier(s) and internally between business and ICT. It avoids conflict or makes sure that conflicts can be dealt with as efficiently as possible.